Eifel Volcano Route

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Nurburgring

   Few roads in the world have a nickname as earned as the Nordschleife, which Jackie Stewart christened the Green Hell. It winds for about twenty-one kilometres through the forested hills of the Hohe Eifel, with well over a hundred corners, big climbs, blind crests and a drop of nearly three hundred metres between its lowest and highest points. It was built in the 1920s as a work-creation project for a depressed region, and above it, on a basalt cone, stand the ruins of Nürburg castle, a twelfth-century fortress that gave the circuit its name. The tower is still there, and from it you can look out over the whole area.

   Read the complete Nurburgring write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Nurburgring is where the day begins. Next is Daun.

2. 2. Daun

   Daun is the capital of the Vulkaneifel, and the name is accurate: this is a country of dead volcanoes, and the evidence is all around the town. Instead of cones, the Eifel has maars, round lakes that fill the craters left when rising magma met groundwater and blew itself apart. Three of them lie within a few kilometres of Daun, the Gemündener, Weinfelder and Schalkenmehrener Maar, deep and dark and ringed with woods, and the sight of such perfectly round water in the middle of ordinary hills is oddly moving. The Weinfelder Maar has a small chapel on its shore that makes a very good photograph.

   Read the complete Daun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Daun comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Schalkenmehren Maar.

3. 3. Schalkenmehren Maar

   Three round lakes lie in a row beside the village of Schalkenmehren, and none of them is really a lake. They are maars, craters blasted out of the Eifel when rising magma hit groundwater and the whole thing detonated. The explosions threw out a ring of ash and broken rock, the hole filled with rain, and what remains is a perfect circle of still water in a bowl of grass and trees. The Eifel has dozens of them, and the Dauner Maare, just next to the town of Daun, are the best-known cluster: the Schalkenmehrener, Weinfelder and Gemündener Maar, each only a short walk from the next.

   Read the complete Schalkenmehren Maar write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 28 km into the recorded legs you reach Schalkenmehren Maar. Next is Manderscheid.

4. 4. Manderscheid

   Manderscheid has two castles facing each other across a gorge, and the story of how they came to be there is a classic of medieval feuding. The Oberburg and the Niederburg stand on opposite ridges above the loops of the Lieser river, a hundred metres or so apart, and they were built by rival branches of the same family, who spent several centuries arguing about who owned what. Both are now ruins, atmospheric in the true sense, with broken towers and arches overlooking a deep wooded valley, and a short footpath leads between them. Of the two, the Niederburg is the more complete.

   Read the complete Manderscheid write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Manderscheid, late in the day. Next is Gerolstein.

5. 5. Gerolstein

   Gerolstein is best known for water, and the water is the story of the place. The town lies in a bowl of the Kyll valley, and under it flows mineral water from the volcanic ground, rich in carbonic acid and minerals, which is bottled and sold across Europe under the town's name. You can see the factory at the edge of town and taste the water at the public springs, where it comes out fizzy, cool and slightly metallic. About seven and a half thousand people live here, so fuel, shops and restaurants are plentiful.

   Read the complete Gerolstein write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Gerolstein. That is the ride.