Pfälzer Nordroute

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Imperial Cathedral of Speyer / Hornbach Abbey with the tomb of St. Pirminius
• Length: 155.9 km
• Duration: 8 stages, averaging just under 20 km; experienced walkers manage it in 7 days
• Elevation: ↗ 2,101 m / ↘ 1,970 m
• Highest point: 469 m at km 66.1 on the watershed near Johanniskreuz
• Landscape: Rhine plain and asparagus fields, the wine town of Neustadt, then the red-sandstone valleys of the Palatinate Forest, the Westrich plateau and the rolling hills around Zweibrücken
• Waymarking: scallop shell on a blue background, put up by the Pfälzerwald-Verein
• Traces of St. James: a bronze St. James pilgrim and a confraternity seal from 1418 in Speyer, the hospital church of Sts. Philip and James in Vogelbach
• Accommodation: no pilgrim hostels; inns, guesthouses and hotels, sparse in the forest
• Connecting routes: Klosterroute Worms (joins at Landstuhl), Jakobsweg Hornbach – Metz onward from the finish, Pfälzer Südroute as the sister route with the same start and finish
• Best time: May to October; in the Palatinate Forest the finest weeks come in fall

Overview

Two Ways of St. James link Speyer with Hornbach, and the Nordroute is the one that leaves the wine behind early. After a flat first day across the Rhine plain, you plunge into the Palatinate Forest at Neustadt an der Weinstraße and stay in it for three days: through the Elmstein valley, past castle ruins and woogs, the Palatinate's old millponds, up to the source of the Speyerbach and over the saddle of Johanniskreuz. Elmstein, the municipality at the heart of this section, is 95.2 percent forest – no place in Rhineland-Palatinate has a higher share. Then the land opens up: Landstuhl with Nanstein Castle, the Westrich plateau, Kirrberg and the Hornbach valley.

The Nordroute is a young route on old pilgrim ground. In the Middle Ages Speyer had a St. James church and a confraternity of pilgrims who had returned from Santiago, a hospital church for travelers stood in Vogelbach from 1150, and Hornbach itself was a pilgrimage destination for some 800 years. Yet the route was only waymarked around 2001, at the urging of Speyer's bishop Anton Schlembach and carried out by the Pfälzerwald-Verein. At the end you stand at a tomb that was found empty in 1953: The highest point of this Way of St. James belongs to a Johann, the finish to a Pirmin – you'll only meet St. James himself in bronze and on seals.

Other Names

Officially the route is called Pfälzer Jakobsweg – Nordroute, and tourist offices also use Pfälzer Jakobspilgerweg Nordroute; among pilgrims it's simply "die Nordroute" (the northern route). There is no historical name; the route is a modern alignment within the European network of Ways of St. James. Wikipedia and older guidebooks give "just under 147 kilometers"; the waymarked route on our map measures 155.9.

Today the Palatinate network consists of three branches:

• Pfälzer Nordroute — Speyer to Hornbach through the Palatinate Forest
• Pfälzer Südroute — Speyer to Hornbach via Landau, the Southern Wine Route and the Wasgau
• Klosterroute — from Worms Cathedral through the northern Palatinate to Landstuhl, where it meets the Nordroute

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

Ideal if you have a good week and want forest, not a stroll through the vineyards: between Neustadt and Landstuhl you walk some 74 kilometers almost entirely under trees, along streams and through valleys where you'll hardly meet a soul on a weekday. Also ideal as your first longer pilgrimage in Germany, because nothing is technically difficult and almost every stage town is on the rail network – Speyer, Neustadt, Lambrecht, Landstuhl, Bruchmühlbach-Miesau, Homburg and Zweibrücken all have stations.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you're after pilgrim hostels and pilgrim company: there are no albergues, you book inn by inn, and you can go days without meeting anyone with a shell on their backpack. Not for you if you like to walk spontaneously – between Elmstein and Landstuhl there are only a handful of places to stay across some 50 kilometers. And not for you if you expect a route without asphalt: the first day to Neustadt and the last day through the suburbs of Zweibrücken run largely on farm tracks and along roads.

