Looking to go for a hiking trip for a midweek sometime next month, in the Kassel / Erfurt / Nürnberg region (due to being relatively midway to friends we'll be visiting before and after). I'm seeing a lot of green on the map, which is hopeful, but haven't yet done any research. I'm wondering if anyone happens to have any personal recommendations for specific towns or areas to focus on (or to just skip entirely in my research). Looking to stay in a nice hotel/hostel/b&b/vacation house (aka, we're not fussy, though something with personality and charm is always preferred), ideally with hiking trails on the doorstep, or if not, with easy short drives to places with good hiking. Someplace primarily hilly and foresty, with a bit of varied landscape?
Hiking in the Kassel / Erfurt / Nürnberg region?
The most famous hiking trail in the area is the Rennsteig.
http://www.rennsteig.de/wandern/
http://www.wanderkompass.de/Thuringen/rennsteig.html
Start of the trail is at Hörschel near Eisenach and end is Blankenstein, which is 20 km from Hof.
The trail in total is about 170 kms and takes about 10 days to do. Many choose to do only parts of it, which is easy since several places along the trail have a decent connection with public transport. (Eisenach, Ruhla, Friedrichroda, Tambach-Dietharz, Oberhof, ... )
My recommendation would be to visit the Wartburg in Eisenach and then do whatever hiking you want to do on either the Rennsteig and or other trails in the area around Eisenach.
http://www.wartburg-eisenach.de/frame_sn.htm
Thanks! I know of the Rennsteig, but hadn't realized it was right in that region. This sounds pretty much perfect, much appreciated!