🇩🇪 [GERMANY MONTH] - Saarschleife Montclair castle loop [12km] 🇩🇪

~~As early as 500 BC, the Celts built a castle-like structure on the hill in the Saar Loop. Today's Montclair Castle was completed in 1439. It belonged to several noble families and gradually declined in importance over the centuries. Further information on its history can be found in the "Castle Guide," available from the Merzig-Wadern Cultural Foundation or in the castle bistro.~~

We continue our Saarschleife adventures with an easier walk featuring this famous castle on the other side:

https://www.burg-montclair.de/

After an exhausting hike there are no plans to extend this loop, with the lead-in from Mettlach we will end up around 12km:

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/germany/saarland/saarschleife-besseringen-sankt-gangolf-montclair

These are the only two hikes in the series which were intentionally placed next to each other. Those who would like to participate in both can take out a hotel, either in Mettlach or Saarburg or anywhere in the vicinity and continue with the next trail right away on Sunday morning.

Start time: 11:04 Mettlach, take train RE11 towards Trier HBF from GC leaving at 09:33, switch to RE1 towards Mannheim which gets you to Mettlach just after 2 stops, as soon as the train arrives we start. If there is an issue with the train ending 1/2 is easily doable we might won't catch the boat, the observation platform is open until night.

End time: 15:00 we will finish the main hike, there are trains back to Lux until 10 at night

This whole hike is doable in 3 hours tops which opens up the option for different endings (we will chose the one most people want, please answer the Question at RSVP):

1) Do the normal loop 🏰: in this case we will look for a route to get on the trail from Mettlach right away and do it clockwise, first walking down next to the river, climb up to the burg, have a lunch break there and go back to the town directly

2) Baumwipfelpfad 🗼: (observation point visit)

https://treetop-walks.com/saarschleife/en/

In this case we will do the trail counter clockwise, walk up from Mettlach to Sankt Gangolf, burg next, then after a small break here and photoshoot we will walk down to the river and take the ferry to the other side (please have 3 EUR cash for the ferry with you).

On the other side of the river we climb up to the observatory, have our main lunch break there and walk back on the side of the river directly to Mettlach, which means we will NOT do the south part of the loop. The distance remains about the same. This will add an extra +5km, the climb is not hard, it is an evened out zig-zag trail going up slowly but surely.

Ferry travel times:
Monday day off (If Monday is a holiday, the day off is shifted to Tuesday).

3) Boat excursion ⛴️:

https://www.saarflotte.de/english/return-excursions

There is a boat from Mettlach in the Schaarslife (1,5hr boat ride) with onboard bistro which provides you with a nice sight seeing of the river delta. As the hike is not long we can also time it to be back to Mettlach by 15:00 to catch the last boat, if we miss it there are regular trains back to Trier HBF anyway.

Saarschleifen-Rundfahrt | ab Mettlach (17 EUR)
So, 3. August 2025
Beginn: 15:00
Ende: 16:30

In this case we will also not do the south river walk part of the hike because the boat will go on the same section. We climb from Mettlach to Sankt Golf, have a short break at Burg Montclair, go down to the Saarschleife and walk back directly in town. Depending on our pace the amount of time we can spend at the burg can vary, this way we cut off about 3km from the hike.

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🥨🌭🍻 August is GERMANY month. 🥨🌭🍻

We are going to discover some of the best trails of Rheiland-Pfalz and Saarland 🏞️. The paths lead us through mystical deciduous and coniferous forests as well as deep valleys with rugged rocks on which imposing castles tower steadfastly over mighty river bends. In the tranquil wine villages and small hamlets along the way, fun-loving and hospitable people await us, who will be happy to give us a warm welcome.

Since there are a lot of great trails in the area but the month is relatively short there might be a hike both days of the weekends to accommodate both causal and seasoned hikers :

Saturdays : long/more exhaustive hikes
Sundays : short relaxing hikes... Sunday strolls
Aug 15/16/17 : Assumption day, I'm off so as most of the people there will be NO hike 😐

August is one of those warm months when a little rain shower won't hurt us so the planned hikes will be kept regardless of bad weather ⛈️ , the state of Deutsche Bahn 🚄 (we take replacement buses) or how many signs up.

This leaves us with 10 great hiking trails. The order is NOT fix yet, only the hikes posted are guaranteed to be kept:

• Aug 2 SAT 🗼 Saarburg to Saarchleife Custom Megatrail (38km)
• Aug 3 SUN 🏰 Mettlach Besseringen - Sankt Gangolf - Montclair (10km) with possible extension to the observation point
• Aug 9 SAT 🛍️ Wasserbillig to Trier shopping hike (24km)
• Aug 10 SUN 🥓 Oberbillig Summer BBQ party (12km)
• Aug 19 SAT 🏞️ Itzenplitzer Pingenpfad (will be extended to 2x 15km)
• Aug 20 SUN 🌄 Römerpfad merged hikes (12km)
• Aug 23 SAT 🌉 Geierlayschleife (Geierlayloop) Premium Hiking Trail (7x3km will be extended)
• Aug 24 SUN 🥞 Saarburg Pancake Loop (13km)
• Aug 30 SAT 🍇 Mehring Zitronenkrämerkreuz (20km)
• Aug 31 SUN 🌻 Vom Leukbachtal auf den Kruterberg with some extension (15km) + Saarburg burg visit

Those who are familiar with this area know, that one of the best hiking area nearby, the Teufelsschlucht 🦕 is left out. The reason for this is that we can always walk over there from Echternach, matter of fact we can do this in September and with it we conclude the Germany hikes for 2025.

All the hikes are REACHABLE WITH PUBLIC TRANSPORT. Highly recommended that even if you only participate in 2 hikes buy the Deutschland ticket in advance (you will get ROI multiple times). Help is provided on the webpage at the bottom.

These are joint hikes 3 groups together + Trier Group + since the events are listed in Germany expect local visitors, the number of RSVPs may not reflect the actual group size.

Keep in mind: SUNDAY everything is closed in Germany (aside from bars/restaurants/some gas stations), make sure you bring enough food and drinks for the day

August is one of the months with the longest days fortunately, the last light is around 22:00 🌙 in this region, therefore we don't have to start any hike super early, except the first.

What to bring (this goes for all these hikes):

• At least 2l water
• Hiking sticks
• Hiking boots
• Snacks, food
• ID card (as we go into another country)
• Sun cream, sunglasses, hat
• Coming in long pants is highly recommended as we are going through dense forest areas and it is tick season 🪲

Disclaimer

This is not a guided hike. All participants are expected to have some hiking experience and must assess their own fitness and ability to complete the route safely. The organizer assumes no responsibility for any injuries or their consequences. Generic info for newcomers: http://luxoutdoors.cloudns.ch/