Moselsteig Trail Stage 08: Leiwen – Neumagen-Dhron

The starting point of this leg is the bus station in the Euchariusstraße road or the tourist information office in Leiwen. The access route sign posting guides you through the town to the tennis grounds. After about one kilometre you hit the main road. After a few metres you reach the barbecue hut in the Schantelbach Valley, which also boasts a large, beautifully designed adventure play ground. The play areas all around the Schantelbach offer lots of adventures! The Moselsteig Trail follows the Schantelbach up the valley. Before you reach the forest, the trail crosses a field, with a narrow river bed. On the opposite side of the valley the trail now takes you up the vineyards. At the Peace Chapel (Friedenskappelle), which is only a few steps away from the path, you should take a moment and enjoy the glorious view of Leiwen and Trittenheim.

The ascent continues behind the chapel and first takes you through vineyards, and a little bit further up, through a low forest. Once you have arrived at an orchard, you again have a view of Moselle Valley. A mountain hut invites you to rest, and you can enjoy the view a little longer. Through a low forest, the trial now continues to the edge of the Sonnenberg holiday park, at the end, it even gets quite steep. Here, above the game enclosure, you must around, take a breath and admire the wonderful view towards the Moselle. THE Moselsteig Trail now continues downhill to the forest and remains in the forest for descent. After passing a few houses in the town district of Zummethöhe you will reach the county road at the parking area. Once you have crossed the road, you will be above the vineyards and can see the Trittenheimer Moselle loop - one of the typical loops of the Central Moselle surrounded by vineyards. Trittenheim with its church which is located in the centre of the loop completes this wonderful picture. An access route takes you to famous wine village.

The Moselsteig Trail continues over steps and reaches the ridge; now the path briefly leaves the Moselle Valley and ascends through former vineyard grounds in the Kleine Dhron side valley. Often the sun shines on this side of the mountain when the Moselle Valley is still covered in fog. You have a clear view of the valley and the few houses in the village of Dhrönchen, where the author Stefan Andres was born. Moselsteig Trail hikers will also encounter him in Schweich. At the barbecue hut Vogelsang you again reach the slope edge of the Moselle Valley, and after a few metres you will arrive at the viewing point Vogelsang, which offers a view of the Trittenheimer Moselle loop from a different perspective. A small pulpit below the path is a viewing point almost perpendicular to the Moselle.

On a forest path you hike along the slope edge to the meeting point at the Römersteig. Here, you can walk on an access route to Trittenheim, but you should also no miss out on a small detour to the viewing point (see author’s tip)! After a short excursion to the hinterland, over one of the many Moselle terraces, the Moselsteig Trail takes you back to the slope edge and, on a beautiful nature path, you will have one of kind views of the steeply sloping cliffs and slopes right to the Moselle. The trail continues steeply downhill in a side valley and forest. Nearly at Moselle level, you again arrive at some vineyards. You have finished the descent once you arrive at the Chapel of Martyrs (Märtyrerkapelle).

Flanked by the road and vineyards, the Moselsteig Trail now continues along the stations of the cross towards Neumagen. A short hike on the cycle lane, and you have reached the outskirts of the town. Following a grassy path (the former track bed of the Moselle railway), past the yacht harbour and camp-site, you arrive in the centre of Neumagen-Dhron. In the summer months the replica of the Roman wine vessel Stella Noviomagi is in the harbour and makes for a worthy end of this Moselsteig Trail leg!

• Sturdy hiking footwear
• Appropriate weatherproof hiking gear
• Picnic lunch

The grassy plateau above the slate caves is perfect for stopping off to rest your feet. The resting place lies a little way from the trail and is therefore somewhat quieter but the view is just as lovely as the more well-known spots.

Starting point: Leiwen A 1, Föhren/Bekond exit and then follow the L 48 or B 53 and L 48

Destination: Neumagen-Dhron via the B 53

Leiwen: Small car park adjacent to the Euchariusstraße bus stop; the square on Schulstraße offers more parking

Neumagen-Dhron: Large car park on the riverbank close to the Stella Noviomagi

Zummethöhe: Hikers' car park on the L 148, around halfway along the stage

You can reach the stage towns Leiwen (bus stop Euchariusstrasse or bus stop Zummet) as well as Neumagen-Dhron (bus stop Realschule plus) with bus line 220.

There are regular connections. Please note that during the school vacations of Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland, on weekends as well as on public vacations there may be restrictions in the frequency! Please check the daily timetable on the website of the Verkehrsverbund Region Trier (VRT):

www.vrt-info.de

 Literature (only available in German):

"Moselsteig" - Offzieller Moselsteig-Wanderführer von ideemedia, 14,95 €

Authors: Ulrike Poller, Wolfgang Todt, publisher: ideemedia, 300 pages with around 300 images, altitude profiles, QR codes and GPS Tracks (in German), Format 11,5 x 23 cm, ISBN: 978-3-942779-21-0, 14,95 €

"Official Moselsteig Trail hiking maps" in pocket format:

The entire route is divided into 3 maps:

Leisure Map Moselsteig - Map 1: Perl - Trier (Stages 1 - 4), ISBN: 978-3-89637-419-6

Leisure Map Moselsteig - Map 2: Trier – Zell (Moselle) (Stages 5 -14), ISBN: 978-3-89637-420-2

Leisure Map Moselsteig - Map 3: Zell (Moselle) – Koblenz (Stages 15 -24) ISBN: 978-3-89637-421-9

Individual maps: €5.90

Set of 3 maps: € 14.50 (ISBN: 978-3-89637422-6)

"Premium-Set"

Premium set consisting of the official hiking guide including set of 3 hiking maps. Publisher: ideemedia, ISBN: 978-3-942779-24-1, 26,95 €

The hiking guides and the maps are available in bookstores or on the website https://www.visitmosel.de/wandern/service-infos-tipps under the heading “Ordering brochures”.

Leisure Map Moselsteig Trail – Map 2: Trier - Zell (Mosel) (Stages 5 - 14), ISBN: 978-3-89637-420-2

Mosellandtouristik GmbH

Kordelweg 1, 54470 Bernkastel-Kues; Phone: +49 (6531) / 97330

www.moselsteig.de

Tourist information office Römische Weinstraße

Brückenstraße 46, 54338 Schweich; Phone: +49 (6502) / 9338-0

www.roemische-weinstrasse.de

Tourist information office Bernkastel-Kues

Gestade 6, 54470 Bernkastel-Kues; Phone: +49 (6531) / 500190

www.bernkastel.de