The best hiking routes in Thuringia

Thuringia offers distinct walking landscapes defined by its geological divide. In the north, Nationalpark Hainich preserves a dense, unmanaged deciduous forest where you walk on soft forest soil under a thick canopy of ancient beech trees. This area is relatively flat and gentle, lacking any dramatic peaks or deep gorges, making it ideal for those who prefer steady, shaded woodland paths.

Further south, the terrain rises into the Naturpark Thüringer Wald and the adjacent Naturpark Thüringer Schiefergebirge/Obere Saale. Here, the underfoot changes to stony trails, gravel forestry tracks, and occasional damp moss. The landscape is dominated by dark spruce plantations and deep, slate-quarried valleys, with the high ridge path of the Rennsteig offering long, wooded ridges rather than open alpine summits. In October, the beech sections in these southern parks turn a deep copper, contrasting with the dark evergreens.

To the west and south-west, the Naturpark Bayerische Rhön and LSG "Bayerische Rhön" present a different character altogether. This is a basaltic highland shaped by historic sheep grazing, resulting in open, grassy plateaus and peat bogs with wooden boardwalks. It lacks the dense forest cover of the Thüringer Wald, exposing walkers to open pastures and basalt stone runs underfoot, where well-known viewpoints can be busier than the quiet, forested valleys of the Naturpark Haßberge.