The Neckarsteig up the Neckar valley, from the castle in Heidelberg to Bad Wimpfen, in its nine official stages: Neckargemünd, Neckarsteinach and Hirschhorn, the Odenwald above Eberbach, the Margaretenschlucht, Mosbach and Gundelsheim.
Best season: No published season; a low river-valley trail. Touristikgemeinschaft Odenwald, the trail body, publishes no walking season, and its stage tours single out no month. The trail stays low, between about 110 and 580 m. Some services are seasonal: the NeO-BUS from Eberbach to Amorbach runs at weekends and on holidays from 3 April to 1 November 2026, and the campsite in Eberbach opens only in season. Before you go
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Checking the seasons, closures and current conditions for today…
Nine stages, the trail body's own, of 9 to 18 km by its figures. Every stage ends in a town or village, most of them near a station, so the trail splits easily into shorter trips. Hirschhorn has no host on the trail body's list: sleep in Neckarsteinach or Eberbach and take the train. Choose a plan, or pick your own start, finish and nights below.
Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.
Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.
Stage 1: From the castle in Heidelberg to Neckargemünd: 12.1 km, 4 h 10, 476 m up and 621 m down by the trail body's tour, which starts at the castle's entrance gate. Early on the stage climbs the Himmelsleiter, about 1,200 stone steps; the tour offers the historic Bergbahn (funicular) instead. This is not the Himmelsleiter at Gundelsheim, which is closed.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A small town on the Neckar with a station. The youth hostel in Dilsberg is on the trail 7 km on, on stage 2.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 2: From Neckargemünd by Dilsberg to Neckarsteinach: 9.1 km, 3 h, 327 m up, 345 m down. The youth hostel in Dilsberg is on the trail about 7 km into the stage. In Neckarsteinach, building work by the lock and the car park on the riverbank was announced from 11 May to about August 2026, with a detour by the Werftweg for walkers and cyclists. It may be over, but the trail body still lists it on 13 October: follow the signs on the spot.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A small town on the Neckar with a station. The trail body lists one hotel here, about 1 km west of the stage end.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 3: From Neckarsteinach to Hirschhorn: 16.2 km, 4 h 45, 473 m up, 465 m down. The side trip to the Schadeck castle ruin cannot take the direct path from the Hinterburg ruin: it is fully closed for some time after trees fell on the steep slope above the railway. Reach Schadeck by the Teufelsteinweg and the stair path instead; the trail itself goes on. The ferry at Neckarhausen, across the river to the Neckarhäuser Hof, is out of service after an accident, so you cannot join or leave the stage there by ferry.
Hirschhorn Town or village
The old town by the Neckar, below the castle, with the Hirschhorn (Neckar) station. The trail body's list of hosts has none here: sleep in Neckarsteinach or Eberbach, which have stations on the same valley line, and come back in the morning.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Closed: km 0.6–1.8 of stage 4. The steep climb above Schloss Hirschhorn is closed until further notice because a railing is broken, the trail body says, and the line here climbs it. Follow the signed detour along the cycle path. Do not enter a closed section.
Stage 4: From Hirschhorn to Eberbach: 12.7 km, 3 h 55, 442 m up, 433 m down. The steep climb above Schloss Hirschhorn, at the start of the stage, is closed until further notice because a railing is broken: follow the signed detour along the cycle path.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
A town on the Neckar with a station. The NeO-BUS to Amorbach leaves from the station at weekends and on holidays until 1 November 2026.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 5: From Eberbach to Neunkirchen: 18.1 km, 5 h 45, 671 m up, 474 m down, the most demanding stage, the tour says. On the Wilder Waibelsberg the path is split into rescue sectors, because rescuers find it hard to reach: note which sector you are in. The stage ends on the trail about 0.3 km from Neunkirchen's houses, on the hill above the Neckar.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A village on the hill above the Neckar. The stage ends on the trail about 0.3 km from its northern houses and 0.85 km from its centre; the hotel is by the trail.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 6: From Neunkirchen down to Neckargerach: 18.2 km, 4 h 55, 254 m up, 407 m down, the longest stage. It ends by Neckargerach station.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
A village on the Neckar; the stage ends by the station.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 7: From Neckargerach through the Margaretenschlucht to Mosbach: 13.5 km, 4 h 15, 342 m up, 341 m down. The Margaretenschlucht, a gorge about 2 km into the stage, can be hard to pass in some weather: take the signed bad-weather detour then. Like the Wilder Waibelsberg, the gorge is split into rescue sectors.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The town with the widest choice of hosts on the trail body's list; the stage ends by the station.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Closed: km 12.2–12.75 of stage 8. The Himmelsleiter, the path down from the Michaelsberg into Gundelsheim, has been impassable for a long time after an earth and wall slip, the trail body says, and the line here takes it. Follow the signed detour. To use the QR code at the Michaelsberg, walk about 50 m on along the trail, then go back to the detour. Do not enter a closed section.
Stage 8: From Mosbach by Haßmersheim to Gundelsheim: 12.6 km, 3 h 55, 428 m up, 443 m down. The Himmelsleiter, the path down from the Michaelsberg into Gundelsheim in the last half kilometre, has been impassable for a long time after an earth and wall slip: follow the signed detour.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A small town on the Neckar. The trail reaches it by the station, about 0.3 km from the centre.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 9: From Gundelsheim by Bad Rappenau to Bad Wimpfen: 14.2 km, 3 h 45, 208 m up, 183 m down, the gentlest stage. The trail ends by Bad Wimpfen station.
Longest day: day 5, 5 h 45.
Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are the times published by outdooractive.com where a stage has one, with the time measured on the mapped line beside it; a day that walks part of a stage gets a share of the stage's time by distance and climb.Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.
Where each stage ends, the 2026 and 2027 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 13 October 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.
| Stage | Night at | 2026 | 2027 | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Heidelberg to Neckargemünd | Hotel Kredell | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 2. Neckargemünd to Neckarsteinach | Terrassencafé - Hotel - Vierburgeneck | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 3. Neckarsteinach to Hirschhorn | Hirschhorn · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 4. Hirschhorn to Eberbach | Hotel Karpfen | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 5. Eberbach to Neunkirchen | NaturKulturHotel Stumpf | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 6. Neunkirchen to Neckargerach | Hotel-Restaurant Grüner Baum | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 7. Neckargerach to Mosbach | Hotel & Restaurant Lamm | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 8. Mosbach to Gundelsheim | Schlosshotel Horneck | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 9. Gundelsheim to Bad Wimpfen | Hotel Neues Tor | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
Loading the forecast for low point (112 m) and high point (581 m)…
Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (112 m) and the highest point (581 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed |
| Stages rated good on typical weather | 0/9 | 0/9 | 5/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 7/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 2/9 | 0/9 |
| High point, day / night | 3°/-2° | 4°/-2° | 8°/1° | 13°/4° | 17°/8° | 21°/11° | 22°/13° | 22°/13° | 17°/9° | 12°/6° | 7°/2° | 3°/-1° |
| Low point, day / night | 5°/0° | 7°/0° | 11°/3° | 16°/6° | 20°/10° | 24°/13° | 25°/14° | 25°/14° | 20°/10° | 15°/7° | 9°/4° | 6°/1° |
| Rain, mm | 94 | 80 | 84 | 53 | 90 | 77 | 94 | 65 | 82 | 90 | 89 | 108 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Frost | Possible |
| Daylight | 8 h 36 | 10 h 06 | 11 h 47 | 13 h 41 | 15 h 18 | 16 h 14 | 15 h 53 | 14 h 30 | 12 h 42 | 10 h 53 | 9 h 10 | 8 h 12 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Book each night with the host, on its own website or through the region's booking service, which the trail body's lists of hosts link to; the walk itself needs no booking. The lists have no host in Hirschhorn, the end of stage 3: sleep in Neckarsteinach or Eberbach, which are on the same railway along the valley, and take the train back in the morning. Mosbach has the widest choice.
Two closed sections are on the trail on 13 October 2026, each with a signed detour: the steep climb above Schloss Hirschhorn (stage 4), closed until further notice because a railing is broken, and the Himmelsleiter down into Gundelsheim (stage 8), impassable after an earth and wall slip. The direct path from the Hinterburg to the Schadeck ruin, a side trip on stage 3, is closed too. Building work by the lock in Neckarsteinach, announced from May to about August 2026, is still listed. The notices carry no dates: read them before you set off.
Neckarsteig: current route noticesThe trail body calls the Neckarsteig demanding and in parts wild. It is not barrier-free, and bikes are not allowed. On the Wilder Waibelsberg (stage 5) and in the Margaretenschlucht (stage 7) the path is split into rescue sectors, because rescuers find it hard to reach: note which sector you are in. The Margaretenschlucht has a signed bad-weather detour.
Neckarsteig: safety notesStages 5 and 6, Eberbach to Neunkirchen and Neunkirchen to Neckargerach, are the longest, about 18 km each, and stage 5 has the most climbing: 671 m up by the trail body's tour. The official times, 3 to 5 h 45 a stage, are walking time only.
Neckarsteig: Eberbach to NeunkirchenThe ferry at Neckarhausen, across the river to the Neckarhäuser Hof on stage 3, is out of service after an accident. The trail body's boat page lists the Weiße Flotte between Heidelberg, Neckargemünd and Neckarsteinach, and boats at Haßmersheim and Bad Wimpfen; check their own timetables.
Neckarsteig: boats on the NeckarClosures and notices last checked 13 October 2026: Neckarsteig: the Neckarhausen ferry · Neckarsteig: safety notes · Neckarsteig: route notices. Check them again before you set out.
Getting there
Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Trains reach Heidelberg. The trail body's first stage starts at the entrance gate of the castle, above the old town.
Neckarsteig: by bus and trainThe railway along the Neckar valley stops at Neckargemünd, Neckarsteinach, Hirschhorn (Neckar), Eberbach, Neckargerach and Mosbach, so most stage ends have a station. From Eberbach, the NeO-BUS runs to Amorbach at weekends and on holidays until 1 November 2026, first from the station at 8:35; in the Neckar-Odenwald district a call taxi (Ruftaxi) also runs: call ahead to book it.
Neckarsteig: the NeO-BUSThe trail ends by Bad Wimpfen station; Gundelsheim, the end of stage 8, has a station too.
Deutsche Bahn: journey plannerTake your trip with you
Prepare each stage while you still have a connection, so the map, the stage ends and the detours stay on your phone in the forest.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Touristikgemeinschaft Odenwald gives 128 km in nine stages; its nine stage tours add up to 126.7 km and about 38 h 25 of walking, in 9 sections on our map. The guide's day planner offers a 9-day plan on the overnight stops, and you can choose your own nights.
No published season; a low river-valley trail. Touristikgemeinschaft Odenwald, the trail body, publishes no walking season, and its stage tours single out no month.
Trains reach Heidelberg. The "Connect your journey" section has the travel details, with 2 more travel notes.
Book each night with the host, on its own website or through the region's booking service, which the trail body's lists of hosts link to; the walk itself needs no booking.
Yes: the whole route and every section, free, for a GPS watch or a phone. The guide also saves your plan for offline use in the app.
Closures we know of are shown on the days and sections they affect, in the day planner and on the stage pages. We watch 3 official notice pages (Neckarsteig: the Neckarhausen ferry; Neckarsteig: safety notes; Neckarsteig: route notices); the date we last read them is shown with the notices on this page. Check them again before you set off.
Route & sources
Touristikgemeinschaft Odenwald, the trail body, divides the Neckarsteig into nine stages (Etappen), from the castle in Heidelberg to Bad Wimpfen, with an official stage time for each from its own stage tours, shown beside ours on every stage. The tours add up to 126.7 km and about 38 h 25 of walking; the trail's home page says 128 km. The line here is the Odenwaldklub's route on OpenStreetMap (three section relations, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 126.3 km, cut at the nine stage ends, and every stage is within 0.6 km of the official figure. Two closed sections are still on the line, each with a signed detour: the steep climb above Schloss Hirschhorn (stage 4) and the Himmelsleiter down into Gundelsheim (stage 8). Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep steps are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Touristikgemeinschaft Odenwald: Neckarsteig stagesMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation