Via Scandinavica

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Puttgarden (Fehmarn, Westmole) → Eisenach
• Length: 660.5 km
• Elevation gain: ↗ 5,231 m / ↘ 5,005 m — flat all the way to Hildesheim; the climbs await in the Leinebergland, the Eichsfeld, and along the Werra
• Duration: 28–33 days (31 stages)
• Waymarking: A yellow scallop on a blue background—the scallop's nose points the way; pack your GPS track anyway
• Access route: The Rødby–Puttgarden ferry—those coming from Scandinavia usually travel along the Hærvejen first; by land: Via Baltica in Lübeck, Birgittenweg in Lauenburg
• Connection: In Eisenach, the Via Regia continues toward Vacha, Fulda, and Würzburg; in Creuzburg, the Elisabethpfad crosses over toward Marburg
• Character: A long, nearly deserted pilgrimage route through the flatlands, rich in cultural sites—the Hanseatic League, salt, heathland monasteries, two World Heritage cities, the Grünes Band; exactly one pilgrim hostel, otherwise municipal lodging, youth hostels, and guesthouses

Overview

The Via Scandinavica begins where Germany ends: at the Westmole of Puttgarden on Fehmarn, with its back to the ferry from Denmark. From here, it runs 660.5 kilometers south—across the Fehmarnsundbrücke to the mainland, past Cismar Abbey into the World Heritage Old Town of Lübeck, on which Alte Salzstraße to the Elbe, through the Lüneburg Heath with three monasteries in four days, via Celle, Hanover, and the World Heritage Site of Hildesheim to Göttingen — and most recently on the Grünes Band, the strip of land along the former inner-German border, into the Werra Valley, and up to Eisenach, the Wartburg Castle overlooking the city.

It is the Way of St. James for Northern Europeans—and the only one in our network where the final leg of the journey is by ship. The fact that pilgrims went ashore right here has been known since 1198 On record: At that time, the Peter-Pauls-Kapelle“On the beach of Fehmarn,” as documented in historical records, likely founded shortly after 1192 by the Danish King Canute VI—a chapel of thanksgiving for those who had safely crossed the Belt. Today, you follow the yellow seashell on a blue background—signposted on Fehmarn since 2010 and with its own pilgrim’s guide since 2015—and for days on end, you’ll be the only one with a seashell on your backpack. This trail doesn’t end in Eisenach; it continues on: The Via Regia It crosses the city and continues the line toward Santiago.

1198: thanked; 1360: put to bed; around 1380: piously deceived

This journey begins with a thank-you for a boat ride. Shortly after 1192 the King of Denmark ordered Knut VI. build a chapel on Fehmarn Beach, 1198 It appears in a document for the first time: the Peter-Pauls-Kapelle, a stopping point for pilgrims on their way to Rome, Santiago, and Jerusalem—and, above all, the place where people gave thanks for having safely crossed the Belt. The chapel is gone. Its wooden Alms box But it still stands today in St.-Jürgen-Kapelle in Burg auf Fehmarn, just a day's walk from the pier. A path whose oldest relic is a donation box—pilgrimage history doesn't get any more authentic than that.

Lübeck illustrates just how large the operation once was: Around 1360, in the midst of the plague years, the Gertrudenherberge — named after the patron saint of pilgrims, 70 beds for double occupancy, that is, 140 beds For travelers heading toward Santiago. Today, as a pilgrim, you’ll sleep a few steps further up the hill, at St. Jakobi’s inn. The place has never lost its original purpose—only its house number. And the most prominent female traveler on this north-south route is historically documented by name: Birgitta of Sweden made a pilgrimage 1341 with her husband to Santiago—the Birgittenweg today retraces the routes she took through northern Germany; no one can prove it, and that’s exactly how we tell the story.

But the best story lies in the heath. On the February 2, 880 A Saxon army fell in battle against the Normans—two bishops, a duke, and twelve counts, according to the Fulda Annals. 1150 the remains were “miraculously recovered” and brought to Ebstorf, and around 1380 The claim that the battle had taken place in Ebstorf itself became firmly established. As far as we know, it did not—but this pious deception turned the monastery into a place of pilgrimage, and the pilgrims’ offerings paid for the largest map of the world in the Middle Ages: 12.74 square meters, over 2,300 entries, drawn around 1300, facsimiles of which hang at your stop today. A misunderstanding from 880 shaped the world around 1300. And just how true to itself this route is is demonstrated by Lüneburg’s city archaeology department: it has found three pilgrim markers. Two pointing toward Cologne, one toward the Eifel, and none toward Santiago. This route was a thoroughfare, not a gathering place—those who walked here left nothing behind.

Other Names

The process is almost the same everywhere: Via Scandinavica — occasionally also The Scandinavian Way of St. James or simply “Fehmarn–Eisenach” in route descriptions. The name says it all: It doesn’t describe the landscape or a local ruler, but rather the origins of the people who traveled this route. There are two names you should keep straight. First, the section between Lübeck and Lüneburg has a second, older name: the Alte Salzstraße — not a variant, but the same route with its name from economic history: Salz instead of Muschel. Second, some sources refer to the route only to Creuzburg and treat Eisenach as a stop along the way; for us, Eisenach is the destination, because that’s where the connecting train is waiting. And there’s one name that definitely doesn’t belong here: The Via Baltica is a separate route. It intersects with the route in Lübeck—it is not that route.

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

This path is for you if you're a A long route without any steep climbs Looking for: The 5,231 meters of elevation gain are spread over 660.5 kilometers—just under eight meters of climb per kilometer, the most forgiving training route a four-week journey can offer. You’ll stay in Germany the whole time, with train stops in almost every stage town, your native language spoken, and the option to take a break at any time and continue later. It’s also ideal if cities don’t bother you but actually interest you—Lübeck, Lüneburg, Celle, Hanover, Hildesheim, Göttingen, and Eisenach are all along the route, two of which feature World Heritage sites—and if you History in Layers What's exciting: the Hanseatic League, salt, the Reformation, the Cold War—all along a single route.

To be honest, though, it’s not for you if you’re looking for seclusion and panoramic views: no mountain passes, no high plateaus—just farm roads that are paved in places—easy to walk on, but hard on your feet and eyes. It’s also not for you if you’re expecting that Spanish hostel vibe: along its 660 kilometers, there are exactly one pilgrim hostel — which bears that name — at St. Jakobi in Lübeck. Everything else consists of church-run lodging, youth hostels, and guesthouses, which you’ll need to book in advance—at least seven stops are required. And there’s no stream of pilgrims here to simply go with the flow—you’ll be the only person with a scallop shell for days on end.

Route & Landscape

You'll start at the Westmole in Puttgarden, with your back to the ferry from Denmark, and first walk across an island: Fehmarn—flat, vast, windy. After a day, you find yourself in Burg auf Fehmarn, after two on the Fehmarnsundbrücke From 1963—963 meters across the strait, the only spot along the trail where you walk over water that smells like the sea. Then Ostholstein: rolling hills, Kloster Cismar, the Bay of Lübeck near Grömitz and Neustadt in Holstein, and on the sixth day, the entry into the Lübeck's Old Town, a World Heritage Site. From there, the trail turns definitively south and follows the Alte Salzstraße: along the Elbe-Lübeck-Kanal, through the Lauenburg Lakes, via the customs town Mölln and Büchen, until on the tenth day the Elbe Before you lies—Lauenburg is the gateway between Northern and Central Germany.

South of the Elbe, the landscape becomes gentler and more secluded: Bardowick, which was destroyed "entirely, except for the churches" in 1189, then Lüneburg with its Salzpatrizier brick, then the Heath — Pine trees, sand, patches of purple in August, and three monasteries in four days: Medingen, Ebstorf, later Wienhausen. About Celle and Altwarmbüchen you can reach Hanover, follow the Leine about Laatzen and Sarstedt according to Hildesheim — and that's where the flatlands end. The trail climbs into the Leineberg region, over Bad Gandersheim and Northeim according to Göttingen, and the last six stages are the most challenging and the most political: across Reinhausen into Eichsfeld, on which Grünes Band the Burg Hanstein past the building whose north tower served as a GDR observation post, to the Hülfensberg, which lay across the border from 1950 to 1989. From Treffurt accompanies you Werra — according to Creuzburg with its stone bridge dating from 1223, through Hörschel and up to Eisenach. 660.5 kilometers, three federal states—and it’s not until the very end that you start climbing in earnest for the first time.

