The Rureifel is the northernmost part of the low mountain range Eifel and lies in North Rhine-Westphalia, on the upper reaches of the Rur river, which is dammed up here to form the Rursee. A substantial part of the Eifel National Park is located in the Rureifel. It is a popular local recreation area for the Cologne-Bonn and Aachen area.
Regions
The Rureifel can be further subdivided into the Monschauer Heckenland, the Monschauer-Hellenthaler forest plateau, the Hollerather-Broicher plateau, the Dreiborn plateau, the Kermeter, the Düren Eifelfuß, the valleys of Rur, Urft and Olef. The latter two are also called Schleiden Valley summarized
places
- along the Rur (downstream)
- in the Schleiden Valley
Other goals
background
The Rur arises in High Fens, flows through the north-western Eifel, the Jülich-Zülpicher Börde, the region Lower Rhine and finally ends at Roermond in the Meuse. The section between Monschau and Düren.
In the west the Rureifel borders on the High Fens and the mountains of the Upper Warche in Belgium, in the south on the western Hocheifel, in the east on the Kalkeifel and Pre-Eifel and in the north to the Zülpicher Börde.
language
German in the Rhenish style
getting there
By plane
The closest airports are Cologne / Bonn (CGN; 65–90 km away; 1½– 2 hours by public transport), Maastricht / Aachen (MAA; 70-95 km), Liege (80-100 km) and Dusseldorf (DUS; 105-125 km).
By train
The journey is usually from the direction Aachen or Cologne to Düren (RE twice an hour; a few IC trains per week). From there it goes every hour with the Rurtalbahn further to Heimbach, with stops in all of the Rur neighboring communities in between, but not in the main town Nideggen. From Cologne to Obermaubach you need just under an hour, to Heimbach 1:20 hours. From Aachen, due to less favorable transfer times in Düren, it usually takes 1:25 to 1:50 hours.
The railway line, however, runs through the eastern part of the region trier–Gerolstein–Euskirchen–Cologne. On this, RE Cologne-Trier and RB Cologne-Gerolstein run every hour, both of which stop in Kall. It takes 55–65 minutes from Cologne to Kall, and a good two hours from Trier.
By bus
From Aachen there are buses to Monschau. On weekends there is also bus service between Eupen and Monschau.
- The bus route 829 runs between Kall and Hellenthal.
- The bus line 231 leaves Vettweiß-Froitzheim to Schleiden.
mobility
- Rur Valley Railway between Düren and Heimbach via Kreuzau and districts of Nideggen. Individual journeys also by steam locomotive.
- Rurseebahn (a rail-free railway) between Heimbach National Park and the Schwammenauel dam Rursee
- Rursee shipping on the Rursee and Obersee
- Regional buses from Schmidt to Monschau
Tourist Attractions
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- Daffodil meadows in the Belgian-German border area not far from Monschau as well as on the upper reaches of the Olef (Hollerather Knie, Rocherath in Belgium)
- Urft reservoir
- Olef reservoir
- Huertgenwald with the Peace Museum
- Nideggen with Nideggen Castle, where the Counts of Jülich two Archbishops of Cologne held captive
- Hengebach Castle and the Mariawald Abbey in Heimbach
- Ardennes Center near Losheim on the German-Belgian border. You can see, among others. a large model railway exhibition on a scale of 1:87, Europe's largest nativity scene collection and a doll collection.
- Visitor mine "Grube Wohlfahrt" at Rescheid.
activities
- water sports
- Rursee
- Canoeing in the central Rur valley between Heimbach and Obermaubach is only allowed at certain water levels and in limited numbers. Canoeing is not possible below the Obermaubach reservoir.
- Cycling, z. B. on the Rur-Ufer cycle path
- hike
- Pilgrimage: grave of St. Hermann Joseph von Steinfeld
kitchen
nightlife
security
climate
Central mountain climate, somewhat milder in the area of the town of Heimbach.
