Today would be my longest stage on the Altmühltal Panoramaweg, so I made an early start from Deising for the walk to Essing. It was promising to be yet another extremely hot day. As I had already climbed the Roßkopf and walked the loop around Altmühlmünster yesterday evening, I walked along the main road from Deising instead and rejoined the Panoramaweg 1Km further on. I also saw signs of the Jurasteig, which had now joined with the Panoramaweg to share the trail to Kelheim. After a quiet, flat stretch along the canal, the trail turned right, resulting in a 800 meter long climb to Obereggersberg. I struggled uncomfortably with the climb due to my cold which didn't seem to be getting any better. The main attraction of this small village is Schloss Eggersberg, a castle converted into a hotel which also houses the Hofmark Museum. I made a short detour to the 13th Century castle ruins of Burg Eggersberg. Its prominent location directly overlooks the Altmühltal and provides some impressive views. Following advice from Piet Smulder's trip report, I walked directly via Haarlanden to Riedenburg instead of the big horseshoe along the Altmühl. This saves 7Km and would allow me time to explore Riedenburg's picturesque old town.
Riedenburg, the self-styled "Pearl of the Altmühl" is in a superb location. It straddles the Altmühl and is surrounded by hills and overlooked by three castles, two of which are ruins. I arrived at Burg Tachenstein, the remains of a 12th century castle. The observation platform at Burg Tachenstein provides an excellent panoramic view of Riedenburg and surrounding Jura hills.  I made my way down the Drei-Burgen-Steig to the Altstadt and also crossed over the river to view the pretty town from the opposite bank. While browsing the literature in the Tourist Office, I was reassured to note that Riedenburg still has two breweries. In the Marktplatz, I stopped for an early lunch (Weisswürste again) at the Gasthof zur Post and was able to compare the Weissbier of the Riemhofer Brauerei with the Ur Weizen from the Riedenburger Brauerei.

I felt quite content sat on the terrace and could have easily stayed in the Zur Post for the rest of the day, continuing my Weissbier comparison testing. By now, I was feeling quite tired due to the cumulative effect of hot weather and missed sleep and didn't manage to motivate myself to continue the walk to Essing. After further Weissbier testing, I chose the easy option of taking one of the passenger ships along the canal. I did feel a little guilty of missing out on the walk through the Klamm and a visit to Burg Prunn, but it was very pleasant sitting on deck and watching the scenery pass by.

I disembarked at the idyllic village of Essing, end of today's stage. Essing has a unique setting, built on a narrow strip of land sandwiched between the old Ludwig-Donau-Main-Kanal (used before the Main-Donau-Kanal was built) and a wall of high limestone cliffs. Atop the cliffs are the ruins of Burg Randeck. I passed the Marktplatz and its Well and checked in at Gasthof Felsenwastlwirt for tonight's stay. Despite being such a small village, Essing is home to the Schneider Brauerei and I was delighted to find their fine products were served at the Felsenwastlwirt. Also beer from the Frischeisen family brewery in Kelheim. In the early evening, I explored the pretty village and also visited the Blautopf, an azure blue karst spring. The Felsenwastlwirt is typically Bavarian and dinner on the terrace was a substantial Zwiebelrostbraten.

Main-Donau-Kanal at Deising	Deising - old schoolhouse
View upstream towards Deising from Obereggersberg	View downstream from Obereggersberg
Schloss Obereggersberg	Schloss Obereggersberg
View over Riedenburg from Burg Tachenstein	Riedenburg Marktplatz
Riedenburg Waterfront	Burg Prunn
Pfarrkirche Heilige Geist in Neuessing	Essing wooden bridge and Bruckturm
Blautopf	Essing Altstadt