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Palatinate diversity

The 23rd THT from 3 to 10 August 2025 was once again an eventful week in the Palatinate with five guided tours. Boring? Not at all! The region around the Waldhotel Eisenberg is wonderfully diverse and worth a visit every year.

Honestly? This is my first longer tour in the Palatinate. And? I'm blown away. And so are many of the 21 participants. Quite a few of them have already got to know and appreciate this wonderful area on previous tours and have been guests at the Waldhotel Eisenberg with Claus and his daughter Anni several times.

After a long chat on the Sunday of arrival and the obligatory walk around the motorbikes, we head out onto the terrace. Junior manager Anni and Toni from Syburger Verlag give the official welcome, followed by tour guides Stephan and Steffen, who provide a brief overview of the programme. Five guided day tours are on the agenda, expertly planned by Palatinate tour guides Dani and Sascha, who unfortunately cannot join us this time. Then finally dinner, hearty Palatinate fare of course, and soon the large group is chatting happily about travel, motorcycles and everything else. Then the group is divided into leisurely and speedy, and T-shirts are handed out.

Before setting off the next morning, we have our first photo opportunity: a group photo with hostel manager Claus. Riding motorbikes isn't really his thing at the moment, but as senior manager and co-founder of THTs, he naturally has to be in the photo.

We set off. The weather is so-so. But there's improvement in sight. The asphalt is still wet, but there's no sign of more rain. On the contrary, wonderful summer days throughout the week will make the daily stages a pleasure. We're heading south. Small roads, barely wide enough for one and a half cars, meander through thick, lush greenery. The Palatinate Forest. A biosphere reserve. Interrupted by red rocks and a few villages with a visible renovation backlog. There's no question that the Palatinate Forest has seen better days. But it has never seen really good days. Barren soil and limited mineral resources did not make things easy. After plague, war and famine, the lords fought each other and demolished their castles, the farmers carried away the stones from the manor houses, and later many families emigrated to America. Those who stayed quickly became cheap labour in the shoe factories around Pirmasens. Even in the 1960s, half of all shoes in Germany came from the Palatinate. The Palatinate is and remains poor. But not in terms of nature. In that respect, it is right at the forefront.

Endless forests, steep valleys, some gorges, bare rocks. Today, the fog hangs high up in the high forest, giving the tour a mystical touch. The low mountain range on either side of the French border is aptly named after the Celtic forest god ‘Vosegus’ and is known as the Northern Vosges, famous above all for its red sandstone slabs, which in some places rise spectacularly into the sky. There the Vosges, here the Wasgau: equally beautiful. Wine in front, forest behind.

By the second evening, any remaining reservations have completely disappeared, and the group dynamic has done its job. Today we head south again and, after a few detours, to Rodalben to visit Manfred Baehr, who is known for his custom-made comfortable motorcycle seats. Manfred and his team explain what is important and show us live how such a seat is made.

The following days take us to the north-east and the North Palatinate Uplands, north across the Rhine and back down south, across the border to France. In conclusion, it can be said that the Palatinate is surprisingly diverse. Mountain routes like in Switzerland, barren landscapes, lush valleys, a little bit of southern France, a dash of the northern Italian Alps and a touch of Tuscany. Wonderful. Speaking of which, the creator is said to have uttered the following when creating the Palatinate: ‘You can see that I am almighty, so I'll make paradise here.’     MH

The participants
Axel: BMW R 1250 GS • Dieter: Suzuki DL 1000 V-Strom • Jan: Yamaha Tracer 900 • Marco: BMW R 1200 GS • Martin and Lilo: BMW R 1250 GS • Matze: Yamaha Ténéré 700 • Michael: Triumph Tiger 1200 • Pius: BMW R 1250 RT • Reinhard: BMW R 1200 GS • Sönke: BMW R 80 • Stefan: KTM 390 Adventure • Stefan and Sylvia: BMW R 1250 GS • Steffen*: Honda XL750 Transalp • Stephan*: BMW R 1100 GS • Toni: BMW R 1200 GS • Uli and Gabi: Yamaha XV 1600 Gespann • Ulrich: BMW R 1250 GS • Volker and Heike: BMW R 1300 GS • Winnie and Petra: Honda CRF 1100 L Africa Twin • Wolfgang: Brixton Crossfire 500
* Tour guide
to the hotel

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