Let’s visit Monschau Germany – A Tourist Destination in the Eifel Region

Monschau Germany often called “Pearl of the Eifel” a small, historic town in the German Eifel. Located in the hills of the North Eifel within the Hohes Venn – Eifel Nature Park in the narrow valley of the Rur river.

Situated just 2 kilometers across the Belgian border. Historically known as Montjoie, the name was changed to Monschau in 1918.

It is considered as one of the most beautiful and charming towns in the Rhineland region. Featuring some of the beautiful landscapes, the narrow cobblestoned streets, medieval walls, and traditional half-timbered houses.

The whole town is dedicated to tourism and teems with hotels, restaurants, cafés and souvenir shops.

Accordingly, Monschau’s astonishing place has preserved its beauty unchanged for 300 years. Making the town a popular tourist attraction nowadays. An open-air, classical music festival is staged annually at Burg Monschau.

One hour Road trip 

Personally, hearing this small town is a stranger to my ear. Monschau is something new to me as a traveler. I even once thought of it as part of Belgium. But while searching for further information online, I’ve come to know its true identity.

Monschau indeed a part of Germany, this day we’ll be going to visit this petite village with full of surprises.

The best way to go to Monschau is via car, though I would recommend you to take it, there are other ways to go there as well. There are trains available within Germany and Belgium which can help you roam around the area.

We started to drive from Marche en Famene in Walloon to Monschau, which is more than 100 kilometers away. It would take us about an hour to reach our destination. Our initial plan would only be spending a day in this wonderful village.

Monschau located not too far from the famous Eltz Castle (120 kilometers) Nevertheless, it is an ideal place to visit before or after visiting the Moselle area.

Check out my previous blog post – A Guide toBurg Eltz Germany  and A second visit to Germany’s Oldest City Trier.

Arrival in Monschau Germany

Arriving with a car in such a nice place means you have to search for a good parking place. Looking at the streets, we saw a perfect place to park near the Roer (Rur River). We paid at the parking machine and left the ticket on the inside part of the windshield.

Getting to the center of Monschau Germany would take us about 5-6 minutes walk only. But instead, we’ve decided to do a lunch break near Das Eisenbahnhaus, where a small Gallery is located filled with boutiques and restaurants.

I would recommend travelers to come here, not just to stop for a lunch break but as well as to visit the place. There’s a museum (Erlebnismuseum Lernort Natur) inside and the Glashütte Monschau which is a famous Glass manufacturer.

It’s a great place to discover Germany’s culture and artisanal products too. There was even a boutique of handmade of Nativity scenes figurines made of woods.

Lunch Break

For our lunch, we’ve opted for a simpler meal starting with a rosé (wine) and a non-alcoholic beer for my Hubby. Next order would be some Chicken salad and the Schnitzel (meats coated with flour, beaten eggs, and bread crumbs, and then fried) accompanied by fries.
We also received an extra bowl of fresh salad and bread.

The chicken salad was really good. I even ate everything. On the other hand, Hubby also enjoyed his Schnitzel and fries.

The ambiance of the place was very nice. There’s even a small pond with some Koi swimming. We surely had a great time having our lunch in this place.

Way to the Center

Lunch break was over, and it’s time to visit the center of Monschau Germany. We were about 500 meters away from the center, so we started our journey and made a stroll to reach that place.

Even in that early time, I didn’t expect to see a lot of tourists around. Well, though Monschau is known as a tourist destination, I just didn’t realize it until I was there. All we did was following the Rur river and enjoying its fascinating view at the same time.

Seeing those timbered houses in this small village was a nice experience. Though I already have seen it before whilst on my visit to Eguisheuim, France, it’s very fun to see them again here in Germany.

Monschau’s Attractions

After the brief walk entering the narrow cobblestoned streets, we are down to the most exciting part. It’s the charming beautiful attraction of this historic town.

Accordingly, Monschau’s main attraction includes its countless traditional houses and cobblestoned streets and its beautiful village setting surrounded by dense greeny landscape. Besides, Monschau has over 300 buildings are listed as monuments.

Some of the most recommended monuments to visit are Red House, Foundation-Scheibler Museum, Caffee roasting Wilhelm Maassen, Brewery Museum Felsenkeller, Senfmühle Monschau, and Erlebnismuseum Lernort natur.

Also, there are recommended places or landmarks to go in Monschau Germany like Monschau Castle, Protestant Stadtkirche Monschau, House Troistorff, St. Mariä Geburt, and many more.

Rotes Haus (Red House)

Rotes Haus (Red House) the red building on the left, the former headquarters of the textile-industrialist Scheibler family and now a museum, is the most famous landmark in Monschau.

While the 18th-century red brick house stands out from the half-timbered buildings around it, its simple exterior does not give any indication of the castle-like lavishness of its interior.

The museum is done in luxurious Rococo, Louis XVI, and Empire-style furnishings, and boasts antique and valuable pieces of furniture, tapestry, and artifacts. However, what steals the show is the self-supporting oak staircase that winds up three floors and depicts various stages of textile production.

Rote Haus belonged to a local noble family. Four of the eight levels can be visited, and are indeed quite impressive. The first room of the left when you enter is filled with paintings in trompe l’oeil (the frames are painted on the wall, which certainly prevents them from being stolen).
There are other trompe l’oeil paintings, such as the marble imitation in the staircase.

Evangelische Stadtkirche Monschau

The Haller ruins

Roer View (Markt street)

Best Instagrammable Spot

Strolling around Monschau Germany, was very interesting, and a great experience at the same time. After hours of roaming, I have found the most instagrammable spot of this historic town.

I’ve taken zillions of photos with different angles but still, this spot gives a wonderful landscape view as a whole. Highlighting Monschau’s best features: timbered traditional houses, the Rur river, the Haller ruins, and other landmarks of the town all in this photo.

Aside from being the instagrammable spot, I’d also consider it as a perfect place to take a selfie (Rurstrasse bridge) however, be careful of your selfie stick or phone since you’re in the bridge in the middle of the Roer (river)

Other Information

Monschau Germany has regular events every year like Monschau Klassik on the Monschauer castle, and the Monschau Christmas market, which is visited every year by tens of thousands of people.

The city center of Monschau is a low-traffic area, but it’s easily reachable from nearby cities like Aachen and Cologne, as well as from Belgium. There is no train station in Monschau.

Your best rail option is to get to Aachen. There are some direct buses available from the main bus terminal Aachen Hauptbahnhof as well as from Aachen Rote Erde.

Alternatively, from the Belgian side, you can get as far as Eupen by rail on weekends, from where you’ll need to catch the TEC bus that runs every two hours.

Travel Tips:

Keep in mind that many of the hotels, shops, and restaurants here are small family businesses which may not accept foreign credit cards. There are two ATM’s available in the town center. You’ll find them at the bank offices of Sparkasse, Laufenstraße 42 and Raiffeisenbank, Stadtstraße 1

Visit the Official site of Monschau

Other resources: WikiVoyage Monschau

Monschau Germany