Manderscheid Burgenstieg (Castle Trail)

We've been here quite often. This time, too, we were absolutely thrilled. Mostly beautiful trails, and from every direction, we had fantastic views of the Manderscheid castles. We couldn't complain about the weather either, so it was a complete success and definitely worth recommending 🥾🐾🏰🌳🏞️😍👍🙋

The 4th tour of our autumn hiking holiday 🥾🍁 took us to Manderscheid, not far from our hostel 🏘. From the Burgenblick parking lot 🅿️, the path led after just a few meters to the first view of the castle 🏰👀, first to the lower castle 🏰 of Manderscheid, then past the summit cross ✝️ of the Manderscheid via ferrata 🧗‍♀️, to the upper castle. We soon reached the ruins of the upper castle 🏰. From the freely accessible tower 🗼, we had a magnificent view 🏞 👀 of the landscape. We continued on narrow hiking trails to the tournament meadows. There we crossed the Lieser 🌊, briefly watched the climbers 🧗‍♀️🧗‍♂️ on the via ferrata below the Lower Castle, and then climbed the Rittersteig ⚔️ from Niedermanderscheid. We reached the Grafenfels 🪨 with a magnificent view 👀 of the surrounding area, especially the tournament meadows we had just crossed. A little later, we reached the Eifelblick Belvedere 🏘 👀 viewpoint, where we took a short break for lunch 🥪. A path followed through beech forest and a wide forest path 🌳🌲 along the Achtergraben, which flowed into the Lieser. We crossed this again and climbed back up a very narrow path 😱. Shortly before we arrived back in 🏘 Manderscheid, we had to climb over a fallen tree 🪵 that blocked the very narrow path with a cliff to the left 😨. It was quite adventurous 🙈. But overall, it was a beautiful hike with fantastic views 🏞 👀 of the surrounding area and, time and again, of Manderscheid's two castles 🏰 👀.

And again, Komoot didn't record it completely.....according to Outdooractive 7.3km

Since our visit didn't have that much time, we went this little round again today. It was very interesting to see how nature developed within 14 days

Since I didn't feel like it at all today, I chilled a bit at the Meerfelder Maar ... Our subsequent tour went to Manderscheid. Unfortunately, the bridge fell victim to the flood and so it went through the Leisa without further ado ... It was a great lap! 😎

After a long time I finally did a lap again in nice weather. Usually we don't need 90 minutes for such a small round. But somehow we had a lot of catching up to do. So we went from one vantage point to the next and let the wonderful sunshine and fresh green work on us for a loooong. In the end, almost 3 hours have passed when we were back at the parking lot.

The second tour was the "Manderscheider Burgenstieg". Spontaneously, due to the constant rain in the morning, we decided to do this slightly shorter tour. worth it! The paths were sometimes quite demanding (a real challenge if you're afraid of heights, if you don't like "steep edges" next to you soo ^^), but also here 1a signposted. There was a little irritation just before the bridge, but it wouldn't matter which of the three paths you take, you get to the same point. More or less steep. I think we chose the steepest... The lower castle can be visited for an entrance fee. Unfortunately, we were only there half an hour before closing time (the gates close at 6 p.m.), so we couldn't see the castle from the inside. The path continues past a tournament meadow to the upper castle. This is only a ruin and freely accessible. Over a stony and also steep path we continue up to the imperial temple. From there you have a fantastic view of both castles. Summary: Nice tour, good for in between, because it is not that long, with fantastic views.

To put it bluntly - the Castle Trail is fantastic! We start at the paid parking lot by the old dairy (€1.50 for three hours) and follow the signs for the Manderscheid Castle Trail. The entire trail is extremely well signposted, which is rare. There's also a via ferrata that runs along the castles in several stages. Along the way, there are many vantage points with views of the ruins. We reach the Lower Castle; admission costs €5. It's worth it, I think, because the castle is truly worth seeing. We continue across the Lieser to the Upper Castle, which is considerably smaller. Next comes the Kaisertempelchen (small imperial temple), and then we're back at the starting point. For me, the Castle Trail is truly a highlight of the region!