France - Alsace- Fortified Castles Trail - From Wissembourg to Saverne

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A Walk through medieval Alsace from Wissembourg to Saverne

This self-guided walking tour in Alsace is a getaway of several days in the Regional Nature Park of the Northern Vosges, classified as a world nature site by the UNESCO Biosphere. This hike is an amazing experience through Nature and History. Your walks follow shaded trails lined with numerous ancient churches, fortified castles, military vestiges of the Maginot Line, summits covered in magnificent forests of pine trees, beech trees, or lively little hamlets with their crystal craftsmen and stone carvers. In this harmonious landscape stands the distant spire of the Strasbourg Cathedral.

Day 1

Arrival in Wissembourg (train connections from Strasbourg)

Settling at the hotel and tour of the old town and museum.

Day 2

Wissembourg – Lembach approx. 23 km (+749m/-714m)

Departure via the Col du Pigeonnier towards the Pfaffenschlick and the Soultzerkopf.
Arrival in Lembach where the Four à Chaux, a former fortress of the Maginot Line, is situated.

Day 3

Lembach – Obersteinbach approx. 18 km (+621m/-571m)

You will discover the castles of Loewenstein and Hohenbourg in the morning. In the afternoon you can visit the castle of Fleckenstein, formerly one of the most imposing in the Vosges, and later the castle of Froensbourg.

Day 4

Obersteinbach – Niederbronn les Bains approx. 16 km (+606m/657m)

After the castle of Schoeneck your route climbs the Grand Wintersberg, highest point in the Northern Vosges with an altitude of 581m.
Arrival at the spa town of Niederbronn-les-Bains via the Dittenthal and the Celtic Encampment.

Day 5

Niederbronn les Bains – Ingwiller approx. 22 km (+733m/-729m)
The castle of Wasenbourg overlooking the Niederbronn valley, followed by the romantic remains of the Grand Arnsbourg.
Your route will pass through the beautiful Alsatian villages of Oberbronn, Offwiller,Rothbach and Ingwiller.

Day 6

Ingwiller – La Petite Pierre approx. 19 km (+589m/-423m)
From the valley of the Moder you go to Sparsbach and to Englischberg.
You will arrive then in the attractive village of La Petite Pierre sitting on her headland of pink stoneware.

Day 7

La Petite Pierre – Saverne approx. 22 km (+659m/-808m)
The castle of Hunebourg in neo-Romanesque style and the remains of the Daubenschlagfels, followed by adescent towards Saint-Jean-les-Saverne and its 12th Century abbey church. Arrival in Saverne.

Day 8

End or continuation of the hike from Saverne to Barr.