Werewolves and sirens
This route was brought to you by:
RouteXpert Leonor Orban - Sr. RouteXpert
Last edit: 24-10-2023
Route Summary This roundtrip traverses through thick eerie forests and waving landscapes. Its cadence lulling you into a deep hypnosis. Don’t stop for anything that seems to lurk in the shadows of the forest. And do keep your earplugs in, drowning out certain sounds.
5 stars do fully justice to this ride. It shows the variety of scenic areas in the Hunsrück, the majority of the roads are smooth as a siren’s singing voice and there are sufficient opportunities to have a break at a safe tavern.
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Animation
Verdict
Duration
10h 59m
Mode of travel
Car or motorcycle
Distance
267.32 km
Countries
RouteXpert Review The story starts 2 centuries ago, when Thomas Schwytzer, a deserter from the Napoleonic army heading back to France, robbed a farm in the Morbach area and killed the entire family. Right before killing the mother, she cursed him. Every full moon, he would turn into a werewolf roaming the forests of Morbach. The werewolf wreaked havoc for numerous years, before finally being killed one night, in the vicinity of Wittlich. At that right spot, a small Maria shrine was built. As long as the candle in that shrine would stay alit, the monster was said to not come alive again. Until that one night in 1988…
The full moon gave an eerie light in the dark forest. Barely enough for a group of American soldiers to see where they were marching towards. They were heading back to their military ammunitions base, close to Morbach. One of the soldiers noticed how the candle in the Maria shrine was no longer lit, but didn’t take any serious notice of it. After a while they finally reached the fences of their base when, all of a sudden, the alarm sounded. Looking around to see what had triggered the alarm, they saw a giant monster in the dark.
Terrified, they threatened to shoot it, but the massive werewolf was only coming closer and closer. Out of nowhere they heard a woman’s cry and the werewolf fled into the darkness. Nowhere to be seen…
How were they going to explain this to their commanding officer?
This story puts a roundtrip through the Mosel region and Hunsrück area in a completely different perspective. When leaving your hotel today, make sure to leave in time, keep your pace, don’t stop in thick forest areas and have enough fuel to last the entire roundtrip.
Right after you leave your hotel, you will start a first small climb towards the village of Starkenburg, which sits at the top of one of the hills overlooking the Moselle river and its many fields with grapevines. Make sure to stop before entering the village, to soak up the spectacular view and perhaps visit the spooky ruins of castle Starkenburg.
For today, this will be your last view onto the Moselle river. The route now turns into the highlands, east of the river. You are slowly entering the hilly region of Hunsrück National Park. The domain of the Morbach monster. In this region you will pass several beautiful old castles and ruins. All of them with moats or high walls. It was said to keep out rivaling noble families, but knowing what you know now… it might have a different reason after all. Burg Baldenau can be visited freely, and you can walk around the moated castle to see its impressive construction. A little further down the route, you can glare onto Castle Wartenstein, strategically positioned close to the top of a hill.
This slightly unnerving trip can make you hungry, so make sure to head down to Restaurant & Hotel Forellenhof. This safe haven offers delicious meals (the fish is recommended) and a welcoming break from your weary travels. Don’t stay too long to make sure you’re back in your hotel before dark.
The route winds further through the thick forests, heading Northeast towards the Rhine. Slowly, the views will open up and you’ll be able to see the Rhine river finding its way through the valley. Along the route you’ll find several viewpoints to stop and take stunning pictures of the river. Alternatively, you can also stop and walk around Bacharach, lying in the Rhine gorge. This village dates back to the 11th century and it breathes a medieval atmosphere. You can visit the old town wall, its protective towers, Burg Stahleck, beautiful timber-frame houses and the old marketplace.
If you’re not that thirsty yet, it’s recommended to continue to a restaurant further down the route. Follow the Rhine river downstream until you have to conquer a few hairpin turns out of the gorge. The road leads you to Gunderode Haus. This house was renovated in the 20th century, to play a role in a German cult film. Nowadays, this place is a restaurant known for its terrace with a spectacular view onto the Rhine river and delicious homemade cake and lemonade.
Even though it might feel safe after this break, you’re not out of the woods yet! Please make sure to use your earplugs for the upcoming stretch! Usually earplugs are meant to protect your hearing, to stop you from going deaf. This time, they will stop you from riding into certain death and destruction.
Nothing can be as lethal as the voices of sirens. Their songs will lull you into a dangerous sleepwalk, causing men to crash. The legend of Lorelei, tells the story of a young woman falling in love with a sailor. They became romantically involved. However, her jealousy drove him out of her arms. Sick from jealousy she killed him. The bishop assigned her to a nunnery as punishment, and when she was transported there, she asked for a moment to stop at the top of a rock, which oversaw the Rhine. She thought she saw her fisherman and fell into the Rhine. One story says that the rock still resonates with her singing. Another story speaks about the woman turning into a siren and wreaking havoc amongst sailormen travelling along the Rhine and losing control over their ships when passing the Lorelei rock, tragically dying.
If you’re interested in the story, and perhaps also to find out if the rock - where she fell off – truly murmurs (Lorelei, or “lureln ley” stands for murmuring rock), you can follow the route and cross the river with a ferry. If you’d like to cut the route short, you can continue your travels, heading West to Kastellaun.
In the city of Kastellaun you can refuel your bike and head on to Burg Balduinseck. This castle dates back to the 13th century and was used by the Trier administrative district. A few kilometers before the castle you can stop for a break if needed.
From now on, the route slowly winds back to your hotel. If you like to spot airplanes, there’s a nice spotting area close to Frankfurt-Hahn airbase.
Hopefully, you are back in your hotel before dark and you can share strong anecdotes about whether you did or did not see the Morbach werewolf or Lorelei the siren today.
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Changes may nevertheless have occurred due to changed circumstances, road diversions or seasonal closures. We therefore recommend checking each route before use.
Preferably use the route track in your navigation system. More information about the use of MyRoute-app can be found on the website under 'Community' or 'Academy'.
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Rheinland Pfalz
About this region
Rhineland-Palatinate (German: Rheinland-Pfalz, [ˈʁaɪ̯nlant ˈp͡falt͡s] (listen)) is a western state of Germany. It covers 19,846 km2 (7,663 sq mi) and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Koblenz, Trier, Kaiserslautern and Worms. It is bordered by North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse and by the countries France, Luxembourg and Belgium.
Rhineland-Palatinate was established in 1946 after World War II, from parts of the former states of Prussia (part of its Rhineland province), Hesse and Bavaria (its former outlying Palatinate kreis or district), by the French military administration in Allied-occupied Germany. Rhineland-Palatinate became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 and shared the country's only border with the Saar Protectorate until the latter was returned to German control in 1957. Rhineland-Palatinate's natural and cultural heritage includes the extensive Palatinate winegrowing region, picturesque landscapes, and many castles and palaces.
Read more on Wikipedia
Rhineland-Palatinate was established in 1946 after World War II, from parts of the former states of Prussia (part of its Rhineland province), Hesse and Bavaria (its former outlying Palatinate kreis or district), by the French military administration in Allied-occupied Germany. Rhineland-Palatinate became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 and shared the country's only border with the Saar Protectorate until the latter was returned to German control in 1957. Rhineland-Palatinate's natural and cultural heritage includes the extensive Palatinate winegrowing region, picturesque landscapes, and many castles and palaces.
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Several chains can be distinguished in the Eifel:
The northernmost part is called the Nordeifel, which in Belgium connects to the High Fens;
To the east of this is the Ahrgebirge, this part is located north of the Ahr in the Ahrweiler district;
South of the Ahr is the Hohe Eifel (or Hocheifel), of which the Hohe Acht (747 m) is the highest point, and also the highest point in the entire Eifel region;
To the west, near the Belgian border, the hills are known as Schneifel, part of the wider Snow Eifel area with peaks reaching up to 698 metres;
South and east of the Hohe Eifel is the Volcano-Eifel, a volcanic area with many crater lakes (Maare).
