Eifelsteig · Stage 1
Walking time as eifelsteig.de states it for this stage; measured on the mapped line: 3 h 57. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights. Eifelsteig.de
From the Benediktusplatz in Aachen-Kornelimünster to the Wanderstation in Roetgen: 14.1 km, 3 h 16, 327 m up and 136 m down, the trail body says. Near Hahn and Walheim a signed detour, in place since 2022, adds about 250 m. Our line still takes the old way over a footbridge that is closed (about km 3.3): follow the detour signs there.
Best season: No published season. Eifel Tourismus, the trail body, publishes no walking season for the Eifelsteig. Some services are seasonal: the Eifelsteig-Wanderbus (line 770) between Kall and Mirbach runs at weekends and on holidays from 3 April to 1 November 2026, and the boat on the Rursee from Einruhr to the Urft dam from April to October. A hotel in Monschau says it takes guests in every season. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
The start, at the Benediktusplatz in Aachen-Kornelimünster: by train to Aachen, then the AVV bus to the Kornelimünster Napoleonsberg stop. Aachen's hotels are the nearest; the stage 1 page lists one in Aachen.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end · overnight
Town
The stage ends at the Wanderstation, the old Vennbahn station on Bahnhofstraße, about 0.8 km west of the village centre. Buses run back to Aachen.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Hotel am Eifelsteig · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Landgasthof Gut Marienbildchen · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Make it your trip
Book each night with the host directly: the trail body's host pages link to their websites. Eifel Tourismus also sells packages (the original stages, shorter stages, or walks from one base hotel), and its FAQ names luggage transfer, packed lunches, shuttle and booking services. Plan the awkward nights first: the trail body lists no host at Einruhr, Mirbach or Kordel, and the abbey's hostel at Kloster Himmerod is not confirmed. From Mirbach the Wanderbus runs back to Blankenheim at weekends and on holidays until 1 November; from the end of stage 14 most walkers go on to Trier.
The trail body's fifteen stages, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeySix stages in the north: Roetgen, Monschau, the Rursee and Kloster Steinfeld.
Plan this journeyThree stages by Gerolstein and Daun, and past the maars to Manderscheid.
Plan this journeyThe last four stages, by Kloster Himmerod and down the Kyll valley, with the train past the lost bridge on stage 14.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (226 m) and high point (458 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (226 m) and the highest point (458 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed |
| High point, day / night | 4°/0° | 5°/0° | 8°/2° | 13°/4° | 16°/8° | 19°/11° | 21°/13° | 21°/13° | 17°/10° | 13°/7° | 8°/3° | 5°/1° |
| Low point, day / night | 6°/1° | 6°/1° | 10°/3° | 14°/5° | 18°/9° | 21°/12° | 23°/14° | 23°/13° | 19°/10° | 14°/7° | 10°/4° | 6°/1° |
| Rain, mm | 88 | 91 | 79 | 54 | 62 | 70 | 94 | 89 | 78 | 71 | 79 | 96 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible |
| Daylight | 8 h 26 | 10 h 01 | 11 h 47 | 13 h 45 | 15 h 27 | 16 h 27 | 16 h 05 | 14 h 37 | 12 h 43 | 10 h 49 | 9 h 01 | 8 h |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
On 13 October 2026 the stage pages list detours on stages 1 (near Hahn and Walheim), 2 (between Mützenich and Monschau, from 19 October), 3 (forest work between Hammer and Einruhr), 5 (Olef), 7 (forest work, a map only), 13 (at the abbey and the Meesenmühle) and 15 (the Butzerbachtal), and stage 14 cannot be walked to its end. Our line still crosses the closed bridges on stages 1, 5 and 13 and runs through the Butzerbachtal: follow the signed detours there. The trail body's FAQ says each stage's page carries its current notices (read 13 October 2026): read them before you set off.
