It is the starting point for the many hiking trails in the area and the next town on the National Park’s treetop path. The accessible, family-friendly wooden path winds up into the sky and becomes a viewing platform 25 m above beech, fir and spruce trees and offering a panoramic view of Bavaria and the Czech and Slovak mountains in the distance. Spend the night in the Pension Salzsäumer, an old Bavarian country house with rustic suites with a view of the forest, Vichy pattern bed linen and nicely painted wardrobes.

With 241 km², the Bavarian Forest is the largest continuous forest area in Europe and is located on the German-Czech border. The national park of the same name was the first in Germany and is a natural paradise of glacial lakes, mountains and wild, dense forest in which rare animal species live. There are around 300 km of hiking trails that meander through the tall trees and the park is just a two-and-a-half hour drive from Munich. If you are on a longer trip, spend the night in the city of Neuschönau. Go for a walk in the Bavarian Forest National Park on the (Treetop Walk) There are also forestry courses available if you want to learn more. You can stay overnight at the Hotel Landgasthaus Pfahl. Wershofen is a town deep in the western Palatinate Forest, equidistant from the cities of Koblenz and Cologne. It is not exactly known, but it has been since the publication of the bestseller The Secret Life of Trees From the local forester Peter Wohlleben, nature lovers come here in droves. In the book Wohlleben describes a network of trees that he calls the “Wood Wide Web”. Trees communicate with it and can support each other physically by passing on nutrients through their roots. Those who make a pilgrimage to the area in the forest for which Wohlleben is responsible can take part in lectures and seminars or take a two to three-hour captivating hike (also in English) through the forest with the author himself. The hiking groups in Wohlleben’s Forest Academy are always small, so you can ask Wohlleben all your questions personally.

Let the local forester Peter Wohlleben guide you through the Palatinate Forest

Czech webtrees