Traveling along the German Wine Route

With an estimated 23,000 hectares, the Palatinate — known locally as the Pfalz — is the second-largest wine-growing region in Germany. About 4,000 wine growers, most of whom work in family-run businesses, live here. Their know-how has long made Palatinate wine famous. Wines from the region were served at the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and were favorites on the decks of luxury ocean liners.

Riesling is the king of German wines. Nowhere else in the world does the white wine variety thrive as well as in Germany. And Palatinate is the main producer. Here, riesling wines are cultivated on nearly 6,000 hectares (circa 14,800 acres) and are available at all levels of quality and style, from table to premium, from very dry to rather sweet.

This area is also home to a kind of pop-up wine bar — known as a Strausswirtschaft. On certain days in the year, usually between April and November, vintners open their farms and serve their own wine — and only their wine. In addition, they offer small, simple snacks. You can recognize these temporary wine bars by a sign like this — or by a broom attached to the facade.

The Pfälzer Weinsteig hiking trail runs parallel to the wine route. The trail features forests and vineyards, castles and vantage points, wine-growing estates and romantic villages. With its detours, it's much longer than the Wine Route — it measures 172 kilometers (107 miles). You should be able to complete it in 11 daily stages, provided you don't make too many stops at the wineries.

Hikers who walk the Pfälzer Weinsteig will pass the cradle of German democracy, Hambach Castle. The Hambach Festival took place there in 1832, a protest march for democracy and a united Germany. It's regarded as the beginning of the democracy movement in Germany. The black-red-gold flag was waved at the castle for the first time, before later becoming the German flag.

There are several castle ruins along the hilltops of the Palatinate Forest, the foothills of which border the wine route to the west. Most date back to the time of the Salians and Staufers who ruled there. The most famous is Trifels Castle, where the imperial jewels of the German emperors were kept for centuries — and England's King Richard I, known as Richard the Lionheart, was imprisoned.

The Palatinate belonged to Bavaria between 1816 and 1956. Dating from this time is the Villa Ludwigshöhe, the summer residence of King Ludwig I — a heavenly idyll that the public can visit today. Perhaps Ludwig thought to himself: Why travel to Tuscany when I have the Palatinate on my front doorstep?

The people of the Palatinate like food. And so, the region features many delicious treats for tourists — whether as part of a culinary vineyard walk (pictured), or wine tastings at vineyards, or in vinotheques. Even in the woods, there are numerous managed cabins where hikers can take a hearty break.

The Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt, in Bad Dürkheim, is considered to be the largest wine festival in the world. It has its roots in the 12th century, when the people of Dürkheim had the idea to provide pilgrims with food and drink. The name of the folk festival refers to the Palatinate's second passion — sausage.

The wine gate marks the beginning or end of the German Wine Route, depending on where you start. It's located in Schweigen-Rechtenbach, directly on the French border. It was built in 1935 by Hitler's National Socialists. The wine route, invented to market the region to tourists, can also be traced back to the Nazis.