The varied and mountainous tour leads through old Eifel forests, past ice caves, offers magnificent panoramic views and the view of the medieval Bertrada Castle.

The double-towered gate castle Bertrada sits majestically in Mürlenbach above the Kyll Valley. She is the patron saint of this varied 13 km long circular hiking trail. The route offers a successful mix of nature, culture and geology. It leads past the impressive ice and millstone caves in Birresborn as well as the XXL Bank.

At the parking lot at the grill hut in Birresborn begins the forest-experience-learning trail, which offers a lot of interesting information about the forest and many stations along the way that invite you to join in. The forest path leads up to the Birresborn ice caves. These caves are not natural formations, but formed by underground mining of volcanic rock. You can explore them on your own from April to October. Directly opposite the caves is the largest and oldest volcano of the Vulkaneifel, Vulkan Kalem. We leave the forest and climb further uphill and come to the XXL bench, which offers a magnificent view. The descent to Mürlenbach begins soon after through the beautiful Eifel forests. The magnificent Bertrada Castle perches above the village and tells of its past. After crossing the Kyll, a long climb begins. The views from the heights make up for the effort. Through woods and meadows the descent to Birresborn begins.

Travel report: The blog go-vareo was on the road on the Betrada route


Tips for the tour:

• The starting point of the tour is very easy to reach by train (station Mürlenbach or Birresborn).
• Alternative starting points: Birresborn at the train station or Birresborn car parkinglot at the ice caves
• A video of the tour can be found here