Vulkaneifel: Maars, volcanic landscapes and trails
Accommodation in Vulkaneifel
Maars, volcano museums and trails through the Eifel countryside shape the character of the Vulkaneifel. If you’re looking for a holiday apartment, you can choose where to stay based on the experiences that interest you most on your trip, such as volcanic landscapes, a day by the water, hiking or insights into the history of the Earth. This lets you decide during the planning stage which themes will shape your holiday.
Maars and traces of volcanism
So far, 77 maars have been documented in the Vulkaneifel. In addition, 350 volcanic vents have been counted, around 270 of them from the more recent phase. These figures give an impression of just how strongly volcanism has shaped the landscape. Ulmen Maar marks the most recent volcanic eruption in the Vulkaneifel, which took place around 10,900 years ago. Near Bettenfeld lies Windsborn Crater Lake, the only natural crater lake north of the Alps.
The maars also vary in size and in the activities they offer visitors. Gemündener Maar has a water surface of about 7 hectares and is the smallest of the three famous “Eyes of the Eifel.” Fishing and boating are among the summer water sports available there; swimming is permitted at the Gemündener Maar natural swimming area. If you’d like to include activities by the water in your holiday plans, you can weigh these options against the region’s other natural and cultural attractions.
Hiking and outdoor activities
The Vulkaneifel trails lead to scenic highlights on both sides of the Eifelsteig. They are marked and signposted, and offer half-day hikes, day hikes and multi-day treks. This allows you to take the duration of your hikes into account as an important part of planning your trip. The eleventh stage of the Eifelsteig runs from Daun to Manderscheid and is 23.4 kilometres long.
Cyclists have a different scale to consider: the Vulkaneifel Trailpark has a mountain biking trail network of around 750 kilometres, with more than 17,500 metres of elevation gain. If you prefer to travel on foot, the Vulkaneifel trails offer a range of tour formats; if you’d like to bring your mountain bike, you can plan around the size of the Trailpark network. The Vulcano Trail is a 26.2-kilometre circular route east of Schalkenmehren. The distances and tour formats can help you choose your daily plans without treating different activities as equivalent.
Museums, castles and special discoveries
The Eifel Volcano Museum in Daun features three-dimensional landscape models of cinder cones, maars and mineral springs, as well as exhibits on volcanism in the West Eifel. The interactive Volcano House in Strohn is home to a lava fissure wall around 30,000 years old, approximately six metres long and four metres high. At the Strohn Lava Bomb, visitors can explore how it formed and experience the effects of volcanism in the Eifel.
In Gerolstein, the Natural History Museum displays stone evidence from the region’s geological history across three floors and is considered the Eifel’s largest and oldest geo-museum. This gives you several ways to explore the history of the Earth: landscape models and exhibits in Daun, an interactive museum in Strohn and stone evidence in Gerolstein. When choosing a holiday apartment, you can consider which of these places or themes you’d like to make the focus of your trip.
Ulmen Castle ruins also bring together natural and cultural interests: they rise above the steep shore of Ulmen Maar, with parts of the upper castle still standing. The two Manderscheid castles, in turn, are separated by the narrow Lieser Valley. If you’re interested in historic sites like these, you can add them to your shortlist alongside museums and hikes.
Places to help you plan your visit
If you’d like to explore the region further, you’ll find the local destination pages for Daun, Gerolstein, Hillesheim, Kelberg, Obere Kyll, Bodenbach, Kirsbach, Horperath and Stadtkyll.
For the broader travel overview: Rhineland-Palatinate.
