Stage start
Lorch
Town
A small town; the Etappe ends in the centre. The Lorch – Niederheimbach ferry was out of service for low water on 13 October 2026.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Lorch to Rüdesheim
Rheinsteig · Stage 17
Walking time as rheinsteig.de states it for this stage; measured on the mapped line: 5 h 47. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights. Rheinsteig.de
20.3 kmStage distance
950 mAscent, measured
6 h 30Official time
17Stage number
To the Niederwalddenkmal above Rüdesheim: 20.5 km, 6 h 30, moderate. The cable car or the access path leads down to the town.
Best season: All year. The trail body marks every month as suitable on every Etappe. In 2026 the limits are elsewhere: no trains on the right bank until 11 or 12 December, the scheduled KD boats only to 18 October (then one winter round trip between Rüdesheim and St. Goarshausen, with a minimum number of passengers), ferries stopped or limited by the low Rhine in October, and driven hunts closing short sections on announced autumn Saturdays. Autumn leaves hide roots and stones, the trail body's safety page warns. Before you go
Loading topographic map…
Flat (<5%) Gentle (5–10%) Moderate (10–15%) Steep (15–25%)
Green: Lorch to Rüdesheim. Grey: full trail. Elevation follows this mapped track.
Lorch to Rüdesheim
17 / 21
Where this stage starts and ends
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage end · overnight
Rüdesheim
Town
The Etappe ends at the Niederwalddenkmal above the town; the cable car or the access path leads down to Rüdesheim, where the partner hosts are.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Hotel Altdeutsche Weinstube · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Walking time for this leg
- Lorch to Rüdesheim: 6 h 30 · graded moderate. Measured on the mapped line: 5 h 47. Romantischer Rhein Tourismus GmbH, Rheinsteig Etappe 17 (north to south): 20.5 km, 6:30 h, 702 m up, 487 m down, mittel. rheinsteig.de, read 13 October 2026
Make it your trip
Book your nights with the hosts
No booking is needed for the trail itself; book each night with the host. The trail body lists certified Rheinsteig partner hosts, all offering luggage transfer, a shuttle, packed lunches and a drying room, and luggage-free packages ("Wandern ohne Gepäck"), such as Bonn to Wiesbaden in 17 Etappen over 19 days. Several partners at Linz, Bad Hönningen, Koblenz, Kamp-Bornhofen and St. Goarshausen are across the Rhine: check the ferry's hours before you book.
Bonn to Wiesbaden-Biebrich
The twenty-one official Etappen, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyBonn to Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein
The Siebengebirge and the lower Middle Rhine, Etappen 1 to 9.
Plan this journeyKoblenz-Ehrenbreitstein to Rüdesheim
The upper Middle Rhine by the Loreley, Etappen 10 to 17.
Plan this journeyRüdesheim to Wiesbaden-Biebrich
The Rheingau, Etappen 18 to 21.
Plan this journeyWeather this week
Loading the forecast for low point (89 m) and high point (354 m)…
Weather by month
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (89 m) and the highest point (354 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed |
| High point, day / night | 4°/-1° | 5°/-1° | 9°/2° | 14°/5° | 18°/9° | 21°/12° | 23°/13° | 23°/13° | 18°/10° | 13°/6° | 7°/3° | 4°/0° |
| Low point, day / night | 5°/0° | 7°/1° | 11°/3° | 16°/6° | 20°/10° | 23°/13° | 25°/15° | 25°/14° | 20°/11° | 15°/7° | 9°/4° | 6°/1° |
| Rain, mm | 49 | 44 | 45 | 40 | 56 | 57 | 73 | 54 | 54 | 59 | 54 | 63 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible |
| Daylight | 8 h 31 | 10 h 04 | 11 h 47 | 13 h 43 | 15 h 22 | 16 h 20 | 15 h 59 | 14 h 33 | 12 h 42 | 10 h 51 | 9 h 06 | 8 h 07 |
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
Prepare for the Rheinsteig
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
No trains on the right bank until December
All trains between Troisdorf and Wiesbaden are stopped from 10 July to 11 December 2026 (Deutsche Bahn says 12 December) for works on the line. Purple replacement buses serve every station, with express lines Wiesbaden – Rüdesheim – Koblenz and Koblenz – Bad Honnef – Bonn-Ramersdorf – Troisdorf; they carry no bicycles, except folded folding bikes. The ferries at Königswinter, Linz and Erpel take public-transport tickets, the Deutschlandticket too. The left-bank railway keeps a basic service. Deutsche Bahn, read 13 October 2026.
