CAMPING ON THE RHEINSTEIG: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW.
The Rheinsteig is a 320km trail from Bonn to Wiesbaden in Germany. We walked this trail in August 2024 and set out to camp the entire route. With visions of an entirely outdoor summer in our minds.
We were a little deflated to discover that camping on a campsite every night on The Rheinsteig is not really possible. And, although we thoroughly enjoyed the walk, lack of campsites was a bit of a downside for us. That said, we did find some marvelous sites, but we just had to hunt a little harder to find them.
This blog post brings together everything that we learnt about camping on The Rheinsteig, to help you get the most from your experience.
Find out more about what liked/ disliked about The Rheinsteig here.
Can you camp on The Rheinsteig?
You can camp on or close to The Rheinsteig trail in campsites. But, do consider that campsites are not available at the end of every walking stage. We walked The Rheinsteig over 12-13 days and camped for around 50 to 60% of this, as campsites were not available on the remaining days. Some hikers choose to wild camp (more on that below).
Where are the campsites on The Rheinsteig?
There are one or two campsites directly on or very close to The Rheinsteig trail. That said, the vast majority of sites are found on the banks of The Rhine river and will require you to come down from the trail into a town or village.
In our experience, many campsites on The Rhine are unfortunately found on the left side of the river (i.e. the wrong side for walking!) It is possible to cross the river at certain points (via ferry) and then return back to the route. We considered this option but decided against it ultimately, because it would have added too much complexity.
How to find campsites on The Rheinsteig
To find campsites on The Rheinsteig, we mainly relied on Google Maps and All Trails maps. In all honesty, I tried to use The Rheinsteig accommodation guide on the official website, but didn’t find it helpful to find campsites. I don’t know if things were getting lost in translation as the site is in German, but for me, it didn’t help.
You can also find a list of campsites on The Rheinsteig that we have put together below.
List of campsites on The Rheinsteig
Based on our experience, here is a list of campsites on or close to The Rheinsteig in order of when you will come across them on the trail. You can also find a map of these below.
- Biergarten und Campingplatz Auf dem Salmenfang
- Camping Golden Mile (left side of the river but relatively easy to get to)
- Wellness Rheinpark – Camping Ban Honnigen
- Camping Leutesdorf
- Pfadfinder Zeltlagerplatz (this is a scout camp, not really a campsite but in a pinch you can contact the manager of the site and they may grant permission for you to stay)
- Knaus Camping park (left side of the river close to Koblenz)
- Campingplatz Burg Lahneck
- Camping Wolfsmuhle (more or less on the trail)
- Camping Uferwiese Braubach
- Camping Loreleystadt
- Camping Suleika Nature Park (one of the only sites that is more on less on the trail)
- Camping in Rudesheim
- Rheingaucamping Campingplatz
- Campingplatz Rettbergsaue
Do you need to book campsites on The Rheinsteig?
We walked The Rheinsteig in August, which really is peak camping season in Germany. In our experience, booking was helpful but not required for most campsites. Most sites that we contacted indicated that there would be space for a small tent if we just showed up.
That said, keep in mind that weekends get busier and booking ahead may be advisable. Normally an informal email reservation will suffice, but larger campsites may require a booking form to be completed and even a deposit.
Summer festivals can also make campsites busy, for example the Koblenz summer festival in August meant that the campsite closest to the city was fully booked weeks in advance.
What can I expect from campsites on The Rheinsteig?
In general, the campsites that we stayed at on The Rheinsteig were fantastic. We particularly loved pitching close to The Rhine, where we could watch boats drifting by from the comfort of our air mattresses. This was pretty idyllic, but just a word of warning – boats are quite noisy and keep on sailing all through the night. Ear plugs recommended!
Facilities on campsites varied, a few had restaurants and beer gardens (although these often had limited opening hours). All had toilets, showers, water taps and somewhere to wash dishes. A couple had washing machines, ideal for cleaning sweaty hiking gear!