Stages, Terrain & Difficulty

31 daily stages are the natural rhythm — ten in Schleswig-Holstein and fifteen in Lower Saxony, according to the classification by the Pilgrimage Center in the North, plus the five stages managed by the association from Göttingen to Creuzburg and a final stage to Eisenach. The daily distances range from approximately 12 to 28 kilometers, with an average of just over 21—which Klaus Letulé of the St. James Society formulated as a rule of thumb for the north as early as 2008: “20 kilometers is an ideal daily stage.” Technically, the route to Hildesheim is flat and well-paved; the real climbs don’t begin until the Leinebergland, the Eichsfeld, and along the Werra. The difficulty of this trail lies in its length, not its elevation profile — and the neighborhood: On quite a few stages, it’s not your fitness level that determines where you’ll end up for the night, but whether there’s even a bed available.

1. Puttgarden → Burg auf Fehmarn — approx. 16.8 km — The route begins at the Westmole, then continues across the flat, windy island. In Burg, you’ll find the St. James figure of the Blasiusaltar (1513) in St. Nikolai and the alms box from the Peter-Pauls-Kapelle in St.-Jürgen-Kapelle.
2. Burg auf Fehmarn → Neukirchen — approx. 24.4 km — Via Burgstaaken and the Fehmarnsundbrücke (built in 1963) to the mainland. Limited lodging options—book in advance.
3. Neukirchen → Kloster Cismar — approx. 21.8 km — Through the East Holstein hills to Cismar Abbey, whose winged altar from 1310/20 is considered the oldest known carved altar.
4. Kloster Cismar → Neustadt in Holstein — approx. 24.2 km — Coastal stage via Grömitz on Lübeck Bay.
5. Neustadt in Holstein → Klingenberg — approx. 15.9 km — A short leg through the Scharbeutz-Timmendorf corridor.
6. Klingenberg → Lübeck St. Jakobi — approx. 18.7 km — Through Ratekau, with its fieldstone church dating from 1156 and its leaning 48-meter round tower, then on to Bad Schwartau and into the World Heritage Old Town. At St. Jakobi: the only pilgrim hostel along the entire route.
7. Lübeck St. Jakobi → Berkenthin — approx. 18.7 km — On the Elbe-Lübeck-Kanal, the successor to the Stecknitz Canal (1391–1398). Arrange accommodations in advance.
8. Berkenthin → Mölln — approx. 24.2 km — Through the Lauenburg Lakes to the old customs town on the Alte Salzstraße.
9. Mölln → Büchen — approx. 25 km — A forest-rich stage along the Alte Salzstraße.
10. Büchen → Lauenburg/Elbe — approx. 20.3 km — The Elbe River. The shipping town of Lauenburg with the Palmschleuse lock on the Stecknitz Canal—and the endpoint of the Birgittenweg trail from Rügen.
11. Lauenburg/Elbe → Bardowick — approx. 22.6 km — Through the Elbmarsch to Bardowick, which Henry the Lion destroyed “completely, except for the churches” in 1189; the lion statue at the cathedral was not erected until around 1487.
12. Bardowick → Bienenbüttel — approx. 25.2 km — Through Lüneburg, the “Salt City” since 956, then the Ilmenau floodplain.
13. Bienenbüttel → Medingen — approx. 12.4 km — The shortest leg, to Medingen Monastery; most people spend the night in the nearby spa town of Bad Bevensen.
14. Medingen → Klosterflecken Ebstorf — approx. 15.1 km — A heathland stage to Ebstorf Abbey, where the facsimile of the Ebstorfer Weltkarte is on display.
15. Kloster Ebstorf → Hösseringen — approx. 27.4 km — A long heathland stage via Gerdau and Suderburg to the Hösseringen Museum Village. Limited availability—book in advance.
16. Hösseringen → Eschede — approx. 21.2 km — Forest and Südheide.
17. Eschede → Wienhausen — approx. 24.2 km — To the Wienhausen Monastery, featuring a nuns' choir, tapestries — and eyeglasses from the 14th to 16th centuries that were found under the floorboards in 1952.
18. Wienhausen → Burgwedel-Engensen — approx. 28.2 km — The longest leg, passing right through the half-timbered town of Celle with its castle. If you want to split up, do it here—in Celle.
19. Burgwedel-Engensen → Hannover — approx. 24.2 km — Via Altwarmbüchen to the state capital.
20. Hannover → Sarstedt — approx. 23.8 km — Past Lake Maschsee, through the Leine floodplain via Laatzen.
21. Sarstedt → Diekholzen — approx. 21.5 km — Through Hildesheim: the World Heritage-listed Mariendom, St. Michaelis, and St. Jakobi on Jakobistraße, first mentioned in 1204; the Braunschweiger Jakobsweg intersects here.
22. Diekholzen → Wernershöhe — approx. 19.2 km — Innerste Mountain Region, the first real climbs, via Eberholzen and Winzenburg. Accommodations are very limited—plan ahead.
23. Wernershöhe → Bad Gandersheim — approx. 21.2 km — To Roswitha City, home to the abbey founded in 852.
24. Bad Gandersheim → Northeim — approx. 26.7 km — Through Kalefeld into the Leine Valley.
25. Northeim → Göttingen — approx. 27.5 km — Through the Leine Valley to the university town: St. Jacobi Church, with its 72-meter tower and the winged altarpiece from 1402 depicting eight scenes from the life of St. James.
26. Göttingen → Kirchgandern — approx. 23 km — Through the monastery town of Reinhausen into the Eichsfeld region; the state border follows the old national border. Arrange lodging in advance.
27. Kirchgandern → Asbach-Sickenberg — approx. 23 km — Right on the Grünes Band, with a view of Burg Hanstein, whose north tower served as an East German observation post. Advance reservations required.
28. Asbach-Sickenberg → Hülfensberg — approx. 24 km — Via Kella and Großtöpfer to the pilgrimage hill with the Romanesque Hülfenskreuz, which was inaccessible to most residents of the Eichsfeld region from 1950 to 1989. The night spent at the guesthouse on the hill is the most atmospheric of the entire journey.
29. Hülfensberg → Treffurt — approx. 24 km — Into the Werra Valley, to Treffurt with Burg Normannstein and its historic half-timbered old town.
30. Treffurt → Creuzburg — approx. 20 km — To the Werrabrücke, built in 1223, the oldest surviving natural-stone bridge in the eastern German states; the Elisabethpfad crosses it in Creuzburg.
31. Creuzburg → Eisenach — approx. 15 km — Downstream along the Werra through Hörschel, where the Rennsteig begins, then uphill to Eisenach, with a view of Wartburg Castle. Joins the Via Regia.

