Bad Dürkheim – Limburg Monastery Ruins – Hardenburg Ruins – Historic Gems of Ecclesiastical and Secular Power

​ ▶ From the Grethen 01 district of Bad Dürkheim, we start right by the church and climb quite steeply up a wide stone staircase along a footpath to a parking lot and the Limburg 02 monastery ruins. We pass the ruins and the Eduard Jost monument (the composer of the “Pfälzerlied”), walk through the park, and finally descend a few steep switchbacks on a rocky path. We come to the road, leave it after a few hundred meters by turning right at a curve (parking lot), and arrive at a fork in the trail. We keep to the right, follow a forest path that narrows and descends steadily, and which leads us to the road, a parking lot, and the Schlangenweiher 03.Above the pond, we take a sharp right turn and climb uphill on a hillside path, partly via steps. After several sharp switchbacks, the trail levels off; we come to a fork, keep to the right, pass the Lindenklause rest stop shortly afterward, and a few steps later find ourselves in front of the imposing Hardenburg 04 ruins.Back at the fork, we follow the narrow path to the right up into the forest—marked in blue and white—toward the “Dicke Eiche.” We hike along long, straight stretches on a wide forest road, ascending gently, until we reach a trail junction with a tree wrapped in black—the “Dicke Eiche” 05. Then the trail descends moderately to a small road and the shelter hut at the location Three Oaks 06. At the end of the parking lot, we turn left and follow Trail No. 5, which runs parallel to the small road above it. At a junction, we turn left onto the forest road and descend to the road, keep to the right, and turn left as the road curves to the right. Heading downhill, we rejoin our outbound route at the parking lot by the bend in the road. The trail climbs steeply up the slope to the park and across the plateau to the monastery ruins 02 ahead of us, where the garden restaurant invites us to stop for a break. Via the steep staircase, we descend back to the starting point at the church in Grethen 01.