The Rennsteig

The Rennsteig runs along the watershed of the Thuringian Forest for roughly 170 kilometres, from Horschel on the Werra to Blankenstein on the Saale. It was a boundary line and a carriers' route centuries before anyone walked it for pleasure, and the white R painted and carved along it is among the oldest waymarks in the country. The walking is undemanding in gradient and long in distance, mostly under spruce with periodic openings onto the valleys either side, and huts along the crest serve Thuringian sausage grilled over beech. Custom says you pick up a pebble at the start and carry it to the far end. The Grosser Inselsberg at 916 metres is the landmark of the western half.

What you actually see

• The white R - the waymark, painted and carved along the whole ridge.
• The pebble - carried from one end and dropped at the other, by long custom.
• The Grosser Inselsberg - a 916-metre landmark on the western half of the route.
• The ridge huts - simple kitchens grilling Thuringian sausage at intervals.

When to go

May to October is the walking season, with June and September the most comfortable. Huts and guesthouses fill on summer weekends and need booking ahead if you are walking end to end. Winter turns long sections into groomed cross-country tracks, which closes them to walkers but opens them to skis. Weather on the crest changes faster than in the valleys.

Honest expectations

A good share of the route is forestry road under conifers with no view, and the walking becomes monotonous over consecutive days. Storm damage and bark beetle have cleared large areas, so stretches now cross bare felled ground and some sections have been rerouted. Accommodation is spread thinly, so days end where the beds are, not where you want to stop, and shuttling back to a car takes planning.

Nearby

Eisenach and the Wartburg at the western end, Oberhof, and the town of Schmalkalden.