We live along a small mountain range called the Taunus, and I‘ve spent a ton of time hiking there in the last year and a half. At last count I was up to almost 70 unique trails and 400 miles, not counting the very-beaten-at-this-point-paths just outside our door.
My very favorite Taunus town is Königstein, an unassuming but lovely medieval village with stunning castle ruins perched high above the town. The ruins are visible from a number of hiking spots throughout the Taunus range, making it a great landmark for when you might otherwise be distrusting your map. Königstein has a compact Old Town with what I think is a great range of coffee shop choices depending on your mood. There is a fancy cake-and-coffee place that seems to be popular with an older but very sweet clientele; a to-go place that is fast, cheap, but somehow still quite good; an outdoor terrace in flower gardens at the foot of the castle ruins; and a small, modern, almost American-style coffee shop with a chalkboard menu, donuts, and sandwiches. While many of these places have been closed for most of our time here, I did squeeze some in early on and plan to be back as things continue to open!
Königstein is also part of a 9-mile hike connecting three different towns and castles, which I had the pleasure of doing with some friends last fall.
Happily, the Königstein castle grounds were open for Halloween last year, and the kids each got to take a friend. Halloween isn’t the spectacle here that it is the US, so we were thrilled for the festivity and the added spookiness that castle ruins bring!!
20 German Days – 20 German Towns: Bad Nauheim – Rüdesheim – Königstein
Newmans in a New Land 