Deutsche Bahn: replacement buses on the right bank of the RhineThe Loreley and the B42
After the rockfall of 31 August 2026, the B42 between St. Goarshausen and Kaub has been closed since 28 September for about 400 m at the Loreley rock, for an expected three to five months, and the visitor area of the Loreley plateau is closed until the works end; the Mythos hall and the toilets stay open. This is on Etappe 15, and the closure is not on our map: follow the signs on the spot. The road closure may also change the replacement buses between Kaub and St. Goarshausen. The trail body's own rail notice, dated 11 August, still calls the B42 open. LBM Rheinland-Pfalz, read 13 October 2026.
LBM Rheinland-Pfalz: B42 at the Loreley closedEtappe 1: the Foveaux stairs
The Foveaux stairs in Bonn have been closed since 2 June 2026: a signed detour by the Foveaux-Weg is about 500 m longer. The repair is planned for 2027/28, with no firm date. City of Bonn, read 13 October 2026.
City of Bonn: the Foveaux stairs closedEtappe 8: the Galgenberg diversion
Between Sayn and Vallendar the trail is closed at the Galgenberg for building work until about the end of February or early March 2027, with a long detour signed on the ground. City of Bendorf, read 13 October 2026.
City of Bendorf: diversion on the RheinsteigAutumn hunts
Driven hunts close short sections on announced days: on Etappe 3 on Saturday 7 November 2026, where the detour is only on the trail body's map, not marked on the ground; on Etappe 16, between Kaub and Weisel, on Saturdays 31 October and 7 November, 08:00 to 17:00, with a signed diversion. The trail body shows its notices on each Etappe's page. Read 13 October 2026.
Rheinsteig: path noticesFerries and low water
On 13 October 2026 the low Rhine had stopped the Lorch – Niederheimbach ferry; the Kaub ferry ran again from 11 October, for vehicles up to 3.5 t; the Loreley ferry runs all year, but the Deutschlandticket is not valid on it. The KD boats run to 18 October, then only one winter round trip between Rüdesheim and St. Goarshausen. Ferry operators, read 13 October 2026.
Romantischer Rhein: the Rhine ferriesGetting there
Connect your journey
Travel around Lorch to Rüdesheim.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
To the start in Bonn
Bonn Hbf has regional trains and, during the works, an hourly long-distance train each way between Mainz, Koblenz, Bonn and Köln; the trains between Berlin and Bonn start and end in Köln until the works end. A yellow access path leads from the station to the start on the Marktplatz.
Deutsche Bahn: the transport plan for the worksOn the way
Most Etappe ends have a station on the right-bank railway, served by replacement buses until 11 or 12 December 2026. Rengsdorf, Johannisberg, Kiedrich and Schlangenbad have buses only: Kiedrich and Schlangenbad to Eltville station (lines 172 and 173). The Kasbachtalbahn from Linz to Kalenborn runs as normal.
Deutsche Bahn: replacement busesHome from Wiesbaden-Biebrich
The trail ends at Schloss Biebrich. The official record names no onward connection; from Wiesbaden the RB 10 to Frankfurt runs during the works.
RMV: journey plannerTake your trip with you
Offline maps
Prepare each Etappe while you still have a connection: in the side valleys and the forests on the heights the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
- Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
- Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
- Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
Route map & sources
Romantischer Rhein Tourismus GmbH, which runs the trail, publishes the Rheinsteig as twenty-one Etappen, numbered north to south from the Bonn Marktplatz to Schloss Biebrich in Wiesbaden, with an official stage time for each, shown beside ours on every stage: about 318 km by the sum of the Etappen, 311.4 km and 98 h 05 by its whole-trail record, and 320 km on its portrait page. The Etappen end at points on the blue-marked trail, where the yellow access paths (Zuwege) lead down to the towns and stations, often 1 to 3 km more. The line here is the twenty-one Etappe relations of the Rheinsteig on OpenStreetMap (superroute 2685, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 312.8 km, cut at the official Etappe ends. Etappe 1 is 22.2 km on our line against 23.8 km, and on Etappe 3 the line passes the foot of the Erpeler Ley instead of walking out round the plateau and back (about 0.75 km). The line is not changed for the current diversions: follow the signed detours round the Foveaux stairs in Bonn (Etappe 1) and the Galgenberg near Sayn (Etappe 8). On Etappe 15 the visitor area of the Loreley plateau is closed for rock-safety works, and that closure is not on the map. 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.
Rheinsteig: the EtappenMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation