A visit to Monschau, a small town in the German Eifel, feels like traveling in time. With beautiful half-timbered houses, romantic alleys and medieval walls, the cute town is one of the most popular destinations in Germany. This Monschau Travel Guide will help you plan and structure your visit to make the most out of your time.
Monschau Travel Guide
You’ve probably already heard of Monschau or have at least seen a photo of the adorable Eifel city. Indeed, Monschau is a popular travel destination, especially at Christmas when thousands of visitors come to visit the authentic Christmas market.
However, Monschau is equally beautiful in spring, summer, and fall as well! That is why this post is also about what you can do besides the famous Christmas market.
There are numerous small, cute villages in the German Eifel. But none is like Monschau with its beautiful romantic alleys, half-timbered houses and medieval walls. As previously stated, visiting Monschau feels like traveling in time. In fact, it feels like time has stood still for over three centuries! That’s why the village is considered the cultural center of the Eifel.
Why is Monschau worth visiting?
- Romantic alleys and half-timbered houses
- The Read House, Monschau’s most famous landmark
- Strolling through the old town and dreaming of life back in the days
- Mustard from Senfmühle Monschau
- One of Germany’s most popular Christmas markets
Monschau Travel Guide | Travel Tips
How much time should one spend in Monschau?
Since Monschau is a small town, we’d say you can easily explore the village within a single day. You shouldn’t expect the same amount of sights as you’d have in a big city. But that’s exactly what Monschau is all about. Where bigger cities like Cologne or Düsseldorf get a little impersonal, Monschau is the exact opposite. When visiting the cute Eifel village, you visit to enjoy the beauty and not to tick off as many sights as possible.
How to get to Monschau?
You could come to Monschau by car or train. However, the train connection is not particularly good and you would probably have to change trains several times, so traveling by car would be more relaxed.
In addition, of course, you have the advantage that you are more flexible if you still want to go hiking in Monschau or enjoy the sunset.
Getting around in Monschau
As I mentioned earlier, Monschau is a small town. This means that you can easily reach everything on foot.
How to spend one day in Monschau
This time we don’t want to give you a full itinerary, but much more inspiration for possible activities.
Since Monschau is a small town anyway and you can get from A to B fairly quickly, I recommend you not to structure your visit completely but simply switch off and enjoy the time there.
Best Things To See & Do in Monschau
Red House Monschau
The Red House is the most famous landmark in Monschau – besides all these photo spots that are hopelessly crowded anyways. However, the Red House is the former headquarter of the Scheibler family and can now be visited as a museum.
Don’t be fooled, because the simple exterior gives no indication of the interior! Inside, there’s luxurious rococo style furniture paired with antique artefacts.
The highlight is the oak staircase which winds over three floors and embodies the different phases of textile production.
Rotes Haus Monschau | Laufenstraße 10, Monschau | Location
Mustard Mill Senfmühle Monschau
If you’ve always wanted to learn more about mustard, this is your chance! The historic mustard mill in Monschau is open to the public and you can watch how they make their famous mustard.
It’s a family-runned mustard mill known for producing 19 different types of mustard in a traditional way for over 120 years.
They even have mustard chocolate, if you wanna try! We’d rather skip on this one.
Senfmühle Monschau | Laufenstraße 118, Monschau | Location
Monschau Old Town
Germany is internationally famous for its beautiful old towns with rich history, and Monschau definitely feels like you can experience this history up close by simply walking through the old town.
Monschau is a city that has stood still in time. From half-timbered houses that look like they just came from a fairytale to romantic cobblestone streets and picturesque shops, Monschau is a dreamy place to spend some time at.
Go Hiking
Of course, this could not be missing in this Monschau Travel Guide, because Monschau really is a great place to explore the area. Not far away from the beautiful Rursee, Monschau is just perfect for a walk.
Photography Tips
The small village is an absolute dream for photographers. These beautiful half-timbered houses offer several photo motifs and that’s why Monschau is, indeed, photographed so often.
Here are my favorite photo tips:
GO EARLY | That almost always applies, that’s true. But Monschau gets very crowded very quickly, especially when the weather is nice, which is why you should be here really early. If you can, skip on weekends as well!
ENJOY | In order to find original photo motifs, first explore the city a little. We love to spend 1-2 days in a city just to explore the first day and then take our photos the second day. If you don’t have so much time, do some research before and try to look at some pictures from other people to get a feeling for the city.
UNIQUE | If everyone took the same photo over and over again, would you take a look at the next one at all? We for sure wouldn’t and that’s why we love unique angles. Bring your own style and don’t just re-create other people’s photos.
Photography Inspiration:
We hope you light this Monschau travel guide! Here are some other posts you might like:
- A visit to fairytale Monreal
- 9 day trips from Cologne you’ll love
- Photography locations in Germany
- How to spend one day in Cologne
- A complete guide to Schloss Drachenburg
Such a beautiful city!
Thanks a lot! 🙂