Experience the alternating vineyards and meadow orchards of Wiiwegli, with passages through sunny deciduous forests and wonderful winegrowing communities. Everywhere along the way, you can discover cultural and historical features, such as the old mining town of Sulzburg or the Faust town of Staufen, the Inkacafé in Ötlingen, the Entenstein castle with a moat in Schliengen or the Marienkirche in Kirchhofen. The Isteiner Klotz and the Castellberg near Ballrechten are particularly special features of this landscape, rich in attractions. With Bad Bellingen and Badenweiler, you will find two thermal baths along the way, where you can relax and rest your tired legs in the healthy thermal water.
To the west, the view sweeps across the flat Rhine Valley and across to the Vosges. On the other side, hikers are accompanied by fragrant mixed forests and the heights of the southern Black Forest. Winegrowing villages and picturesque country towns have made themselves comfortable in the Markgräfler hills - and the people similarly so: "Numme nit hudle", loosely translated as "Don't rush anything", is the motto here.
The cosiness of the landscape and people are paired with the joy of good food and, naturally, wine. Wineries and winegrowers' cooperatives invite you to wine tastings, while rustic village inns and fine restaurants will seduce you with their regional and creative cuisine.
The Wiiwegli can be experienced in four daily stages. In order to explore all the delicacies along the way, it could also require a few extra days.
Author's recommendation
The Markgräflerland has a favourable climate. The sun shines more frequently and warmer here than anywhere else in Germany. Warm air from the Rhone Valley reaches the slopes of the southern Black Forest through the Burgundian Gate. The loveliest months on the Wiiwegli are from March to May, when the cherry, apple and pear trees are in bloom. In summer, when the grapes work on their Öchsle grades, it is often too hot to hike. At harvest time in autumn, the brightly coloured leaves of the vines and mixed forests on the steep slopes of the southern Black Forest shine. In winter, the Wiiwegli tempts with either somewhat sights of the frost-decorated vineyards, or occasionally with temperatures of 15°C.
