Day 1. Arrive in Eisenach.
Day 2. Transfer to Hörschel. From Hörschel walk
from the banks of the River Werra up to the Grosser Eichelberg
with fine views over the surrounding country. Continue to the
stone cross at Wilde Sau. Below you is the Sängerwiese (Singer's Meadow) that
features in the Tannhäuser legend.
Continue along the Rennsteig to Hohe Sonne (about 8 miles).
Transfer back to your hotel in Eisenach.
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Day 3. Transfer back to Hohe Sonne. From there
follow the Rennsteig first to Ascherbruck and then to the Trinius
viewpoint. Continue to the Auerhahn Hut and the Grosse Meilerstätte before
ending the day's walk by descending to the Schiller Beech, planted
in 1905 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the writer's death,
on the Glasbachwiese (about 7½ miles).
At the end of the day you are transferred to a nearby hotel.
Day 4. Transfer back to Glasbachwiese. First pass the Dreiherrenstein,
a border stone marking the meeting point of three former Lordships, then
there is the climb over the most significant hill on the whole Rennsteig,
the Grosser Inselsberg, just over 3000 feet. Descend to Grenzwiese, and then
continue over the gentle tops of the Trockenberg and
Grosser Jagdberg to Heuberghaus (about 6¾ miles).
At the end of the day you are transferred to a nearby hotel.
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Day 5. Transfer back to Heuberghaus. Continue over the Spiessberg and
past a number of boundary stones including another Dreiherrenstein.
Towards the end, just a little over a quarter of a mile off the
Rennsteig, is the Spitterfall, the highest natural waterfall in
the Thuringian Forest. Finally past a nature reserve to
end at Neue Ausspanne (about 7½ miles).
At the end of the day you are tranferred to a nearby hotel.
Day 6. After a transfer back to Neue Ausspanne, you
walk over the Sperrhügel, with a fine view over the route
you have taken. Much of the rest of the day's walking is marked
by old border stones until you reach the Grenzadler, a notably
large border stone bearing a Prussian eagle. From here there
are a number of routes to your final destination of Oberhof,
which lies a little to the north of the Rennsteig
(about 9½ miles).
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If you have the time and energy, continue as far as the Rondell and the
the Rennsteiggarten, one of the largest collections of mountain
flora in Europe. You can either walk, or take a bus, down from here
into town.
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