Tourismus NRW e.V.
Hiking in the Bergisches Land, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Hik­ing trails in NRW

NRW is a para­dise for walk­ers

Hik­ing of­fers a slower but no less re­ward­ing way to dis­cov­er the de­lights of North Rhine-West­phalia. A well-de­veloped net­work of trails criss-crosses the state from east to west and north to south, tak­ing in a wide vari­ety of nat­ur­al land­scapes and dis­tinct­ive re­gions.

Seven trails in North Rhine-Westphalia, including the Rothaarsteig (Rothaar Trail), the Eifelsteig (Eifel Trail), the Rheinsteig Trail and the Via Adriana Trail, have been certified as “premium hiking trails”. Along the way, accommodation providers with a seal of quality from the German Hiking Association offer walkers a welcome chance to rest and refuel – and take care of muddy boots. And for those interested in following the footsteps of pilgrims, North Rhine-Westphalia even takes in sections of the Way of St. James – a truly unmissable experience.

Ols­berg Kneipp Hik­ing Trail

Cool your feet in clear streams

En­joy both the beau­ti­ful land­scape of Sauer­land and health be­ne­fits on the Ols­berg Kneipp hik­ing trail.

Level of difficulty: hard

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Cop­per Trail

Today golden-yel­low calam­ine pan­sies still bloom along the route to Stol­berg

For a long time, met­al ex­trac­tion and pro­cess­ing were tra­di­tion­al trades in Stol­berg near Aachen. The Cop­per Trail leads dir­ec­tly in­to the past.

Level of difficulty: intermediate

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Rothaar Trail

For nature lov­ers and ad­ven­ture hikers

One of Europe’s most beau­ti­ful high-alti­tude trails scores highly with its 154 kilo­metres, the Kyrill-Pfad (Kyrill Trail) and the an­nu­al mara­thon.

Level of difficulty: intermediate

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Way of St. James

On his­tor­ic pil­grim­age routes through Mün­ster­land

Even hun­dreds of years ago pil­grims were cross­ing what is now NRW on the way to San­ti­ago de Com­postela. One of these his­tor­ic­al routes passes through Mün­ster­land.

Level of difficulty: intermediate

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Wil­der­ness Trail

An ad­ven­ture trail through the Eifel Na­tion­al Park

The 85-kilo­metre Wild­nis­trail (Wil­der­ness Trail) leads hikers through un­spoilt nature in the Eifel Na­tion­al Park.

Level of difficulty: intermediate

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Medebach Moun­tain Trail

Hik­ing through the “Tuscany of Sauer­land”

An oas­is of well-be­ing awaits the tired hiker on the Medebach­er Bergweg (Medebach Moun­tain Trail) in Sauer­land’s sun­ni­est re­gion.

Level of difficulty: hard

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Kindels­berg Trail

A cir­cuit of­fer­ing ex­cep­tion­al views and his­tor­ic­al in­sights

The Kindels­ber­g­p­fad (Kindels­berg Trail) in Sieger­land-Wit­tgen­stein com­bines idyll­ic nature with in­form­a­tion on the re­gion’s min­ing his­tory.

Level of difficulty: intermediate

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Ruhrhöhen­weg

Over hills and val­leys in­to the Ruhr area

The white St. An­drew's cross points the way from Win­ter­berg to Duis­burg, from the source of the Ruhr river to its con­flu­en­ce with the Rhine.

Level of difficulty: intermediate

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Her­mann Heights Trail

Hik­ing in the land of the Cherusci chief­tain

Battles have now been re­placed with peace­ful re­lax­a­tion on the Her­mannshöhen (Her­mann Heights) trail. The ridge of the Teuto­burg Forest of­fers amaz­ing views.

Level of difficulty: intermediate

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Veischede Sun Trail

A trail with im­press­ive views and hearty cold-cut plat­ters

A chance to switch off and en­joy the great out­doors. Half-timbered vil­lages, open coun­tryside and ex­pans­ive forests provide an idyll­ic back­drop to this hik­ing trail.

Level of difficulty: intermediate

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