Route & Landscape

Speyer to Neustadt (km 0–29.1): From the Imperial Cathedral you head west out of town along the Speyerbach, through riverside woods and fields of asparagus and vegetables. Dudenhofen, Hanhofen and Lachen-Speyerdorf lie just off the route, not on it. Near Hanhofen the stream splits evenly in two at the Hanhofer Wassergescheid – water engineering from the days when the plain had to be irrigated and timber floated downstream. All day the Haardt hills grow ahead of you, and in Neustadt you stand at the foot of the uplands, between the Gothic collegiate church and the vineyards.

Neustadt to Hornbach (km 29.1–155.9): Beyond Neustadt the narrow valley of the Speyerbach begins: Lambrecht (km 37.6), Frankeneck, the ruins of Erfenstein (km 42.5) with Spangenberg Castle opposite, then Breitenstein, Helmbach and Appenthal with its Lady chapel, all the way to Elmstein (km 51.8). Via Mückenwiese and Speyerbrunn (km 60.8), where the stream rises, you climb to Johanniskreuz (km 65.9) and reach the highest point, 469 meters, at kilometer 66.1. West of the watershed the trail drops into the Moosalbe valley with the Karlstal gorge and down to the hamlets of Walzwerk (km 82.0) and Breitenau (km 84.6), which belong to the municipality of Stelzenberg; the village itself stays a good kilometer off the route, as do Bann and the Sandweiher pond. In Landstuhl (km 102.8) Nanstein Castle awaits. After that the land opens out: across Langwieden and the plateau to Bruchmühlbach-Miesau (km 119.8), Lambsborn and Bechhofen, past Homburg – the town lies 1.5 kilometers off the trail – to Kirrberg (km 134.4) and via Niederauerbach (km 142.2) on the eastern edge of Zweibrücken into the Hornbach valley. Via Bödingerhof and Althornbach you reach Hornbach and its abbey.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We show the route in 8 stages; the distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated precisely to 155.9 km. The split follows the accommodation: short days in the forest, where beds are scarce, longer ones on the plain. If you're fit, combine stages 3 and 4 into a single day from Elmstein to Walzwerk (30.2 km) and you'll need just 7 days.

1. Speyer → Neustadt an der Weinstraße (29.1 km) — Flat across the Rhine plain along the Speyerbach, little shade; the longest but easiest stage.
2. Neustadt an der Weinstraße → Elmstein (22.7 km) — Into the Speyerbach valley, via Lambrecht and past the castle ruins of Erfenstein and Spangenberg; a steady, gentle climb.
3. Elmstein → Johanniskreuz (14.1 km) — The mountain stage: via Mückenwiese and the source of the Speyerbach at Speyerbrunn up to the highest point; kept short so there's time for the saddle.
4. Johanniskreuz → Walzwerk (16.1 km) — Over the watershed and down into the Moosalbe valley with the Karlstal; book your bed in Stelzenberg or Trippstadt ahead.
5. Walzwerk → Landstuhl (20.8 km) — Via Breitenau and the heights near Bann to Landstuhl, where the Klosterroute joins.
6. Landstuhl → Bruchmühlbach-Miesau (17.0 km) — Past the giant sequoias via Langwieden up onto the plateau, to the church of Vogelbach.
7. Bruchmühlbach-Miesau → Niederauerbach (22.4 km) — Via Lambsborn, Bechhofen and Kirrberg, past Homburg to the edge of Zweibrücken.
8. Niederauerbach → Hornbach (13.7 km) — Up the Hornbach valley via Bödingerhof and Althornbach to the abbey; arrive early to make time for the chapel and museum.

The surface is mostly forest paths and logging roads on red sandstone, plus farm tracks on the plain. Nothing is technically difficult; the elevation gain comes less from the one climb to Johanniskreuz than from the constant ups and downs west of it. Between Elmstein and Landstuhl there are long stretches with nowhere to stop for food, and cell coverage has gaps in the forest.

Against the Current: How the Speyerbach Leads You to a Knight's Cross

Nearly half of this route is a river walk. The Speyerbach rises in the central Palatinate Forest at about 464 meters and, after just under 60 kilometers, flows into the Rhine at Speyer – and the Nordroute follows it for its entire length, only in reverse: you start at the mouth and, a little over 60 kilometers later, stand at the source at Speyerbrunn. For centuries traffic on this stream ran the other way. Firewood from the Palatinate Forest was tossed loose into the water and drifted down to Neustadt and Speyer; in Elmstein the Augustenwoog pond collected the logs, while the Speyerbrunner Woog higher up released the surge of water that set them moving. Around 1852 the region had some 140 kilometers of streams fit for log driving. The last drive on the Speyerbach ran in 1902, carrying 6,193 steres of wood. Where the timber once floated downhill, you now walk uphill – the stream was the signpost long before there was a shell.

At the top waits the place with the strangest name on the route. Johanniskreuz sits on a saddle at about 470 meters, where the paths of the Palatinate Forest have always crossed. The name goes back to the knight Johannes von Wilenstein, who in 1269 – allegedly without any right to do so – had his coat of arms carved into a wayside cross belonging to the lords of Hohenecken to mark his boundary. A charter from 1551 calls the stone "Des Herrn Johanns Creutz" (Lord Johann's Cross). So the highest point of a Way of St. James is marked by a 13th-century land grab. Johanniskreuz has two more twists: in August 1843 foresters gathered here coined the name "Pfälzerwald" (Palatinate Forest), and in 1908 the theologian Anton Foohs proclaimed the first Catholic Day of the Diocese of Speyer on this spot, a pilgrimage into the forest that remained a tradition until 2007.

In practice this means: take your time on stage 3 – it's short so that you don't rush through. The source at Speyerbrunn and the saddle are worth a break, and since 2004 the Haus der Nachhaltigkeit (House of Sustainability) in Johanniskreuz has hosted exhibitions about the forest you've just walked through. Stock up on water and food in Elmstein; up top there are restaurants but no shops.

Highlights Along the Way

• Imperial Cathedral of Speyer (km 0) — begun around 1025/1030 under Conrad II, consecrated in 1061, 134 meters long, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981; on the Geschirrplatz stands Martin Mayer's bronze St. James pilgrim from 1990, striding out with his back to the cathedral.
• Neustadt an der Weinstraße (km 29.1) — granted town rights in 1275 by King Rudolf "nach Speyerer Recht" (under Speyer law), Gothic collegiate church from the 14th century, some 2,200 hectares of vineyards.
• Lambrecht (km 37.6) — founded in 977 as the Benedictine monastery of St. Lambrecht, dissolved in 1553; in 1568 Elector Frederick III handed the buildings to Walloon religious refugees, who turned the town into a cloth-making center.
• Erfenstein and Spangenberg castle ruins (km 42.5) — two rival castles on opposite sides of the valley, one belonging to the counts of Leiningen, the other to the prince-bishops of Speyer; both were destroyed in the Weissenburg Feud of 1470.
• Lady Chapel of Appenthal (km 50.3) — pilgrimage chapel endowed in 1488 by Elector Philip the Upright.
• Speyerbrunn and Johanniskreuz (km 60.8 and 65.9) — source of the Speyerbach and the saddle with the highest point, 469 meters.
• Karlstal (between km 66 and 82) — a four-kilometer red-sandstone gorge of the Moosalbe, gently opened up with paths and footbridges in the 1780s by the landscape architect Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell.
• Nanstein Castle, Landstuhl (km 102.8) — first mentioned in 1189, from 1518 the fortress of the knight Franz von Sickingen, who died of his wounds after the siege on May 7, 1523; finally destroyed in 1689.
• Giant sequoias near Landstuhl — planted in 1868 between Landstuhl and Langwieden, now more than 41 meters tall.
• Simultaneum church of Sts. Philip and James, Vogelbach (near km 119.8) — built in 1131, from 1150 a hospital church for the sick and for travelers, shared by both denominations since 1672.
• Hornbach Abbey (km 155.9) — founded around 741 by Pirminius, dissolved in 1557; since 1957 a chapel has stood over the tomb rediscovered in 1953, and since 2000 the complex has been a hotel with the Historama museum.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Speyer is a hub, and three waymarked routes end on the cathedral square:

• Jakobsweg Mainz–Speyer — along the left bank of the Rhine via Oppenheim and Worms, three imperial cathedrals in five days
• Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Speyer — from Franconia via the Hohe Strasse and the Jagst valley to the Rhine
• Jakobsweg Speyer–Bad Bergzabern — starts at the same cathedral and heads south toward Alsace

If you're coming from Rhenish Hesse, you don't need Speyer at all: the Klosterroute Worms runs from Worms Cathedral through the northern Palatinate to Landstuhl, where it meets the Nordroute at kilometer 102.8. For you that means: from Worms to Hornbach it's two routes, but one way. Everyone else travels to Speyer by train.

