Germany is covered with a network of routes (the Jakobsweg) leading pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela and this year I’m going to walk along two of them.
First, the little known Via Coloniensis pilgrimage (317 Km), named after the Roman road that was built from Trier to Cologne. Starting in Cologne, I’ll follow the Rhine to Bonn and then head south across the Eifel National Park, the Schönecker Schweiz and the Ferschweiler Plateau to Trier, the oldest city in Germany, founded by the Romans. After that, I’ll follow the Mosel to Schengen, an international tripoint between Germany, France and Luxembourg, and the place where the Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985, removing all border controls within the zone. That will take me two to three weeks.
I’ll return to Germany later in August to tackle the second pilgrimage, starting in Nuremberg and walking south across Bavaria to Lake Constance. There’ll be lots of Grimm Bavarian villages with their witches, Hansels and Gretals and also some more sausages and beer.
- Day 1 – The Via Coloniensis
- Day 2 – Four Seven Eleven
- Day 3 – On My Way
- Day 4 – Walking up the Rhine
- Day 5 – Sunday in Bonn
- Day 6 – Rheinbach, eventually
- Day 7 – After the Floods
- Day 8 – Into the Eifel
- Day 9 – Today it’s Kronenburg
- Day 10 – Thunderstorm Alert
- Day 11 – Breakfast in Germany
- Day 12 – Another Day of Contrasts
- Day 13 – A Triumph, Father Kneipp and then Luxembourg
- Day 14 – Earth, Wind & Rain
- Day 15 – Trier, Germany’s Oldest City
- Day 16 – The Apostle Matthias and I
- Day 17 – Schengen
- Day 18 – The Nuremberg Trials
- Day 19 – A night in Wernfels castle
- Day 20 – A pleasant day in Bavaria
- Day 21 – Reflections on Richard the Pilgrim
- Day 22 – Intermission
- Day 23 – and 24 and 25: once upon a time, in a country far, far away…
- Day 26 – A night in the Kloster
- Day 27 – Strange Days
- Day 28 – Train to Nowhere
- Day 29 – Rag Doll
- Day 30 – Summer’s End
- Day 31 – Kneippland
- Day 32 – Bavarian Alps Ahead
- Day 33 – Daily except Wednesday
- Day 34 – Foot Massage
- Day 35 – Nationwide Alert Day
- Day 36 – The Gasthof Krone
- Day 37 – Pilgrims Ahoy!
- Day 38 – Tomorrow belongs to me
- Day 39 – To the shores of Lake Constance
- Day 40 – Goodbye to Germany
Pilgrimage 