Everything You Need to Know to Hike the Westweg

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The Westweg is Germany’s oldest long distance hiking trail. The trail, over 280 kilometers long, was laid in 1900 through the work of Phillip Bussemer and is maintained today by the Schwarzwald Verein. The route, which travels through the Black Forest from Pforzheim to Basel, Switzerland, has been awarded the seal of Qualitätswanderweg from the Deutsches Wanderverband and is also one of the 16 renowned “Top Trails of Germany”.

The West, East, and Central Ways

The Westweg is one of many long distance hiking trails in the Black Forest (Nationalpark Schwarzwald). It along with two others beginning in Pforzheim and ending at the Swiss border, the Ostweg and Mittleweg, are marked by a rhombus. The Westweg is well-marked throughout by a black-outlined red rhombus on a white field (!In Switzerland, it is a yellow rhombus!) After Kalte Herberge at Lake Titisee, the Westweg splits into two routes: the westliche Variante and the ostliche Variante.

The Westweg is the most challenging hike I have been on, but also one of the most rewarding. I hiked the Westweg (westliche Variante) in September 2020 in 12 sections, and I’m here to tell you everything you need to know about the trail.

How to Plan Your Hike on the Westweg

In planning your hike on the Westweg, you’ll need to determine how much time you have to hike and which sections (if not all of them) you’re most interested in hiking. Don’t forget to plan in rest days! I did not think about this and wish I had done it. A good idea is to have a rest day for every 5-7 days of hiking. But plan in as many as you’d like to! There are worthwhile hikes and sights at all stops along the way.

All start and end points to each section are reachable by public transportation (mostly by bus except for Pforzheim, Forbach, Hausach, Hinterzarten, Titisee and Basel). Almost all accommodations supply you with a Konus card which allows you to use all public transit in the Black Forest region (which is quite large!).

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Budgeting on the Westweg

Another important point to consider is budget. You can do the trip for next to nothing if you plan to stay in the Schutzhütten along the way and cook all of your own food. Paying for a package-trip with luggage transport would be the most expensive. My hike was a bit in the middle. I stayed in guesthouses and hotels along the way, paying for breakfast and dinner, and carrying my own snacks for during the day. This cost about 70€ per day for a single person in single rooms.

Tip: If you share the room with a hiking buddy, the cost will be a bit less.  

If you’d like to make planning easy, Schwarzwald Tourismus offers a number of pre-packaged hikes on the Westweg, ranging from 5 to 13 days. You can also have luggage transport throughout your trip and just carry a day pack while you hike.

Money

Like the rest of Germany, cash is the preferred method of payment when you hike the Westweg. Many hotels and restaurants accept CASH ONLY. Any which do accept cards will often have an extra fee. You can find banks and ATMs in the bigger towns like Pforzheim, Forbach, Hausach, Titisee, Hinterzarten, and Basel.

Eating on the Westweg

A really wonderful thing about the Westweg is the abundance of gastronomic opportunities along the way. The “magical Biergarten in the woods” is totally a thing here, as most peaks have some kind of lodge with a terrace or Biergarten attached to them. I’m not one for beer, but I did eat an awful lot of delicious, homemade cake on the trail.

The towns at the end of each trail section in will have several options for restaurants. Often times your accommodation for the night will include breakfast. Some of them also have restaurants, which means you don’t have to walk any further in order to fulfill your hiker hunger in the evening.

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Dietary Differences

As a vegetarian, the trail was a bit challenging, but doable. I ate a LOT of Käsespätzle, which I didn’t think I could get sick of, as delicious as it is. (Spoiler: I spent a week after the Westweg as a vegan!) Käsespätzle is a typical southern German dish of egg noodles covered in cream and cheese. Some people refer to it as “grown-up mac ’n’ cheese.” The trail would be really challenging as a vegan, though many places are open-minded about dietary differences, even if that is not reflected on the menu. Just ask 🙂

Supermarkets

When you hike the Westweg, there are VERY FEW supermarkets or any kind of place to purchase snacks for your backpack. There are supermarkets in Pforzheim, Forbach, Hausach, and Hinterzarten. Otherwise, you will need to make a significant detour from the trail in order to fill up your reserves.