Continue the pilgrimage?

In Hornbach the Nordroute ends, but not the shell. From the abbey the Jakobsweg Hornbach – Metz leads through the Bliesgau and across the border into Lorraine to the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Metz. The direction has history: the founding of Hornbach Abbey was confirmed in the 8th century by a bishop of Metz.

If you want the whole Palatinate, walk the Pfälzer Südroute from Hornbach in reverse back to Speyer, via the Wasgau, Bad Bergzabern and Landau. That turns two routes into a loop of a good 300 kilometers.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. Even though this route doesn't end in Santiago, a pilgrim passport (credencial) is worth having: you can get stamps at parish offices, tourist information centers and inns along the way, the first in Speyer Cathedral, the last at Hornbach Abbey. If you later continue in Spain, it documents the beginning of your pilgrim story. It's best to order it online in advance so it reaches you in time for the start of your trip. The easiest way to plan the route is in the Camino Ninja App, where you put together your stages and plan suitable accommodation right along with them; you also have the map and track offline there, which counts in the Palatinate Forest.

Accommodation. There is no hostel network. In Speyer, Neustadt, Landstuhl, Homburg and Zweibrücken you'll find a choice, in Elmstein a few inns, and in the forest between Johanniskreuz and Landstuhl only a handful of places. Book those nights in advance, especially on weekends, and ask whether your host will pick you up on the trail if the lodging is in the next village.

Season and gear. The season runs from May to October; in April it can still be cold on the heights, and in midsummer the first day on the plain is hot and shadeless. Fall is the best time, when the beeches in the Elmstein valley turn color. Carry water for the whole day, rain gear and an offline map: the waymarking is reliable in the forest, but in villages and at junctions with other Pfälzerwald-Verein hiking trails you'll occasionally need a second look.

What the journey will cost you

Budget 60 to 95 € per day – German prices, not Spanish ones. A double room in an inn or guesthouse usually runs 75 to 110 €, a single room 50 to 80 €, dinner 15 to 28 € (as of October 2026, guide prices). If you treat yourself to Hornbach Abbey at the end, you'll pay from 149 € per night for a room with breakfast (as of October 2026).

You can save on transport: with the Deutschlandticket you ride local trains to the start, between stage towns and back from the finish. The pilgrim passport costs a few euros as a donation. Honestly, the most expensive item isn't the bed but the extra night you need because the right lodging is missing in the forest.

Getting Here

To the start. Long-distance trains stop in Mannheim; from there the S-Bahn takes you to Speyer in 20 to 30 minutes, and it's about a 15-minute walk from the station to the cathedral. The nearest major airport is Frankfurt, about an hour by train to Mannheim. Along the way there are stations in Neustadt, Lambrecht, Landstuhl and Bruchmühlbach-Miesau, all on the Mannheim–Saarbrücken line; Elmstein can be reached by bus, and on seasonal days by the "Kuckucksbähnel" (little cuckoo train) heritage railway from Lambrecht.

From the finish. Hornbach has no train station. Take the bus about six kilometers to Zweibrücken, from there the S-Bahn to Homburg (Saar) and on to long-distance trains toward Saarbrücken, Kaiserslautern and Mannheim. On weekends the bus timetable is thin, so plan your return trip ahead.

• Rail: bahn.de — connections to Speyer and from Zweibrücken or Homburg
• Local transport in the Palatinate and Saarland: vrn.de — buses and S-Bahn, including Hornbach–Zweibrücken
• Finish: kloster-hornbach.de — hotel, Historama and pilgrim stamp