If you want to skip some stages, combine the short days 5 and 6 or 13 and 14 (each about 28–35 km); if you want to make the route easier, split the 28-kilometer stage in Celle. On Fehmarn, the walking and cycling routes run separately in some places—the Muschel is valid for both.

Highlights Along the Way

• Burg auf Fehmarn — The first church along the route serves as an archive of its origins: In St. Nikolai, the Blasiusaltar from 1513 depicts St. James with a pilgrim’s staff and bag; the bronze baptismal font bears the inscription of a bishop of Västerås (c. 1391)—a Swedish mark at the start of the route. And in St.-Jürgen-Kapelle stands the wooden alms box from the Peter-Pauls-Kapelle, first mentioned in 1198.
• Kloster Cismar — In 1245, the Lübeck monastery settled in the place that the document dated October 25, 1231, still refers to as “Cicimeresthorp”; The winged altar from 1310–1320 is considered the oldest known carved altar, and at one time it housed over 800 relics.
• Lübeck: St. Jakobi and the Gertrudenherberge — St. James’s Church of the Seafarers, consecrated in 1334, which since 2007 has housed the Pamir Memorial in its north tower; a few steps down the hill, the Gertrudenherberge, dating from around 1360, which once provided 140 beds for pilgrims on the Way of St. James — and today, right next door, the only pilgrim hostel on the route.
• Ratzeburg Cathedral — The cornerstone was laid on August 11, 1154, and the cathedral was founded by Henry the Lion: it is the oldest of the four “Lion Cathedrals” and one of the most complete late Romanesque ensembles in Europe.
• Lauenburg/Elbe and the Palmschleuse Lock — Starting point of the Stecknitz Canal (1391–1398), the first man-made waterway in Northern Europe. This is also where the Birgittenweg trail from Rügen ends.
• Lüneburg — Salt since 956; at its peak, over 20,000 metric tons per year; the saltworks closed in 1980: more than a thousand years of operation, with your route to Lübeck serving as its trade route.
• Ebstorf Abbey — Here hangs a facsimile of the Ebstorfer Weltkarte (circa 1300): 3.57 meters in diameter, 12.74 square meters, with over 2,300 entries. The original was destroyed by fire in Hanover in October 1943.
• Wienhausen Abbey — donated around 1230 by Agnes of Landsberg. When electricians opened the oak planks beneath the nuns’ pews in 1952, they found eyeglasses dating from the 14th to the 16th centuries—the reading glasses of nuns, which had lain beneath the floorboards for 600 years.
• Hildesheim — Mariendom and St. Michaelis are UNESCO World Heritage Sites; Jakobistraße has been documented since 1204, and the chapel that preceded St. Jakobi was a stop along the routes to Santiago.
• Göttingen, St. Jacobi — A 72-meter tower, the tallest building in the Old Town, and a winged altarpiece from 1402, whose weekday side depicts eight scenes from the legend of St. James.
• The Grünes Band: Burg Hanstein and Hülfensberg — The last hundred kilometers follow the course of the inner-German border. The north tower of Burg Hanstein served as an East German observation post; the Hülfensberg (mentioned in a papal document from 1351, featuring the Hülfenskreuz with the inscription “SALVE CRUX PRETIOSA!”) was closed to the public from 1950 to 1989.
• Werrabrücke between Creuzburg and Eisenach — the stone bridge built in 1223, 86 meters long, with seven arches, half of which was blown up on April 1, 1945, and rebuilt in 1952; behind it lies Hörschel, where the Rennsteig trail begins, and Eisenach, home to Wartburg Castle—your destination and handoff point.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