Eifelsteig: frequently asked questionsSince the flood of July 2021 the Kyll bridge at the Deimlinger Mühle is gone, so stage 14 can be walked only to the mill, 5 km before Kordel. The stage page (read 13 October 2026) sends walkers by train from Daufenbach station to Kordel or Trier; the stage 15 page says a rail replacement bus runs on the Kordel line for now. Check bahn.de for the day you walk.
Eifelsteig: stage 14, Bruch to KordelFor now no trains run on the Eifel line near stages 8 to 12 or on the Kordel line by stage 15: rail replacement buses run instead until further notice, the stage pages say (read 13 October 2026). Plan with the regional transport network, VRT, from Mirbach onwards.
Eifelsteig: stage 10, Gerolstein to DaunStage 8, Mirbach to Hillesheim, is 26.1 km and 8 h 30 by the trail body, with few ways off it; stage 14 is 27.8 km and 8 h 15 for the whole stage, though its last 5 km are by train. Stage 3 has the most climbing, 786 m up. Stage 13 has no published time (stage pages read 13 October 2026).
Eifelsteig: stage 8, Mirbach to HillesheimMirbach, the end of stage 7, has no host. The Eifelsteig-Wanderbus (line 770) links it with Blankenheim, Steinfeld and Kall station four times a day at weekends and on public holidays, from 3 April to 1 November 2026, and on weekdays only on 15 May and 5 June. It leaves Kall at 9:00, 12:00, 14:30 and 17:30 and reaches Mirbach at 10:10, 13:10, 15:40 and 18:40 (timetable read 13 October 2026). No booking needed.
Eifelsteig: the WanderbusGetting there
Travel around Kornelimünster to Roetgen.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Take the train to Aachen Hbf or Aachen-Rothe Erde, then the AVV bus to the Kornelimünster Napoleonsberg stop, near the start on the Benediktusplatz.
AVV: timetablesAVV and Rheinlandbus buses serve stages 1 to 3, and run from the Roetgen Wanderstation back to Aachen. A boat crosses the Rursee from Einruhr to the Urft dam from April to October. The Wanderbus (line 770) links Kall and Blankenheim (Wald) stations with Steinfeld, Blankenheim and Mirbach at weekends and on holidays until 1 November 2026. From stage 8 the VRT buses take over, with rail replacement buses on the Eifel and Kordel lines.
Eifelsteig: the WanderbusThe trail ends at the Weißhaus car park, about 2.5 km above the centre of Trier; trains, long-distance ones included, leave from Trier Hbf.
Deutsche Bahn: journey plannerTake your trip with you
Prepare each stage while you still have a connection, so the map, the stage ends and the detours stay on your phone in the forest.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
Eifel Tourismus GmbH, the trail body (the Eifelverein looks after the waymarks), publishes the Eifelsteig as fifteen stages (Etappen), about 313 km from the Benediktusplatz in Aachen-Kornelimünster to the Weißhaus car park above Trier, with an official stage time for each stage but stage 13, whose page gives none; the times are shown beside ours on every stage. The fifteen stage pages add up to 313.7 km. The line here is the Eifelsteig on OpenStreetMap (relation 1176757, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 315.2 km, cut at the fifteen stage ends. Most stages are within 0.6 km of the official figure; on our line stage 9 is 1.8 km shorter, stage 10 1.4 km longer and stage 11 1.0 km shorter. The line is the official route as mapped, closures included: it still crosses the closed footbridge near Hahn (stage 1), the damaged bridge in Olef (stage 5) and the closed Meesenmühle bridge (stage 13), and runs through the closed Butzerbachtal (stage 15). Each of those stages names its signed detour: follow the detour, not the line, there. On stage 14 the line crosses the Kyll where the bridge at the Deimlinger Mühle was destroyed in 2021; there is no way through on foot, and the trail body sends walkers on by train from Daufenbach. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep steps are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Eifel Tourismus: the Eifelsteig stagesMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation