Leisure Tips The Palatinate Dyn_2018-148x210-E_Layout 1 13.01.18 12:27 Seite 1 dynamikum.de The The Palatinate is a paradise for wine Palatinate lovers, hobby bikers, hikers and culture enthusiasts and it offers the ideal pre­ requisites for everyone who wants a holiday experiments in the outdoor areas being active, relaxing and enjoying. Known for its zest for life, this region with its Mediterranean climate and unique cultural landscape inspires its people to celebrate life and invites its visitors to wholehearted­ ly join in. Whether in the Biosphere Reserve Pfälzerwald, travelling the length of the German Wine Route, in the Rhine plain or in the North Palatine Uplands: this is where your holiday really begins! discover And this leisure activity guide will help you discover what‘s happening where explore – regardless of what cultural, sporting challenge or outdoor recreation you are Further information on organizing your leisure time in the Palatinate, hiking trails and cycling tracks, tour looking for. Arranged across the four participate guides and lots more can be found at: vacation regions of the Palatinate, this www.pfalz.de/en/leisure-fun leisure guide will show you the way to over 480 excursion tips for your vacation. There is something to be found for everyone in Pfalz.Touristik e.V. the Palatinate with its 150 museums, more Martin­Luther­Strasse 69 experience than 100 particularly sightseeing­worthy 67433 Neustadt an der Weinstrasse Tel. +49 (0)6321 3916­0 · Fax +49 (0)6321 3916­19 castles, stately manors and churches, info@pfalz­touristik.de understand ... 60 swimming pool parks and bathing www.pfalz.de/en · www.wandermenue-pfalz.de lakes, 9 golf courses and more than www.pfalz.de/facebook 150 attractions ranging from the „Zipline Sponsored by: Park“ in Elmstein to a Roman ship. Whatever you choose, have fun! Im Rheinberger • Fröhnstrasse 8 • 66954 Pirmasens • Phone: +49 (0) 6331 239430 Opening Hours: Monday - Friday: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. • Saturday · Sunday · Public holidays: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 3 Pfalzcard Page 6 The Diversity of the Palatinate The barrier-free Palatinate Page 7 The Palatinate by Bus and Rail The Palatinate Hill Country Page 7 and Donnersberg mountain German Wine Route Vacation Region Palatinate Hill Country and Donnersberg mountain Page 8 Rhine Plain Vacation Region Palatinate Rhine Plain Forest Experience technology from underwater up into space Page 20 www.technik-museum.de Vacation Region EXPLANATION OF PICTOGRAMS: Palatinate Forest Page 32 If you have the Pfalzcard, you can enjoy these facilities free of charge. In addition, you also ride free on all bus and rail connections in the entire VRN area! Exclusively for overnight guests staying at The Palatinate at a Glance Pfalzcard host facilities. Page 36 These facilities are certified according to the Vacation Region “Barrier-free travel for all” criteria. The German Wine Route These facilities provide offers in the indicated languages, e.g. signs, guided tours or Page 54 info material/brochures. D1 All facilities are marked using a plan grid so that you can find them quickly and easily on the map The Palatinate at a Click on p. 36/37 (centre page of booklet). Page 70 HOTEL am Technik Museum SPEYER 5 Dynamikum, Pirmasens Experience the Palatinate – accessibility certified. The Palatinate Pfalzcard Have an eventful holiday – without having Barrier-Free to give up any comfort – that’s the guiding principle behind accessibility in tourism. Applied, “Travel for All” means: Not only peo­ ple with disabilities, but also persons with bilities can discover a plethora of day excur­ Pfalzcard – the new visitor card for your baby carriages or older people profit from sions and authentic “Palatinate experience” Palatinate holiday. Starting in April 2018 building design features that have already outings ranging from the Nature Experience and exclusively at your Pfalzcard host been implemented at many accommodation Path to the “birthplace of German democra­ facilities. providers, recreational facilities, at wine­ cy”, the Hambach Castle, and people­pow­ makers or in the public sphere in general. ered draisine trolley tours all the way to wine As of April 2018, guests visiting the As judged by the countrywide cellar tours and wine­tastings on­site at the Palatinate can experience over 80 sights – competition “Tourism for All”, vineyards. The city trains, buses and regional included into their overnight stay – free of the Palatinate is a forerunner railways are likewise accessibility certified. charge! With the card, you can not only use in all things connected with the buses and regional railways in the entire accessibility in Rhineland­ i accessibility.romantic-germany.info transit area of the VRN (Verkehrsverbund Palatinate. Visitors with disa­ Rhein­Neckar) free of charge, but also a multitude of recreational facilities, e.g.: Castles and châteaus Family facilities such as Sealife The bus and rail system The Palatinate viaBus and Rail Speyer or the Landau Zoo – your magic carpet to fun Museums and exhibitions Wherever you want to go within the entire for families: with the 1­Person or 2­Person Wine tastings, guided tours region, you are on easy street if you use the Day Ticket, your children or grandchildren and cultural programmes buses and rail transit options of the VRN up to 14 years of age can ride with you free Swimming pool parks and golf courses (Verkehrsverbund Rhein­Neckar). Comfort­ of charge. Tickets for public transportation able, economical and all­inclusive with just are available at automatic vending machines one ticket. The ideal ticket for your leisure and other sales outlets as well as from bus Top off your Palatinate holiday with time is the Day Ticket, which is offered in driver and online (to be printed out). Fare in­ the Pfalzcard – by simply selecting a three price categories for up to five persons. formation is available on workdays Monday participating host for your overnight Starting at a price of € 6.70 for one person, to Friday 8 am to 5 pm. Timetable informa­ accommodations. By doing so, you will every additional person costs € 2.70 and up tion is available around­the­clock under +49 automatically receive at the time of (price schedule: January/2018) and is valid (0)621 1077077, or via the free timetable app check­in your own personal Pfalzcard free­ for one calendar day until 3:00 am of the for all smartphones. of­charge for the duration of your stay. following day. Transport options include Germersheim fortress tour all buses, streetcars and approved trains i www.vrn.de i www.pfalzcard.de (“RE” Regional Express, “RB” Regional, “S” Suburban trains). And the best advantage 6 7 Vacation Region Palatinate Hill Country and Donnersberg mountain View from the premium hiking trail “Preußensteig” on the Lichtenberg Castle in the Palatinate Hill Country ... don’t miss it! You could easily fall in love with the expanse Donnersberg mountain of this landscape with its gently rolling hills, the Celtic Village in Steinbach fields and meadows, the small forests, streams and the vines of the Alsenz and Zeller valley. The County town of Kusel Kusel district Musikantenland (“Musician’s Glan Valley Land”) and the area surrounding the Donners- berg mountain, which with 687 metres is the highest point in the Palatinate, are retreats for people looking for peace and relaxation. Full of atmosphere: the It is not a mountain, but rather a series Donnersberg mountain, “in of hills that are the distinctive feature of the Palatinate way up high” the neighbouring Palatinate hill country. The sparse beauty of this area enchants Palatinate Hill Country and Donnersberg mountain and Donnersberg Country Hill Palatinate mountain and Donnersberg Country Hill Palatinate the visitors today, but in earlier times the inhabitants of this area around the county town of Kusel did not have an easy life and were forced to work as travelling Vacation Region Vacation musicians across the world in winter. Region Vacation The musicians’ county museum tells Tourist office Pfälzer Bergland Tel. +49 (0)6381 424270 about this era, and is one of many small touristinformation@kv­kus.de museums in which the people lovingly www.pfaelzerbergland.de maintain their traditions. Hiking break in front of the There are many opportunities to let Castle Church in Meisenheim your mind and spirit relax and unwind, » There are many whether during hiking, cycling or opportunities to let canoeing. And whoever is looking for It is no wonder that the Celts made them­ something a bit more unusual can book Donnersberg-Touristik-Verband e.V. your mind and spirit Tel. +49 (0)6352 1712 selves at home on the broad high plateau of the a pedal­powered rail trolley trip through relax and unwind: [email protected] Donnersberg. This time is brought to life once the picturesque Glan Valley. The peo­ www.donnersberg­touristik.de again in the Celtic village and garden in Stein­ whether during ple are especially proud of their fresh bach. And everywhere around, the castle ruins hiking, cycling or regional­typical products. Quaint farm and other cultural monuments bear testimony canoeing. « shops, distilleries and guest houses with i www.pfalz.de/en to the eventful history of this area. regional menus invite you to titillate your palate. 10 11 MUSEUMS AND Roman Museum, Eisenberg Palatinate Mining Museum, Museum of Local History with Fritz Quarry Museum, Rammelsbach Walk-in History Book, D2 Imsbach Wunderlich Memorial Room, Kusel A2 Schönenberg-Kübelberg OPEN-AIR Display of various exhibitions exca- D2 A2 Photos and documents lead the A3 EXPOSITIONS vated from the archaeological digs of History and present situation of Memorial pieces from times past and visitors through the backbreaking History comes alive along 3 paths. the Roman park as well as an early mining in the Palatinate with old audio documents, letters, original work in the “Dimpel”.