We will start the day hiking up through narrow serpentines in the forest till we reach Burg Prunn.
Like an idealized version of a knights’ castle, Prunn Castle is perched on an almost vertical Jurassic outcrop high above the Altmühl river valley south-west of Regensburg. Its impressive appearance from a distance is matched by the views from the castle of the surrounding Altmühltal countryside. We keep crossing the forest till we reach a large plateau where Burg Randeck is located. The castle Randeck was built in the 11th and 12th century. After multiple changes of ownership and strong damage in the Thirty Years' War by Swedish troops, she went in 1818 to the Kingdom of Bavaria. The then crown prince Maximilian of Bavaria had the ruin partially rebuilt. The climb of its walls should not be missed, because the ascent is rewarded with an unforgettable view of the Altmühltal.Today, the castle is the property of the Essing and to Essing we head going down to the valley. A real gem in the Altmühltal is the still medieval-looking Essing.
A picturesque ensemble of houses, guarded by the keep of the former Randeck Castle with a magnificent view, is bounded by the towering Jura cliffs. As a prehistoric settlement Essing is embedded between rock and river. We keep walking along the river till we reach the little Blautopf at Essing. A small pond with water with beatiful colour from emerald green to blue, from where the blue pot also got its name. The we cross the river walking through the one of the longest wooden suspension bridge in Europe. The total length of the bridge is 193 meters, the clear width of the walkway 3.20 meters. On the other side we can see the rocky pinnacles along the Altmühl, that are reef formations of the warm Jura Sea, which spread here 150 million years ago. However, the massive impression of the rocks is deceptive: the rocks are often interspersed with large cavities. In the cave "Schulerloch", a nature reserve, which was already used by man during the Stone Age, stalactites can be admired during the warm season. On the sunny Altmühl-Einhang a closed lime-beech forest grows.
We cross the forest till we reach Donau river. Small boats will bring then us from one side to the other one where Kloster Weltenburg is located. The abbey is situated on a peninsula in the Danube, on the so-called the "Danube Gorges. The monastery, founded by monks of the Hiberno-Scottish mission in about 620, is held to be the oldest monastery in Bavaria
Weltenburg Abbey brewery (Weltenburger Klosterbrauerei) is by some reckonings the oldest monastic brewery in the world, having been in operation since 1050. Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel was given the World Beer Cup award in 2004, 2008 and 2012 as the best Dunkel beer in the world. One wing of the abbey which faces the Danube river houses a large restaurant on the ground floor operated by a tenant. The traditional Bavarian menu includes the abbey's cheese and beer, and guests are also served in the monastery courtyard, which houses a large open-air biergarten during the warmer months. Here we can try the beer, who likes, and have some food before the hike finale.
We go back to starting point catching a boat that goes through the Danube Gorge near Weltenburg, a beautiful narrow section of the Danube Valley in the Lower Bavarian county of Kelheim, which has been recognised as a nature reserve and geotope of Bayern. Watching it from the boat is really a nice experience.
