Thanks to its hilly landscape and more than 1,800 hours of sunshine per year, the Southern Wine Route is also known as the Tuscany of Germany. Along a total of 85 km through the front and southern Palatinate wine-growing region, you can experience a lot: from an extensive hiking or cycling tour to visiting idyllic towns and places, to fine wine and the famous Palatine joy of life. Since the six stations on our route are close together, you can either explore them all at once or plan overnight stays. Especially during the wine festival season in autumn, the latter is definitely a good idea.
Our short trip on the German Wine Route begins in Freinsheim, a town with 5,000 inhabitants. Almost completely surrounded by a 1,000-metre-long late Gothic town wall, Freinsheim impresses with its beautiful historic old town. And if you like to party, you’ve come to the right place. With the Blossom Festival in March, the Old Town Festival in June, the Town Wall Festival in July, the Culinary Wine Walk in September and the Christmas Market in December, there is something to celebrate virtually all year round. The town also has a lot to offer in the way of culinary delights with its numerous restaurants and wine taverns.
The spa town of Bad Dürkheim is just 15 minutes away by car. Beautifully situated between the Palatinate Forest and vineyards, the town and its surroundings offer numerous sights and excursion destinations. In the spacious spa gardens you will find the graduation house – a more than 300-metre-long saline that exhales healthy salty air and provides pleasant cooling, especially in summer. Strolling through the idyllic old town or relaxing in one of the cafés or restaurants on the historic market square, you can experience the special atmosphere of the Wine Route and the Palatinate.
Extra tip: The Bad Dürkheim sausage market in autumn – the largest wine festival in the world.
The small climatic health resort of Deidesheim is only about 9 km away. Here, too, everything is of course under the sign of wine. The numerous winegrowers offer a wide selection of wines, sparkling wines and liqueurs. After a walk through the cosy old town of Deidesheim, you can take a leisurely break or spend the night in one of the numerous hotels or guesthouses.
You can reach a great excursion destination on the German Wine Route in just 25 minutes: Wolfsburg Castle Ruin. Elevated on a plateau, the ruins of the medieval hilltop castle offer a unique view of the wooded slopes of the Palatinate Forest. The venerable walls also have a place in German history books: As the meeting place of the student movement during the German March Revolution in 1848.
The 50,000-inhabitant town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße lies below the Wolfsburg ruins. In the winding streets of the old town you will find numerous street cafés and restaurants as well as many small shops for shopping. Due to the very mild climate, olive, fig and lemon trees grow here as well as wine. As one of the largest wine-growing communities in Germany, the focus is naturally also on wine here in the heart of the Southern Wine Route. A special highlight of the year is the well-known German Wine Harvest Festival, where the German Wine Queen is crowned every year.
About 7 km away is another important place in German history: Hambach Castle. This is where the Hambach Festival took place in 1832, which is considered the origin of the German democracy movement. Beautifully situated on a hill, the picturesque castle offers a great view of the Southern Wine Route. You can learn more about the historical events of the Hambach Festival in a separate exhibition.
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