The Via Scandinavica is the only one of our trails that is naturally accessed by boat: You board the boat in Rødby on Lolland the ferry, and 45 minutes later you're in Puttgarden — on the Vogelfluglinie, named in 1910 after the “Zugvogelweg” (Migratory Bird Trail) across the Fehmarn Belt. Those coming on foot from Scandinavia have usually already taken the Hærvejen underfoot, the Danish “Heerweg” from Viborg to Padborg, the backbone of the Danish pilgrimage routes. This very arrival is the historical heart of the route: the chapel “on the beach of Fehmarn,” first mentioned in a document from 1198, was the chapel of thanksgiving for pilgrims who had crossed the Belt. No German Way of St. James ends in Puttgarden—the sea has always been the gateway.

Those arriving by land still have options: In Lübeck intersects the Via Baltica, which runs from Usedom via Rostock and Wismar—those arriving from the Baltic Sea coast can board there and skip the island segments. In Lauenburg on the Elbe ends the Birgittenweg Starting in Sassnitz on Rügen, covering about 400 kilometers in 16 stages, and named after Birgitta of Sweden, who is known to have made a pilgrimage to Santiago in 1341. Further south, the Jacobusweg Lüneburger Heide from Hamburg via Wienhausen and Celle to the route, and in Hildesheim intersects the Braunschweiger Jakobsweg From Magdeburg to Höxter. So you can get on almost anywhere—but there’s only one place where you can take the boat.

Continue the pilgrimage?

The Via Scandinavica ends in Eisenach, but the pilgrimage to Santiago does not: The Via Regia, the Ecumenical Pilgrimage Route from Görlitz to Vacha, passes through the city on its final stretch—you don’t have to look for anything, just keep walking. Since 2003, there have been pilgrim hostels along its entire length, mostly in churches, monasteries, and parish halls, often for a donation of about five euros. After about two days, you’ll reach Vacha on the Werra River, the terminus of the Via Regia, and from there, the Hessian and Franconian Ways of St. James continue on via Fulda and Würzburg — always heading southwest, always heading toward Santiago.

If you're looking for a saint rather than an apostle, there's a turnoff one stop earlier: In Creuzburg intersects the Elisabethpfad, which runs 145 kilometers from Eisenach to Marburg leads to St. Elizabeth's Church. And for those who, at first, don't want to continue their pilgrimage but just want to keep walking: In Hörschel, the Eisenach neighborhood where your last leg ended, is where the Rennsteig — 168.3 kilometers along the ridge of the Thuringian Forest. The custom there is surprisingly similar to ours: You dip your stick into the Werra River and carry a stone to the finish line. Whether it’s a shell or a pebble—the idea is the same.

Preparation & Practical Information

The best time is May through September — In August, the heath blooms between Bienenbüttel and Ebstorf. The trail is accessible year-round, but the community lodgings and the Lübeck hostel are not. Expect mostly paved surfaces for the first two-thirds of the route: Wear shoes suitable for walking on asphalt and plan for basic foot care—not mountaineering. On the coast, rain gear is always a must; on Fehmarn and in the heathland, there are long stretches without shade—and in the small Eichsfeld villages along the final stages, nothing is open on Sundays.

