Suggestions for day trips around the Schieferland region

Maria Laach is one of the most famous sights in the Laacher See Volcano Park. The abbey church is the most famous building in the Eifel.

High towers, picturesque oriels, protective walls and a deep castle moat amaze visitors when the well-preserved medieval castle appears out of nowhere on one of the hiking trails - e.g. the award-winning dream trail "Eltzer Burgpanorama". The interior holds some well-preserved treasures: the imposing knights' hall, the armoury and treasure chamber or the bedrooms, living rooms and writing rooms. All this can be experienced on a guided tour between April and November.

The Gemünden maar is lined up along a fissure running SE to NW. About 20,000 to 30,000 years ago they erupted and Gemünden Maar lake was formed.

The narrow streets of Monreal, its quaint Holy Trinity Church, the massive Nepomuk Bridge over the clear flowing Elzbach and the ruins of Löwenburg and Philippsburg castles high above the town are a perfect destination for an excursion in the eastern Eifel. The red and white half-timbered houses nestle closely together in the former cloth-making town. Not only visually is Monreal an excursion destination that relaxes the soul. Café Plüsch with its cosy interior or the former signal box at the gates of the town are perfect addresses for foodies. The highlight for lovers of handicrafts is the pottery in the old school. Hikers get their money's worth on the Monrealer Ritterschlag hiking trail and are rewarded for the sometimes steep passages with wonderful views.

With around 3.3 km² and a depth of 53 m, Laacher See is the largest lake in Rhineland-Palatinate. The area around the lake has been a nature reserve for almost 80 years. The last eruption of the former “Laacher volcano” occurred around 10,930 BC. B.C., about 13,000 years ago. Traces of volcanic activity can still be found in the form of volcanic outgassing, the so-called mofettes, on the eastern shore of the lake. The total ejection quantity of the outbreak at that time was about 16 km³. The eruption was one and a half times as strong as that of Pinatubo in 1991, or 6 times as strong as the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Although Laacher See is widely regarded as the largest maar in the Vulkaneifel, it is scientifically not a maar and also not a real crater lake, but a water-filled caldera - a burglary crater that resulted from a collapse after the magma chamber was emptied below the volcanic cone. The volcanic mountain collapses and only the ring bead on the outer edge remains. Over time, the remaining boiler fills up with water. The Laacher See is in the Eifel, next to the neighboring Wehrer Kessel, the largest caldera and the only water-filled one in Central Europe.

The Lava Dome is a very special museum in the Volcano Park in the East Eifel. On 700 square metres it is not "museum-like", but spectacular - for children and adults, for absolute newcomers and for those who are pre-informed about volcanism. In the "Land of Volcanoes", a multimedia show tells the story of two violent volcanic eruptions. Images, sounds and projections let you relive them - up close and intense, but fortunately virtual. The "volcano workshop" is a genuine small science centre. At experimental stations, visitors gain a vivid impression of the processes inside the earth. The "Time of the Volcanoes" lets stones speak: Anyone who touches them can hear and see the great eruptions of times gone by. Current seismological data and images from webcams around the world are particularly exciting. And in the round cinema, a fictitious news programme takes your breath away, because here it becomes clear what another eruption of the Laacher See volcano would mean.

The neighboring ruins of the Lion Castle, also known as Monreal Castle, and the Philippsburg, popularly called "the Rech" (roe deer), lofty above the picturesque half-timbered Monreal on a 350 m above sea level. NN high mountain spur.

The Nürburgring Green Hell - racing, business, adventure, holiday

Especially if you visit the GesundLand Vulkaneifel in summer, a detour to the Schalkenmehren Maar is a must. Located directly at the village of the same name and opposite the Weinfelder Maar, the Schalkenmehrener Maar is one of the three Dauner Maars and offers a wonderful backdrop for an extended walk or an extensive hike. If you look closely, you can see that the Schalkenmehren Maar was once a double maar, formed by volcanic activity around 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. But the tuffs of the western maar filled up the eastern maar funnel, so that nothing can be seen of the second maar today, except for the fen vegetation that has spread in this area. Take a little discovery tour and observe numerous animal and plant species along the way!

During the Middle Ages, Schloss Bürresheim palace was actually a castle, in other words, a knight’s residence and a fortress at the same time.

Underground connection between two Eifel maars: The Ulmen maar-tunnel

also called Totenmaar [maar of the dead] The Weinfelder Maar is considered the "symbol of the Eifel melancholy". Gentle slopes, on which the Eifel gold - popularly known as "Besenginster"grows and shines in early summer, around the mostly turquoise shimmering water.

There is a car trail through the park, which is about 8 km long. The animals can move about freely in the large grounds, and thanks to the platforms provided, where there is an opportunity to exit from the car, they are familiar with having contact with visitors.