Tip: In Hausach, if you are staying at Zur Blume, then the Lidl and Aldi are basically next door. If you’re staying further in town, stop at the supermarket before you get to your accommodation. Trust me, you will NOT want to walk back 1 km for groceries!

Snacks

Definitely have enough snacks in your pack for the day (or a few days, as supermarkets are a rare thing. I often didn’t have the energy to search them out and make grocery decisions when I arrived in town). I carried enough energy bars, dried fruit, gummy bears, chocolate, and trail mix to last me for the hike. It was heavy at the beginning, but I never made a supermarket run and I always had the snacks I liked and knew I would eat along the way. I ran into a lot of mountain huts which were closed on the day I was passing through. So even though I thought there was a snack/lunch option it turned out to be closed. Be prepared for this by having enough supply for the way!

Sleeping on the Westweg

Unlike thru-hikes in the US, it is uncommon in Germany to camp on a long distance trail. For one, wild camping is not really permitted in Germany. You must stay at a designated campground. These campgrounds don’t cater to thru-hikers and are not located directly on the hike, making them really inconvenient for forward progress on a multi-day trip.

Schutzhütten

The Westweg, however, does have Schutzhütten along the way in which you can sleep for free. A Schutzhütte is a 3 or 4 sided structure, usually like a small, one-room log cabin. There is no running water or electricity. Often making a fire is not permitted, but some of the Hütten have a fire ring, in which I would assume it is allowed. You are not allowed to pitch a tent if you’re not at a campground, but I met a few people hiking the Westweg who carried one just in case.

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These huts are usually within a few kilometers of the designated start/end town and lie directly on the trail. You should plan out in advance where you are staying because the sections can become much longer if you are staying in the huts. There is no booking system for the hut, so you may be staying with several other people. You will need a sleeping bag and pad. Some of them have a second floor for sleeping with a table and benches below. Others are very simple.

Water, Toileting, and Trash

There are water sources along the way, but since I did not use them, I can’t tell you how regularly you come by them. Better information is available in any guide. I met many people along the way who slept in the Schutzhütten. They filled up their bottles when they stopped to eat lunch or dinner. Ditto for using the toilet. You must pack out your toilet paper and trash. There are NO TRASH CANS along the Westweg.

Other Accommodation

Part of being a certified Quality Hike, means that there are Quality Hiking Hosts along the way, Qualitätsgastgeber. These accommodations are particularly in tune with the needs of the thru-hiker, with extras like lunch packets, pick-up from the trail, or luggage transport. Often, these rooms are budget friendly as well, with some as little as 35€ for the night, breakfast included.

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You can see below exactly where I stayed along the way. This brochure has loads of information about accommodation for every section of the Westweg.

Tip: Although it’s more work, you will get better prices for rooms if you call the accommodations listed in the brochure instead of using Booking.com or other accommodation websites.

The Gates on the Westweg

Each of the twelve Westweg gates shows what highlights you can expect to see on the next section of trail as well as in the surrounding area (this goes for hiking in either direction!). Every portal is made out of a different regional material, like white pine, Douglas fir, granite, or sandstone. Like other long distance trails (like the Camino de Santiago), the Westweg has a stamp passport. Get stamps from 9 of the 12 gates to receive a Black Forest buff or other prize.

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Start of the Westweg

The Westweg begins at the Kupferhammer restaurant in Pforzhiem, about 2.5 km from the main train station. Starting from the train station, the Westweg trail marker leads you through town to the Kupferhammer. It takes you past the Church of St. Michael, to the Marktplatz, along the gold smith’s mile, and the Stadtgarten. Bus #3 from the station also stops at Kupferhammer. To reach the start of the hike, continue heading in the direction of the bus, cross the bridge, and you’ll see the Kupferhammer. Just beyond is a boxy gate which says “Golden Gate Pforzheim,” the first of the twelve gates along the way.

Trail Markings on the Westweg

Since the Westweg is a Quality Hike, the trail is extremely well marked. It is advisable to have a guide book and/or map of the entire trail with you, but it will stay in your pack most of the way. I used this Rother Wandführer. Because much of the Black Forest is used for forestry purposes, there are sometimes short-term detours due to forestry work. In my experience, these were always well-marked and easy to follow.

