Odenwald Odenwald Travel Guide: Best Hotels, Restaurants & Experiences

The Odenwald rises between the Rhine and Main rivers, a forested upland of sandstone outcrops, half-timbered villages, and Roman-era roads still traceable through the woods. Towns like Michelstadt preserve medieval market squares where locals gather for Apfelwein in autumn; Erbach maintains its ivory-carving tradition in workshops passed through generations. The landscape shifts from vineyard slopes along the Bergstrasse to dense beech forests around Eulbach, where a nineteenth-century English-style park harbors ancient Roman altar stones.

Regional cooking draws on the forest—game, chanterelles, trout from clear streams—while the Bergstrasse's mild microclimate yields asparagus and early stone fruit. Village inns serve Handkäs mit Musik and Grüne Soße, Frankfurt's influence evident in the cider poured at wooden tables. Accommodation ranges from converted manor houses to contemporary wellness retreats that make use of the region's thermal springs and forest-bathing trails.