For this year’s big trip, we attempted to recreate the wonderful experience in Schneverdingen: a half-day hike, all-inclusive meals & a mainly German clientele. Did we succeed? You know it!
Operación Río Rin
Beginning with our US road trips, Rafa & I developed a model for our yearly vacations. Returning to the same place where we stopped on a previous trip, we continue the journey the following year. It also gives us peace of mind in the last city since we know we’ll return. In 2025 we traveled from Hamburg to Düsseldorf so we focused on the Rhine this time, & Laacher See sits just north of Mendig.
Hotel & monastery
Founded by Henry of Laach in 1093, the Benedictine abbey of Maria Laach grew in size & importance throughout the following centuries. A wave of European secularization dissolved the monastery in the 1800s, only to be converted into a school by the Jesuits. Reestablished in 1892, Benedictine monks played both sides of the history card by cozying up to the Nazis while at the same time hiding Hitler opponent, Konrad Adenauer… later the first chancellor of West Germany for 14 years.
These monks really know how to make a living! Besides the hotel, group tours —around 12€ per person— take visitors into private sections of the monastery, ceramics are sold, beer is brewed, garden plants are cultivated… it’s a large, money-making machine. That said, we loved getting a look at the library, the beer was excellent as was the flammkuchen at the on-site restaurant. Breakfast was also bangin’.
Church
The church is a Romanesque gem with a beautiful cloister from the early 1200s. Dark, volcanic basalt contrasts with sandstone & limestone in a mix of octagonal, square & circular towers. Cloister capitals are particularly decorative, & the 1928 lion fountain seems to evoke the Alhambra… but maybe that’s my Spanish centrism getting in the way!
Interior decoration is equally spectacular with the tomb of Henry of Laach, a moody crypt, 1910 mosaics inspired by the Monreale cathedral & a lovely mosaic tombstone of Peter Ildefons Herwegen… the abbot who hid Adenauer from the National Socialists as well as saved the monastery from dissolution during the 1940s. A sunset stroll was fantastic as most of the daytrippers had departed & only hotel guests remained:
Hike
Time to get moving! So many hiking trails exist in the Eifel region that choosing only one was difficult. In the end, we did an abbreviated version of the 16 km Traumpfad Pellenzer route: taking a local bus to the official start point in Nickenich (marked above with an asterisk), walking the southern section, then going direct back to the monastery complex. My best guess is that we walked about 9 km.
I wish we’d had time to explore the town of Nickenich, but the forecast of heat & humidity meant it was best to get going right away… with some time to check out a Roman tomb, some Roman sculpture & a cute chapel:
The trail was well marked with spraypainted Traumpfade (Dream Path) logos for most of the way. Due to recent storms, park management had cut down & removed several damaged trees along the path… fortunately this path remained open. Gorgeous pine forests surrounded us until our first break:
We arrived at the volcanic lake of Waldsee after about 1 hr, 15 min of walking either flat or up a slight gradient. We had the intention of swimming, but two families were already there & it was smaller than I’d imagined. So we sat on a bench to watch them have fun, rest a bit, then continued on our way. I didn’t realize that we’d be going up such steep terrain from there! But the aerial view of Waldsee & all that volcanic rock was worth the occasionally treacherous climb:
Descent was much greener (top photo in this post) & without a doubt easier. We stopped at a picture-perfect field of bailed hay to eat a picnic lunch, then trekked on an unshaded asphalt path (yay for umbrellas!) back to the abbey. I think we did it all in about 4.5 hours:
After that crazy but rewarding hike, nothing could be better than dinner at a local brewery. As we arrived, the clouds let loose with some light rain… so refreshing! But servers at Vulkan Brauhaus said that food could only be ordered indoors since lightning had been forecast. We snuck in next to the brew taps, had some ribs & schnitzel, watched a local team practice soccer & capped off the day by buying a few bottles to take on our journey.
These inclusive experiences are always a bit more expensive than our normal travel as well as somewhat more difficult to reach without a car. But always worth it! We’re often the only non-Germans around, so communication can sometimes be a challenge too. But again, these are often part of our best memories of travel. Where will we end up next year? Any suggestions?