The trail is marked with the Yellow scallop on a blue background — The shell’s tip points the way. Signage is good over long stretches but not continuous; the trail operators therefore provide GPS tracks, which you can download. The standard guidebook is Martin Simons’ *Via Scandinavica* (Conrad Stein Verlag, first published in 2015); for Fehmarn, there are five brochures from the city, each with its own pilgrim stamp; and for the Göttingen–Creuzburg section, there are stage-by-stage flyers from the Göttingen St. James Pilgrimage Association. The most important preparation concerns where to sleep: one Pilgrim hostels (Lübeck, May through September; pilgrim ID required), otherwise church-run lodging, monasteries, youth hostels, and guesthouses. An explicit code applies to pilgrim accommodations in northern Germany—one night per guest, on a voluntary, non-commercial basis, with no obligation to provide lodging: “A pilgrim asks—but does not demand.” Call ahead, especially for Neukirchen, Berkenthin, Büchen, Hösseringen, Eschede, Wernershöhe, Kirchgandern, Asbach-Sickenberg, and Creuzburg. You plan for gaps like that in advance, not as you go along.

As on all routes along the Way of St. James, you'll need a Pilgrim's Passport (Credencial) — and here it’s not just a formality, but a key to opening doors: It’s a requirement for the hostel at St. Jakobi in Lübeck, and some private lodgings ask for it as well. You can obtain it through the German St. James societies, the Pilgrim Center in the North at St. Jacobi in Hamburg, or the St. James Pilgrimage Community in Göttingen; the Pilgrim Center maintains the list of accommodations. It’s best to order the pass online in advance so that you’ll have it in time for the start of your journey. And plan your daily stages in advance, because the accommodations are small, unevenly distributed, and some are only open upon request—the easiest way to do this is directly in the Camino Ninja app, where you can put together your stages and plan suitable accommodations at the same time.

What the journey will cost you

Expect 35 to 60 € per day (As of August 2026). Germany is more expensive than Spain, and this route is more expensive than one that uses the hostel network—because you'll mostly be staying in guesthouses and youth hostels, rather than in shared dorms for a low price. The Anker prices: St. Jakobi Pilgrim Hostel, Lübeck: 25 € per night, church-run housing complexes, usually in exchange for a donation of about 5 to 15 €, youth hostels around 30 to 40 € with breakfast, guesthouses, and hotels 50 to 90 € in a single room — in Lübeck, Hanover, Göttingen, and the Baltic Sea resort towns, the cost tends to be higher, especially during the high season. Those who consistently stay in church-run lodgings and monasteries and treat the cities as stopovers will end up paying 25 to 30 € per day; if you eat out every evening and stay overnight in cities, expect to spend between 70 and 90. Other small expenses: a pilgrim’s passport for a small fee, the hiking guide, and the ferry. And some good news for later: On the Via Regia from Eisenach onward, donation-based hostels charging five euros are the rule, not the exception (all prices as of August 2026).

Getting Here

On the way to Puttgarden—the one thing you need to know beforehand: Since August 31, 2022, no trains have run to Puttgarden, probably until 2029 — the Lübeck–Puttgarden line will be upgraded to double track and electrified for the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link. Instead, trains run The X85 bus runs every hour From the station plaza in Lübeck, via Haffkrug (train connection), Oldenburg in Holstein, and Großenbrode to Fehmarn-Burg and Puttgarden; bicycle transport is limited. Plan accordingly and check the current schedules at bahn.de or nah.sh—the alternative route plan is being updated regularly.

From Scandinavia Getting there, on the other hand, is as easy as ever: the ferry Rødby–Puttgarden Runs frequently year-round; since the train ferry ceased operations (December 2019), travelers coming from Copenhagen by train have been traveling through Jutland to Hamburg or Lübeck and taking the X85. The return trip from your destination is straightforward: Eisenach It runs along the Frankfurt–Erfurt–Leipzig ICE route. And since almost every town along the way has a train station—Lübeck, Lauenburg, Lüneburg, Celle, Hanover, Hildesheim, Northeim, Göttingen—you can easily walk the route in sections.

• Getting to the starting point: Bus X85 from Lübeck Central Station (hourly) to Puttgarden — no train service to Puttgarden until 2029 (expected); from Denmark, take the Rødby → Puttgarden ferry (Vogelfluglinie). Nearest major airport: Hamburg; from there, take the train to Lübeck.
• Return trip from Eisenach: ICE/IC trains on the Frankfurt–Erfurt–Leipzig route, with connections to all long-distance services and airports.
• Intermediate entry: Lübeck, Lauenburg, Lüneburg, Celle, Hanover, Hildesheim, Northeim, and Göttingen are stops along the route and clearly mark the path—from Lübeck onward, there are about 25 stages; from Göttingen onward, there are six stages through the Eichsfeld and Werra Valley.