The southern part of the Eifel is less high. The area is bisected by streams and rivers running southwards. These streams flow into the Moselle. The largest of these rivers is the Kyll; the hills around this river are known as the Kyllwald;
In the south, the Eifel ends in the Voreifel.
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The Nürburgring is also located in the Eifel, a well-known car circuit for Formula 1 races, among other things. Since 2004, part of the north of the Eifel has become the Eifel National Park. This National Park falls entirely within the German-Belgian nature park High Fens-Eifel. Another part of the Eifel falls within the South Eifel Nature Park.
Well-known throughout the Netherlands and Belgium by car and motorcyclists, so reason enough for the MyRoute app RouteXpert to compile a Top 5 of Car and Motorbike routes for you.
All routes in this collection have been checked and made equal for TomTom, Garmin and MyRoute-app Navigation by a MyRoute-app RouteXpert.
If you think, I have a very nice route that should certainly not be missing from this collection, send it to:
email: routeexpert@myrouteapp.com
Subject: New Route for the Top 5 collection Eifel composed by Hans van de Ven.
The route will then be reviewed and then added to the Top 5. To make the Top 5 also the Top 5, 1 route will have to disappear from the Top 5, you can indicate this when submitting the new route.
Have fun with this collection and while driving one of these routes. Enjoy all the beauty that the Eifel has to offer. Click on “View route” to read the review of the chosen route.
I would like to hear your findings about the route(s).
Several chains can be distinguished in the Eifel:
The northernmost part is called the Nordeifel, which in Belgium connects to the High Fens;
To the east of this is the Ahrgebirge, this part is located north of the Ahr in the Ahrweiler district;
South of the Ahr is the Hohe Eifel (or Hocheifel), of which the Hohe Acht (747 m) is the highest point, and also the highest point in the entire Eifel region;
To the west, near the Belgian border, the hills are known as Schneifel, part of the wider Snow Eifel area with peaks reaching up to 698 metres;
South and east of the Hohe Eifel is the Volcano-Eifel, a volcanic area with many crater lakes (Maare).
The southern part of the Eifel is less high. The area is bisected by streams and rivers running southwards. These streams flow into the Moselle. The largest of these rivers is the Kyll; the hills around this river are known as the Kyllwald;
In the south, the Eifel ends in the Voreifel.
In the north of the Eifel there are some large reservoirs. The largest of these is the reservoir in the Roer that was created by the construction of the Roerdal dam.
The Nürburgring is also located in the Eifel, a well-known car circuit for Formula 1 races, among other things. Since 2004, part of the north of the Eifel has become the Eifel National Park. This National Park falls entirely within the German-Belgian nature park High Fens-Eifel. Another part of the Eifel falls within the South Eifel Nature Park.
Well-known throughout the Netherlands and Belgium by car and motorcyclists, so reason enough for the MyRoute app RouteXpert to compile a Top 5 of Car and Motorbike routes for you.
All routes in this collection have been checked and made equal for TomTom, Garmin and MyRoute-app Navigation by a MyRoute-app RouteXpert.
If you think, I have a very nice route that should certainly not be missing from this collection, send it to:
email: routeexpert@myrouteapp.com
Subject: New Route for the Top 5 collection Eifel composed by Hans van de Ven.
The route will then be reviewed and then added to the Top 5. To make the Top 5 also the Top 5, 1 route will have to disappear from the Top 5, you can indicate this when submitting the new route.
Have fun with this collection and while driving one of these routes. Enjoy all the beauty that the Eifel has to offer. Click on “View route” to read the review of the chosen route.
I would like to hear your findings about the route(s).
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