Hiking through the Siebengebirge

Welcome! Hiking through the Siebengebirge is inspiring in many ways. Enjoy the view from the Mount Ölberg in the morning when the mists clear, hear the birds sing in the lovely Nachtigallental (Nightingale Valley), ride on the Drachenfelsbahn to Mount Drachenfels and enjoy the view across the Rhine Valley, find a break from stressful days at Heisterbach Abbey, or rekindle with nature in the picturesque valley Tretschbachtal and Annatal. Just to mention a few places to see.

Places to see

We will visit some of these 40 mountains and valleys on the following pages.

In Königswinter

• Drachenfels, Königswinter and surroundings: Mount Drachenfels with the medieval castle ruin on top, Drachenburg Castle and the Nibelungenhalle, in addition Wolkenburg and Nachtigallental, the Nightingale Valley.
• Around the Ölberg, the highest mountain with the sublime view over our area, Lohrberg with the viewpoint Drei-Seen-Blick.
• Mount Geisberg in the middle of the Siebengebirge, Mirbesbach creek along the L331 country road and last but not least the Ofenkaulen, an abandoned mine and underground tunnel system.
• Heisterbach Abbey and surroundings, for instance the abandoned quarries at the mountains Weilberg and Stenzelberg.
• Mount Petersberg with the Grand Hotel and Federal Guest House on top, and Mount Nonnenstromberg with the natural forest cell.

In Bad Honnef

• Around Honnef and Löwenburg: Löwenburg with the medieval castle ruin and Einsiedlertal valley, Tretschbachtal and Annatal, the humid valleys
• Rhöndorf and Breiberg

More than seven mountains

We usually speak of the Siebengebirge or “Sieben Berge”, which translates as “Seven Mountains”, However, there are over 40 hills and crests. Numerous local hiking paths take you through the Siebengebirge Nature Park. Moreover, the long-distance hiking trails Rheinsteig, Rheinhöhenweg and Bergischer Wanderweg lead through the Siebengebirge.

How to get here?
The Siebengebirge is in the Rhineland, on the right bank of the Rhine River, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The cities in the Siebengebirge are Königswinter and Bad Honnef, the next big cities are Bonn and Cologne.

Siebengebirge cities Königswinter and Bad Honnef

The Siebengebirge Nature Park is in the urban areas of Königswinter and Bad Honnef. For the non-locals: In the course of a district reform in North Rhine-Westphalia about fifty years ago, several villages were incorporated to the cities of Königswinter and likewise Bad Honnef. In other words, both city areas are made of their eponymous old towns on the banks of the Rhine and numerous villages around, many of them in the hills.

For instance, the valley station of the Drachenfelsbahn is in the old town of Königswinter, Heisterbach Abbey halfway between Königswinter-Oberdollendorf and Königswinter-Heisterbacherrott, a hike to Mount Ölberg often begins at Königswinter-Margarethenhöhe, almost in Königswinter-Ittenbach. Bad Honnef-Rhöndorf and Bad Honnef-Rommerdorf are good trailheads if you want to explore the southern Siebengebirge.

“This sight is the eighth wonder of the world”
Alexander von Humboldt on the Rhine and the Siebengebirge

Another note

Although we usually speak of the Seven Mountains, in reality they are hills. Now the castles on the Drachenfels, the Löwenburg, the Rosenau and the lost castle on the Wolkenburg have the same names as the mountains. So, I write about Mount Drachenfels and Drachenfels Castle, to make things clear and avoid unwieldy sentences. Kindly bear with me!