Buchholz between the Hunsrück Railway, ravines and village history

Buchholz is an interesting starting point for anyone who wants to combine hiking trails with railway history and historic village scenery. The Hunsrück Railway, ravines, viaducts and side valleys offer a variety of experiences in the surrounding area. At the same time, churches, a former schoolhouse and prehistoric traces tell of the village’s long history.

Hiking along the Hunsrück Railway

The Hunsrück Railway hiking trail offers a distinctive combination of landscape and technology. The trail is approximately 16 kilometres long in total, runs via Boppard-Buchholz and passes ravines, tunnels and viaducts near the Hunsrück Railway. At selected viewpoints, information boards provide details about the scheduled times of passing trains. This allows you to combine the hike with insights into the railway’s route without reducing the landscape to a single theme.

The steep section of the Hunsrück Railway between Boppard and Buchholz is 8.5 kilometres long. After the Boppard-Fleckertshöhe stop, the Hunsrück Railway hiking trail reaches Boppard-Buchholz station. For planning your day, it makes sense to consider the length of the entire trail and the section you want to walk separately. There is a first picnic area with a table and bench along the trail. The Liesenfeldhütte also offers a place to stop and rest, with a magnificent view of the Hubertus Viaduct.

Side valleys, water and varied trail sections

Numerous hiking trails begin in Buchholz and lead through several side valleys to the Rhine or the Moselle. One particularly distinctive tour is the route known as the “Ehrbach Gorge Route”. It leads through the Ehrbach Valley, which stretches for more than 17 kilometres from Emmelshausen or Buchholz to Brodenbach. The hiking trail on the Ehrbach Gorge Route marked with an “E” passes small waterfalls and plunge pools.

The route includes short climbing sections as well as stream crossings via wooden bridges and stairs. Take these trail features into account if you are travelling with children or in a group with varying levels of stamina. The specific sections may help you decide whether to choose a shorter option for your hiking day or plan a longer tour. The route therefore offers a different focus from the Hunsrück Railway hiking trail with its railway structures, tunnels and viaducts.

Historical traces in Buchholz

There are also points of interest for cultural exploration in Buchholz away from the hiking trails. Buchholz was established as a settlement created by forest clearing in the 10th or 11th century. The Catholic parish church of St Sebastian was built from 1892 to 1896. The old village church of St Sebastian consists of a three-bay nave and a neo-Romanesque west tower.

The former schoolhouse in Buchholz was built from unplastered rubble stone and was ready for occupancy in 1842. Another historical reference can be found in the “Hellerwald” district: twelve burial mounds were grouped there along a prehistoric highland path above the Rhine Valley.

Which accommodation suits your travel plans

A holiday apartment in Buchholz is particularly appealing because it allows you to organise your stay around different ideas for each day: You can choose the Hunsrück Railway hiking trail with its viewpoints and places to rest, explore the Ehrbach Gorge Route with its waterfalls and stream crossings, or take a look at the village’s historic features. When searching, consider which travel plan is most important to you and what trail length you would like to include on each day. This keeps your choice of accommodation closely connected to the actual character of your trip.

For further orientation at this level, you can also visit the pages for Hollnich, Reckershausen, Holzbach, Unzenberg, Argenthal, Schwall, Rohrbach and Gondershausen.

For the higher-level travel overview: Rhine-Hunsrück.