Any time spent in Germany would be incomplete without a hike. It’s the country’s national pastime. So whether you live here or are just stopping by, getting on a trail is something you must do in order to experience and understand this place a little more intensively. What better way to explore than on a quality or premium hike? Leave it to the Germans to develop a calculated approach to determining exactly what that means. This page breaks down exactly what premium hikes are and how you can find them, so you can get onto the best trails in Germany.
In Germany there are two groups of outdoor fanatics certifying hiking trails with their seal. Premium Hikes are certified by the Deutsche Wanderinstitut (explained on this page), while Quality Hikes are awarded by Wanderbares Deutschland (Find out more about Quality Hikes).
Premium Hikes
The name Premiumwanderweg, or Premium Hike, is awarded to trails that meet the criteria of the Deutsche Wanderinstitut e.V. (the German Hiking Institute). Deutsches Wanderinstitut is a consortium of independent hiking experts interested in the constant development of quality hiking standards. Research is the foundation of their work, in order to maintain the balance between the hiking experience and conservation. They do this through research, development, lectures, and trainings.
Who Decides?
A team of 19 outdoor enthusiasts with degrees ranging from biology to tourism to geography are responsible for the many aspects of determining Premium Hikes. These responsibilities include planning, advising, researching, lecturing, developing, filming, advertising, promoting, managing, and HIKING!
What are the Criteria?
Premium hikes are trails which are excellently marked and have a particularly high experiential value. The team looks for comfortable hiking surfaces, dramatic views, gorgeous forest scenery, bodies of water, rock formations and cliffs, well-kept rest areas, as well as historical and cultural treasures. The hike must altogether make for a particularly pleasant journey. In total there are 34 criteria which are either positively or negatively valued in the overall score including. Some of these include width and surface of the path, traffic, hindrances, trail’s edge, forest and ground formation, flora, relief, geology, idyll, architecture, historic buildings, monuments, clearness and regularity of the trail marker, benches, and environmental diversity. Exactly how points are objectively awarded for each item is explained in a detailed 17 page document.
historical place of significance: Pletschmühle on the Schächerbachtour 
well-maintained resting places: Waldkappeler Berg
Where are they?
There are over 600 Premium Hikes worldwide, and 35 new ones were certified in 2020. You can find Premium Hikes in half of the 16 German Bundesländer: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate, Saarland, and Thuringia. Additional Premium Hikes can be found abroad in Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Rwanda, and Switzerland.
How do I Choose a Premium Hike?
You can find interactive maps for each state in Germany and country in which Premium Hikes are available by clicking on the respective region on this page.
Types of Premium Hikes
There are three kinds of Premium Hikes: Streckenweg, Rundweg, Alpiner Weg, and Winterweg. A Streckenweg is one which starts at one point and ends at another, so you will need public transportation or coordinated group parking to complete this hike. If you prefer to hike back to the same place you started in a loop, then look for a Rundweg. There are no definitions for Alpiner Weg or Winterweg, but I summize that an Alpiner Weg is an alpine-style trail with alpine landscapes. A Winterweg is only marked by trail markers during the winter months. These four different kinds of trails are denoted by symbols on the map and list view.
Statistics
By choosing a hike, you will first see many statistics about it. Here is a breakdown of what these statistics mean:
- Land/Bundesland – location of the hike: the country (if not Germany) or German state (Bundesland)
- Region – usually the county (Landkreis)
- Ort(e) – the town(s) which the hike encounters
- Erlebnispunktzahl – the score, how many points this hike received (usual range is 50 – 100 points)
- Pfade/Schmale Wege – the percentage of the tour which is on paths or narrow trails
- Wegbelag – the trail surface and the percentage of each. You may see Naturweg (natural), leicht befestigt (lightly paved), Asphalt (asphalt), Beton (concrete), etc.
- Zertifizierung – the trail’s certification years (certification is good for 3 years)
- Wandersiegel gültig bis – the date until which the certification is valid
Tour Description, Highlights, Nature
Further down the page, you will find a brief description of the tour, some photos, a list with descriptions of the protected zones and nature on the way, an OpenStreeMap of the trail, and an elevation profile. Whether or not the trail contains shortcuts to reduce the number of kilometers can be found on the information board at the beginning of the hike. If you need to know about shortcuts in advance, you may be able to loosely identify them from the OpenStreetMap.
What are Chris’s Personal Recommendations?
I’ve completed several Premium Hikes in Hesse like the Schächerbachtour, Waldkappeler Berg, and Gänsekerleweg. All of them were excellent. The Schächerbachtour takes you on a fairy tale though the forest, Waldkappeler Berg leads you through steep climbs and half-timbered villages, and the Gänsekerleweg has more panorama points than kilometers.
Not Only Premium Hikes!
Deutsches Wanderinstitut does not stop with Premium Hikes. They have also developed three other types of premium awards.
Premium-Spazierwanderwege
Premium Walking Paths (Premium-Spazierwanderwege) are 3-7 kilometer long trails which also meet high standards in regards to landscape and nature experiences. You can find Premium Walking Paths in Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhineland Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate, and Saarland. There are currently more than 50 of these paths around Germany.
Premium-Stadtwanderwege
If a city contains a trail with a particular amount of dramatic views and experiential value and require some amount of fitness, they may be awarded as a Premium City Trail (Premium-Stadtwanderweg). At the time of writing, there are only two such trails. One is in Frankenburg (Eder) in Hesse, and the other is in Tecklenburg (which I visited while on the 100 Schlösser Route) in North Rhineland Westphalia.
Premium-Wanderregionen(-orte)
Lastly, the Wanderinstitut can grant entire regions a Premium Hiking Region (Premium-Wanderregion). The region’s evaluation is based on four pillars: the availability of hiking trails, hiking information system, supply of trail-friendly accommodation and gastronomy, and the offer of guided tours and events. Currently, there are 9 Premium Hiking Regions in Germany. One of the certified regions is Hochschwarzwald, where I spent the final days on the Westweg.
What are you waiting for!? So many fantastic trails await! Plan your adventure and get out there!