Hiking in the border triangle – GrenzRouten Aachen

Hiking Collection by Jesko

Tours

29:19 h

65.9 mi

5,700 ft

Aachen is Germany's westernmost city, located where the borders of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet. Rather than being separated, the region knows how to recognise and promote the diversity of its location, languages and cultures. After all, borders are little more than imaginary lines on a map. When you wander here, you may lose track of which country you’re in. And that's the beauty of it: it doesn't really matter.

The Eifel foothills and Limburg’s rolling landscapes around the border triangle are a fantastic place to hike. Despite the proximity to Aachen city, you can spend hours in untouched, diverse nature. The GrenzRouten project overcomes many borders.
All routes start from right outside Aachen so they’re easy to reach from across Germany. The region is well connected to the rail network and local buses take you directly to the starting points.

The routes are numbered and well signposted. Some of them overlap. Tours 2 to 6 are circular walks of varying length, while the first route connects all of them. You can be flexible and combine different Tours or make a long multi-day hike out of the entire thing. A wonderful landscape is waiting to be discovered.

On The Map

Tours & Highlights

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Route 1: Achse – GrenzRouten Aachen
Difficult
07:30
17.0 mi
2.3 mph
1,250 ft
1,475 ft
Expert Hiking Tour. Very good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.
Route 1 acts as an axis that connects all circular tours of the border routes. It is therefore primarily used to combine the other tours with each other, but of course it can also be done as an independent tour. If you want to walk them in one go, you should either leave early or, even better, split…
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Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Route 2: Neutral-Moresnet – GrenzRouten Aachen
Difficult
05:18
12.1 mi
2.3 mph
900 ft
900 ft
Expert Hiking Tour. Very good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.
Did you know that the border triangle near Aachen used to be a four-country triangle? This curious story has to do with natural resources, political intrigues and the defeat of Napoleon. The territory of Neutral Moresnet existed from 1816 to 1919. On this hike, you will follow in the footsteps of this…
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Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Route 3: Bleyberg – GrenzRouten Aachen
Intermediate
04:15
9.55 mi
2.2 mph
875 ft
875 ft
Intermediate Hiking Tour. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.
Plombières (officially called Bleyberg until 1919) can look back on a more than eventful history. This is where not only borders that have changed for centuries meet, but also different language areas. The community was shaped by the interests of the respective rulers due to the rich deposits of zinc…
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Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Route 4: Landgraben – GrenzRouten Aachen
Intermediate
02:57
6.43 mi
2.2 mph
750 ft
750 ft
Intermediate Hiking Tour. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.
The Landgraben is an important testimony to Aachen's city history, which you can still visit in some places in the Aachen Forest. This fortification was built between the 14th and 17th centuries to protect the outer borders of the then Aachen Empire. Boundary stones were erected where roads and paths…
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Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Route 5: Aachen Forest – GrenzRouten Aachen
Intermediate
03:14
7.20 mi
2.2 mph
725 ft
725 ft
Intermediate Hiking Tour. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.
The Aachen city forest, called Öcher Bösch by the locals, was primarily used for hunting and timber harvesting in earlier centuries. Nowadays it is under protection and represents a popular and valuable local recreation area. Here you can hike for kilometers without having to leave the extensive forest…
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Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Route 6: Vallis – GrenzRouten Aachen
Intermediate
04:25
9.83 mi
2.2 mph
950 ft
950 ft
Intermediate Hiking Tour. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.
The focus of this round is the Dutch border town of Vaals and its beautiful surroundings. You can easily get to Vaals by bus from Aachen, Maastricht or Eupen, for example. Magnificent buildings and panoramic views await you along the way. Both in Vaals and in the district of Lemiers you will discover…
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Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Route 7: Orsbach – GrenzRouten Aachen
Intermediate
01:41
3.77 mi
2.2 mph
275 ft
275 ft
Intermediate Hiking Tour. Great for any fitness level. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.
Orsbach is a district of Aachen, even if you would never guess how close it is to the big city if you didn't know it. The small town is so quiet and agricultural. It is surrounded by wide fields and also framed on three sides by the Netherlands. A large part of the hike runs directly along this border…
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