We felt that some sites were a little outdated, especially the bathroom blocks. And many were crowded, with tiny pitches. But others had more spacious fields without designated plots. Despite this, on two separate occasions we had to move our tent after pitching because fellow campers had inexplicably popped their tents within about 30 cms of ours. Perhaps we are a bit precious but this made no sense to us!
How much do campsites on The Rheinsteig cost?
Campsites in Germany have varying price structures. In our experience, there is normally a charge for the tent/ pitch, plus a charge for each adult camping. Guests are also charged for bikes, cars, dogs and children – all of which are probably less relevant to those walking The Rheinsteig.
The cheapest campsite we stayed at on The Rheinsteig cost us (2 adults and 1 small tent) 20 Euros. Versus, the most expensive was around 35 Euros. It is worth noting that some campsites charge more during peak season (summer months) and even add on a weekend surcharge.
Generally we were able to pay for campsites with card, but one or two would only accept cash.
Top tip – you’ll also need a few 50 cent coins to pay for showers.
Where are the best campsites on The Rheinsteig?
You can find a short list of our favourite campsites on The Rheinsteig and why we liked them, below.
1 / Biergarten und Campingplatz Auf dem Salmenfang – this was the first campsite we stayed at on The Rheinsteig after our second day of walking. It has slightly mixed reviews from other guests and the bathroom facilities are outdated, but we had a very pleasant evening camping by the river.
Why we liked it: There’s a beer garden with very reasonable prices, epic views of the river and plenty of space, 20 Euro cash payment.
2 / Wellness-Rheinpark-Camping Bad Hönningen – a decent campsite close to a quintessential Rhine spa town.
Why we like it: Close to town and a very spacious camping area.
3 / Rheingaucamping Campingplatz Geisenheim -I hesitated on whether to include this campsite on our list. It is expensive (the priciest we stayed at), and when we stayed a combination of an extraordinary lightening storm and a group of lads playing beer pong somewhat dampened our experience. That said, it is a great site.
We absolutely recommend staying overnight in Rüdesheim if you can as it was one of the loveliest towns we found. It’s worth noting, The Rheinsteig actually skips this town, but we came off the trail to spend a night here.
Why we liked it: Rüdesheim is a pretty town, great shower blocks at the site, restaurant on site, a small beach to swim (one of the only areas of The Rhine that we encountered where you can swim).
Is wild camping possible on The Rheinsteig?
Theoretically, it would be possible to wild camp – as in, pitch a tent on public land – in the vicinity of the trail. That said, there are some considerations:
1 / Wild Camping is prohibited in Germany and technically you could be fined or charged if you were found camping. Or at the very least, moved on. That said, hikers do still sometimes choose to wild camp as they walk The Rheinsteig in Germany.
2 / The Rheinsteig is an undulating trail – this means that you’d need to pick your tent pitch quite wisely. There are sometimes rest stops, like little walkers huts, which occupy space on flat ground. We noticed the remnants of campfires close to these huts, so we think these are either popular camp spots or places that people gather at night.
3 / There are wild animals in this area of Germany – this is one of the reasons that we chose not to wild camp on the route. There are frequent reports of wild boar around the trail. You would also need to be aware of wolves (although sightings are rare) and smaller beasts like snakes, ticks and mosquitos.
4 / Logistics – walking The Rheinsteig requires a fair bit of logistical planning when it comes to things like how much water and food to carry. Wild camping will exacerbate this, as you’re most likely to camp close to the trail and away from towns. Also consider where you might charge batteries and phones, and shower.
Looking for a daily stages guide?
You can find our daily stages guide to the Rheinsteig here.
Written by Emma
Wine Lover. Yogi. Hiker. Writer.
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2 responses to “Camping on the Rheinsteig: All you need to know”
[…] You might like to read this alongside our daily stages guide (coming soon), what we liked + disliked about the trail and our guide to camping. […]
[…] If you’re thinking about camping on the Rheinsteig you can find our guide here. […]