“…the castle of Eltz, the gem of all German castles. …for just to gaze at this embodiment of medieval life in all its emphatic picturesqueness is more than compensation for the ride through the woods.”
Finding the Worthwhile in Europe by Albert B. Osbourne (1923)
If there is one site which has become an old friend of the blog, it is Burg Eltz. Since it was published in 2022, Hiking to Burg Eltz has been my most viewed blog post. Like all my other blog posts, it was never intended to be a static reference guide. It originally covered my first four hikes, and because of its relative success, I later updated it in 2024 to include a fifth. But due to the personal nature of my writing, the narrative around that post belongs to 2022 even if the hikes themselves are timeless. After making a sixth venture to this beloved castle in the summer of 2026, it feels time to start afresh and let the aforementioned post age gracefully.
For my sixth hike to Burg Eltz, I chose a route which is probably the most official of the Burg Eltz hikes; the Burg Eltz Panoramic Trail. This route is already well accounted for around the web, so my recent trip to Beilstein along the Mosel River was a good opportunity to finally arrive late to the party.
The hike starts at the dedicated parking area in the village of Wierschem, the self-proclaimed Das Tor zur Burg Eltz or The Gateway to Burg Eltz. The list of tourist sites on the village website is impressively long for such a small town, but surely the undisputed jewel bringing the most visitors to town is the Eltzer Burgpanorama. On the day I arrived, however, the hikers were far outnumbered. Wierschem was hosting a tractor show, with farmers from all over gathering to show off their newest and oldest rides. And wherever a bunch of German farmers get together to shoot the breeze on a hot summer day, there is bound to be Bitburger beer in this neck of the woods. And where there is Bitburger beer, I would soon find out there is more Bitburger beer.
It’s Not Just a Beer, It’s a Journey
The cultivated fields surrounding Wierschem were baked to a golden brown and filled the air with the scent of cut hay. I eagerly crossed the open plateau under the blue morning skies. The outside temperature was still comfortable, but it would soon rise rapidly toward a scorching afternoon. Somewhere nestled in the connected forest was the inimitable Burg Eltz, my old friend.
After entering the forest, the path heads down into the Elzbach valley and hugs the Elzbach stream. At a certain intersection of paths, a place I had been before, I recognized the trail ascending up to one of the classic viewpoints of the castle. I tried to channel some boyish wide-eyed wonder as I reached back for some of the memories of previous visits.
As I reached the top of the trail, the tranquility I had enjoyed thus far was replaced with the sudden din of voices and the spectrum of colored shirts, hats, and backpacks of other visitors who were busy posing for pictures and admiring the view. There she was, Burg Eltz, looking nary a day older than the first time I saw her in 2013. As for myself, I could sense the passage of time. I looked around the beautiful setting recalling younger versions of myself giddily exploring these woods. The castle was not entirely without her own changes. Gone was the lower foodcourt where I once sat eating goulash and sipping beer from a Burg Eltz hefeweizen glass which I still have in my collection. Today, it contains some vending machines while undergoing renovations. The cafe is now part of the upper section behind the gift shop. It was a little early for lunch, but the staff accommodated me with my now customary bowl of goulash. However, serving hefeweizen in the souvenir glass seems to be a thing of the past. Instead, Bitte ein Bit, a Bitburger was the beer choice. It would become a theme of the day.
The path between Burg Eltz and the next stop follows a well-worn and very nice path heading in the direction of the village of Moselkern through the Elzbach valley.
The next stop is the Landhotel Ringelsteiner Mühle where they serve, you guessed it, Bitburger.
The Bitburger did little to assist with the most challenging part of the hike, a steep climb out of the Elzbach valley.
The plateau of rolling fields at the top bore a slight resemblance to the Sahara Desert, while the beating afternoon sun did little to dissuade such comparison. Despite the heat, the almost uninterrupted view of the well-groomed rows of cut grass was impressive.
Back at the tractor show, I sidled up to the refreshment stand hoping for something new, something unique. The sign said beer, so I ordered one. The stall-tender reached inside the cooler. My eyes widened as my tongue attempted to prepare my sun-chapped lips for the ice-coldness of the beer bottle. Maybe a special beer from Koblenz or Cologne, or a local craft brewery I’ve never heard of. My mind concocted one grand vision after another… only to have each of them fizzle under their own weight as the bottle was placed in front of me. Again?
Final Remarks
The Burg Eltz Panorama Trail is worthy of its official status. The long segments of open field were, on this day, punishing in the heat, but otherwise they would be a sea of gold any hiker would relish getting swallowed up by. I have a lot of memories tied to my hikes to my old friend, Burg Eltz. No place reminds of me more of what it was like to discover Europe for the first time. There is a fine thread which connects all of these hikes together; resonating with the circumstances of my life as I’ve grown older and originating from that spirit of wonder and exploration. It reminds me not to lose it and never to stop being thankful. Even when you can’t find anything but a stinking Bitburger.
itsabrewtifulworld 