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Traveling with Smart Tech

There is a free hiking app from Schwarzwald, which will give you all the maps for each section. It’s just called “Schwarzwald” and is available in German. I haven’t tested this out, so let me know how you find it!

Sections of the Westweg

Here are the sections in which I hiked the Westweg and where I stayed. You can read a more detailed account of my trip in the following blog articles:

1-3: The Westweg: Hiking on Germany’s Oldest Long Distance Trail

4-6: Hiking the Westweg: Unterstmatt to Hausach

7-9: Finding my Way on the Westweg – Hausach to Hinterzarten

10-12: Highs and Lows at the End of the Westweg – Hinterzarten to Basel

Northern Black Forest

1. Pforzheim – Dobel : 25 km. Hotel Rössle – the decoration was a bit eccentric, but the breakfast room was like being in the Knight’s Hall. I felt dwarfed at the table in a chair that was like a king’s throne.

2. Dobel – Forbach : 26.3 km. Hotel am Mühlbach – although I was an exhausted, smelly, sweaty, disgusting hiker, I was treated like a queen at this hotel. The owner was so polite and kind! They even made me a great lunch packet to take with me for the next day.

3. Forbach – Unterstmatt : 19.6 km. Hochkopfstub – the best Käsespätzle I had on the trail and maybe ever.

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4. Unterstmatt – Alexanderschanze : 28.3 km. Hotel Schwarzwald Kniebis – old, family-run hotel. The owner picked me up from the trail and brought me back the next morning. And they made me a special order vegetarian dish (since there weren’t any on the menu).

5. Alexanderschanze – Hark : 17.1 km. Pension Kempfenhof – on the day I arrived, the Harkhof had a rest day, so I booked in Oberharmersbach. Pension Kempfenhof brought me to and from the trail. Not sure if all the rooms are as great, but I had an incredible view of the adorable village from my balcony.

6. Hark – Hausach : 15.5 km. Hotel Gasthaus zur Eiche – nice, family-run hotel directly on the trail.

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Southern Black Forest

7. Hausach – Wilhelmshöhe : 21.3 km. Silberberg – just beyond Wilhelmshöhe (again I arrived on their rest day). Silberberg, located in the middle of nowhere (I had no cell phone service) has cold food only, but enough to fill you up. The only vegetarian option is Biblikäs, a kind of delicious fresh cheese with bread. I slept in the “Matratzenlager,” or a mattress on the floor of the attic with a shared bathroom. Many hikers went to Schonach for this leg, which is another 2km away.

8. Wilhelmshöhe – Kalte Herberge : 22.4 km. Kalte Herberge – an icon on the trail. This guesthouse has been around for a loooong time with an even longer history. The food is great! I had delicious cake (two slices actually), a filling dinner, and the diverse breakfast buffet is the best on the trail.

9. Kalte Herberge – Hinterzarten : 26.1 km. Hotel Sonni Garni – at first I was annoyed that this accommodation, located nearly 1 km off the trail (downhill!), had no pick-up, but the walk through town was worth it. The location is near a lot of restaurant options. But I needed a reservation to eat and many were booked out, as the spa town of Hinterzarten is quite fancy and popular. Fanciest room I had on the Westweg.

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10. Hinterzarten – Wiedener Eck : 26.6 km. Haus Margarete – lovely, family-run hotel with pick-up. She even made a reservation for me at the nearest restaurant before I arrived. 🙂 Again, Wiedener Eck had a rest day while I was there, but I enjoyed the ride down into Wieden and the view of the valley.

11. Wiedener Eck – Kandern : 32.2 km. Gasthaus zur Schnecke – the in-house restaurant offers vegetarian and vegan dishes!

12. Kandern – Basel : 26.2. Meyerhof, Lörrach. Due to COVID-19, I didn’t hike to Basel, Switzerland, and stopped just short in Lörrach, which was also worth a visit. But if you have never been to Basel: GO TO BASEL!

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That’s everything I could think of that you could possibly want to know about the trail. Will you hike the Westweg? Do you still have questions? Let me know in the comments and I’ll do my very best to answer them.

Happy hiking!

I used the Rother Wanderführer for the Schwarzwald Fernwanderwege and this brochure from Schwarzwald Tourismus to guide my planning and my hike on the Westweg.