Nominated as Germany's most beautiful hiking trail 2024, category day tours
Vote now in the voting studio! (12.01.-30.06.2024)

...

Narrow paths that wind their way through bizarre sandstone rock formations, fantastic views over the landscape, traces of the people, their history and their legends: this classic hiking trail in the German-Luxembourg border region, named after the most famous natural monument in the Bollendorf Forest, offers one hell of a beautiful highlight after another! Let's get going:  

A forest path leads right into a fairytale world with weathered rock faces, gorges and crevices, mossy stone blocks and high rock towers. It is actually a 190-million-year-old seabed that has been moulded into these rocks by the forces of nature over the course of time. But it could also have been created by giants - or by the devil, who is closer to the Catholic south Eifel people.

Perhaps this is why the famous namesake of the tour, which you cross soon after the start, is called "Green Hell"? The sun's rays only barely penetrate the narrow, bright green gorge. The fact that this landscape stimulates people's imagination is also reflected in its other names: just after the Green Hell, the "Eulenhorst" (Owl's Nest) tells us that the rock caves serve as a refuge and breeding ground for animals. The "Kreuzlay" is a good place to take your first break with a view of the vast sky above the wooded rock plateaus - with an entry in the summit book if you wish.

At a crossroads about halfway along the route, an ornately decorated 18th century boundary stone tells the story of this region: the "Maria Theresa Stone". Behind it, the hiking route turns off into the valley known as "Moarkendell", where black discolourations in the ground are reminiscent of the charcoal piles that used to burn here to produce charcoal. A little later, the next great view is from a rock tower called "Predigtstuhl" - it looks like the pulpit in the church. And at the "Muhmenlay", you can immerse yourself in the legendary world of the Southern Eifel, as an old herbal witch is said to have once lived in this rock shelter.

The hike ends with a fantastic panoramic view of Bollendorf and the Sauer Valley from the "Lingelslay". And because it is so special, the people of Bollendorf have created their own audio tour for it - the "Lauschtour Grüne Hölle", which you can download onto your smartphone. Here you can find out lots of interesting and exciting things - including, of course, why Green Hell is green!