It comes naturally to a region that is named after two rivers: Although the large towns of Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg are located at its centre, the area surrounding the Rhine and the Neckar is green—lushly green, indeed: More than a third of the surface, an area as large as 213,000 hectares, is composed of forest. That’s not including the three reserves: Palatinate Forest Nature Park, Neckartal-Odenwald Nature Park and Geo-Naturepark Bergstrasse-Odenwald. You can find practically all types of landscape here, except for alpine and seaside conditions: So come with us and explore it from the urban landscapes in the Rhine Rift Valley to the Odenwald and Palatinate Forest low mountain ranges with their sun-kissed slopes along the Haardt range and the Bergstraße area and to the hills of the Kraichgau and Bauland regions. We will show you how climate change has changed the grape harvest and fruit crop, or where to best do forest bathing in the Palatinate, or that you can climb through geological history high up above the Neckar river.
Living with the water nearby
The Leben am Strom museum and information centre in Neupotz
The world as a classroom
Children learn surrounded by nature and real-life at the Draußenschule outdoor school in Ladenburg.
A tough nut to crack
Marion Jöst is helping the walnut in Rimbach to regain its former grandeur.
Hiking on four wheels
An electric wheelchair makes barriers disappear in the Neckartal-Odenwald Nature Park.
Through the Silence
Out and about on the Old Rhine near Germersheim
In the big world of miniature trees
A visit to the Bonsai Centre in Heidelberg
Hiking along Siegfried’s trail
The 130-kilometre Nibelungensteig trail leads from Bergstrasse road to the River Main.
Hungry plants
Freinsheim is home to Germany’s largest nursery for carnivorous plants
High up, deep down
Paying a visit to the Geozentrum Tromm in the Odenwald
Into the blue
Anne and Matthias Gaul have planted large fields of lavender in Grünstadt-Asselheim.
The Gleisweiler health shower
An unusual piece of the history of medicine waits for you in Hainbachtal.
The bee whisperer
Honey from the Odenwald: the Willared Organic Apiary
Between merry-go-grounds and wolf enclosures
Discovering the Kurpfalz-Park near Wachenheim
Fluffy peace
On the alpaca farm on Pferchelhang in Heidelberg
What the “bleat” is going on?!
The Meckerei in Landau makes delicious products from goat’s milk
Chambers packed with curiosities
The Langbein Museum in Hirschhorn displays local history in a unique way
Dainty delight
Ellen Müller and Rainer Stadler founded the ‘Quittenprojekt Bergstraße.’
Taking a pram through the Palatinate Forest
Baby-friendly tours
Gliding from time to time
How Gerhard Weickenmeier has equipped the Rietburgbahn near Edenkoben for the future
Pitching in the wilderness
Going on a trekking tour in the Palatinate Forest
Biking and riddling
The Smart Pfad track in the Odenwald explains how the world works.
Uphill towards magnificent views
Riding on a mountain bike through the vineyards and woods of the Southern Palatinate.
A journey into a heated future
Climate change becomes tangible in the Klima Arena in Sinsheim
On your way, without limitations
Out and about on the Camino Incluso with the wheelchair user Mitsch Schreiner along the Bergstraße route
Well brought up in the world of birds
Harald Kranz is committed to fostering indigenous birds in the Dannhecker Wald forest—using a special trick.