Rock climbing in Germany

The map shows the best rock climbing areas in Germany, with Frankenjura being the jewel of Germany’s rock climbing destinations.

Germany’s largest and best rock climbing area is at Frankenjura, which is located between the cities of Nuremberg, Bamberg, and Bayreuth in northern Bavaria. In this large area, there are over 850 crags spread out in a beautiful forest terrain. The majority of the routes at Frankenjura are short powerful single pitch sport routes that are either vertical or overhanging. The character and style of climbing is on excellent quality white and grey limestone rock that is full of pockets, bents and holes. Frankenjura boasts in excess of 14,000 routes meaning there is something from everyone across the full grade range, from F3a to F9a.

There are various rock climbing guidebooks available for Frankenjura that can be bought from our shop. 

The best time to climb at Frankenjura is late spring and autumn, but as many of the crags either face north or are shaded in woods, then summer is also an excellent time to climb.

The Allgäu region is one of the Germany’s popular tourist destinations, with lush green valleys, and snow-capped Alpine peaks reflecting in the clear blue waters of cold mountain lakes. Allgäu is located in southern Germany, adjacent to the Austrian border, which extends across the south-western tip of Bavaria and into the neighbouring state of Baden-Württemberg. This large area boasts 93 different crags, centred mainly around the towns of Füssen (on the German/Austria border), Kempten, Sonthofen and Oberstdorf. The character and style of the rock climbing is predominantly on limestone rock, along with some conglomerate and sandstone. The vast majority of the routes are single pitch sport routes that are well bolted. The definitive guidebook for this area is called Allgäu Rock and is available to buy from our shop.

In the Allgäu area there is also plenty of bouldering to be found, particularly between the towns of Kempten and Sonthofen, and around Füssen. The character and style of the bouldering is very varied from extreme overhanging conglomerate walls with problems up to Font 8b+, circuits like in Fontainebleau but on rough limestone rock, to athletic sandstone problems. All of these bouldering problems are covered in the definitive guidebook called Allgäu Block, which can be bought from our shop.

Blautal (Blau Valley) is located south of Stuttgart, close to the city of Ulm. The character and style of the rock climbing is all about sport routes on limestone rock, of which the vast majority are single pitch. There are over 30 crags dotted along the river Blau, which provide almost 650 routes across a good range of grades. The best time to climb at Blautal is from March through to November. The definitive guidebook for the area is called Blautal Rock, which is available to buy from our shop.

The Harz region in northern Germany is a great bouldering area located to the southeast of Hanover, with 2,500 boulder problems. The actual bouldering is situated close to the town of Goslar, and is a mixture of granite and sandstone rock.  The Harz bouldering area is great for intermediate climbers, with more than 2,000 boulder problems graded at Fb 6b and below.

The main bouldering area is in the Oker Valley (Okertal) that has many coarsely grained granite blocks of various sizes.  The style of the bouldering is on vertical rock with crimps, large crystals, slopers, cracks and the occasional finger pocket. Other areas include Bad Harzburg (granite), Ottofelsen (granite), Langenstein (sandstone), Westerhausen (sandstone), and Bodenstein (sandstone). The definitive bouldering guidebook for the area is called Harz Block, and is available to buy from our shop.

Situated halfway between Cologne and Frankfurt is the old quarry area of Mayen. These disused basalt quarries are now home to sport climbing, traditional climbing and bouldering spread over 3 areas near the town of Ettringen. The character and style of the rock climbing is strenuous cracks and groves along with intricately technical arêtes and slabs. In total there are around 1,400 routes, which are all single pitch up to 30m high.

Pfalz is famous for its red sandstone towers and impressive cliffs. There are roughly 120 sandstone towers, 200 crags, and numerous boulders spread across a wide area. The climbing is based around the towns of Annweiler, Hauenstein, Dahn, and Munchweiler that are situated between Stuttgart and the French border in Western Germany. 

The style of rock climbing at Pfalz is predominantly trad climbing using standard nuts and cams, unlike other sandstone areas in Germany and the Czech Republic. However most routes do have some fixed protection that are generally rings or bolts, though the number of these per route varies widely. However most of the routes have logically-placed rings or bolts between weaknesses in the rock where nuts and cams can be placed, and very few “sport routes” with rings or bolts every few metres.

The sandstone rock at Pfalz is very varied and includes unique structures such as honeycomb slabs as well as many cracks, slopers, and crimps. There are many 1000’s of routes here, with the 2019 edition of Pfalz Rock Climbing Guidebook being the most comprehensive available.

Read Joe Norris's article about Pfalz: The Hidden Gem of German Climbing.

The Elbe Sandstone rock climbing area is located between Dresden and the Czech border in eastern Germany. These sandstone towers offer some of the most scenic climbing in Europe and provide a very unique climbing experience. The ethics of the area is a very strict trad style with a limited number of fixed protection used alongside knotted slings/ropes that are placed in the cracks – no metal nuts or cams are allowed.

The Plaisir Elbsandstein Rock Climbing Guidebook covers 400 of the best rock climbing routes, mainly up to around F6b, on the Elbe sandstone towers.

Donautal (Danube Valley) is a beautiful climbing area in southwest Germany, south of Stuttgart.  The climbing is based between the villages of Beuron and Sigmarungen, a 25km stretch of the Danube Valley, where there are almost 30 different crags.  The rock is a wonderful, compact limestone, often very pocketed but otherwise smooth, providing great technical climbing.  Virtually all the routes are bolted, although an occasional wire or thread is utilised on a few routes.  The rock is solid, with routes facing all directions (crags are on both sides of the valley), which means that the sun or shade can always be found.  The climbing at Donautal caters for all grades with the majority of the routes in the F5 to F7c (UIAA 5 to 9) grade range.