Blaustein between the Blau River, hiking trails and Stone Age history
Accommodation in Blaustein
Blaustein brings together hiking trails, cycling along the Blau River, a Stone Age settlement and water activities. This gives you a choice of different interests for your stay: should outdoor exercise be the main focus, or would you also like to include cultural history and places to swim? These priorities can help guide you when choosing a holiday apartment in Blaustein.
File:Landschaftsschutzgebiet Blaustein IMG 9564.jpg
Photo: Alexander-93 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hiking trails and cycling along the Blau River
The Lauterfelsensteig is a certified quality hiking trail and circular route, awarded the title “Dream Tour” by the German Hiking Association. Other hiking routes in Blaustein also pass through the Kiesental valley. This gives you a choice of a certified circular route and other trails through the valley.
A cycle path runs mostly alongside the Blau River through Blaustein. The Stone Age village of Ehrenstein and Villa Lindenhof can be reached from the cycle path via short detours. If you would like to explore by bike, you can include these destinations in your ride. Check the latest route conditions before cycling.
Stone Age history and water activities
The Stone Age village of Ehrenstein is a Neolithic settlement in the Blau valley and part of the transnational, serial UNESCO World Heritage Site “Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps.” This site gives Blaustein’s cultural program a specific historical focus. Its location along the cycle path also makes the Stone Age village an interesting stop on a bike ride: it can be reached from the path via a short detour.
Water activities complement the trails and cultural sites: there are water playgrounds in Klingenstein and Herrlingen. Bad Blau has an outdoor saltwater vitality pool, a swimming pool, a children’s area, a water slide and an adventure pool. A replacement project is underway for the outdoor saltwater vitality pool; check with the operator for the latest details about the facilities. Bad Blau’s sauna area has six saunas and a saltwater steam bath.
When choosing your holiday apartment in Blaustein, you can therefore consider which of these activities you would like to shape your days: the award-winning circular hike, other trails through the Kiesental valley, a bike ride or the water activities.
The wider destination of the Alb-Donau district
Looking at the wider destination of the Alb-Donau district also offers a distinct cultural and historical perspective. Hohle Fels near Schelklingen is a UNESCO World Heritage cave and the findspot of the “Venus of Hohle Fels” and the “Vulture Bone Flute”; both finds are about 42,500 years old. The monastic complexes offer another historical perspective: the former Premonstratensian abbey of Obermarchtal is in the Alb-Donau district. Its monastery complex stands directly above the Danube and took on its present form between 1686 and 1795. Blaubeuren Monastery was founded as a Benedictine monastery in 1085 and today consists mainly of Gothic buildings dating from 1466 to 1510.
The Alb-Donau district offers hiking routes with a range of profiles. The 20 circular “Ice Age Trails” are 6 to 14 km long and are suitable for day hikes. They are complemented by the family-friendly “Ice Age Tracks,” which range from 1 to 6 km, and the “Path of Reflection” for multi-day hikes. Their lengths and individual characteristics help distinguish day hikes from longer outings.
The themed cycling routes in the Alb-Donau district also vary in length: the “Ice Age Valleys” route is 75 km long, the “Berg Bier Tour” is 115 km, and the “Albtäler” cycle path is 186 km long and has a four-star rating. The regional selection therefore ranges from shorter day hikes to longer cycling routes, without equating these options with the trails in Blaustein.
Discover more destinations: Dornstadt, Erbach, Dietenheim, Amstetten, Griesingen, Weidenstetten, Munderkingen, Rammingen.
Go to the wider travel overview: Alb-Donau district.
