Aktivhotel Lindenhof

The river Lahn and the ship tunnel

by himalia11

There are nice walking and biking ways along the river Lahn. In summer it can be a bit busy there! What is very nice is to walk to Odersbach on the one side and back on the other side of the Lahn. There's a small bridge only for pedestrian in Weilburg and also in Odersbach, so there's no problem to cross the Lahn.

You can also rent a canoe or kayak for some hours or a whole day. There is a boat hire in Weilburg and they will also offer a pick-up service. If you start, you first will have to pass the ship tunnel - I haven't yet done it, but I think this is a short but interesting experience!

This ship tunnel is something special as it is the only ship tunnel in Germany. It was already build 1844-1847 to transport iron ore and is now used above all for canoes. It its about 200 m long, 5,60 m wide, and 6,30 m high. As the water level of both sides of the Lahn has a difference of more than 4 meters, there is a lock. It is operated manually by those who want to pass it.

Crystal Cave - the only one in Germany

by gubbi1

Very close to Weilburg city the only crystal cave of Germany is located. In the 300 Million years old stone you can see also the highest for visitors accessable cave hall in Germany. It is 30 meters high.
Its history is pretty interesting. In the region of Weilburg mining was part of the industry. In the 19th century miners found during their work a stalactite cave. Trying to rediscover this cave in the 70ties of last century the crystal cave was discovered instead. Still people are trying hard to find the stalactite cave.
For my family it is funny, cause long before the discovery of the cave for a while we owned the ground on which now the entrance building is located... :)

Be aware that if you have heart problems or walking disabilities, it is not recommended to visit the cave. There is quite an amount of stairs to be taken!!!

Opening hours:
starting from the 31. March 2007
to the 4th of November 2007

weekdays from 14:00 - 16:00
(last guided tour at 16:00)

Saturdays, Sundays and official holidays from 10:00 - 17:00
(last guided tour at 17:00)

The webpage is German only...

The Caves

by outforlunch

"Entrance"

I'm not going to re-write what has been already written by another VT Member (himalia11)concerning Weilburg / Kubach.
Instead i would just like to say, "I've been there and did that".
I thought i heard our guide say something about 900 + steps? Not really sure about that one.
That tip you gave about the steps being slippery, was right on the money.
Yes! I was thinking about you (himalia11) and your slippy slippy line as my left foot went out from under me.
Very happy to say that i was hanging on to the railing,so a little slip did NOT turn into a big tumble down a whole lotta steps :-)

"The Tickets"

1 Child + 1 Adult ticket please.

"Waiting"

Depending on when you arrive,you may have to wait a few minutes for the tour to start.
If it's a nice day,you can wait outside on one of the 8 or so benches,if it's a not so nice of a day,there are places to sit down inside.

Weilburg an der Lahn

by himalia11

Weilburg is a little city with 15.000 inhabitants and is situated at the river Lahn, between Taunus and Westerwald mountains. It's about 60 km north-west from Frankfurt. It has a nice old town with a beautiful castle.

2005, there was the "Hessentag" in Weilburg (17.-26.06.). This a yearly festival that takes place since 1961, and each year in another city in Hessen. There were lots of events, concerts etc., very interesting!

The official Weilburg homepage is www.weilburg.de, and there's also a good private homepage www.weilburg-lahn.info. Unfortunately both pages are only German... there don't seem to come many foreign tourists yet!

Weilburgs castle

by gubbi1

The castle from its parc.

The castles church from the market square.

One of the terasses of the parc. In summer there are flowers. And a cafe is open where you can sit outside and enjoy the sun.

Edit: During my last visit I saw that he cafe is not open anymore. If you feel for a coffea I recommend to have a look at the market square in front of the castles church.

Some artwork.

Inside the castles garden. Those trees are pretty old already, they are here as long as I can remember. The photo was taken in early spring, with leaves they form a nice roof.

The Orangerie. In the time the castle was not used as a tourist attraction, but as a home, exotic plants like citrus fruits were a high society life-style. But with the German winter times those plants had to be stored somewhere inside. For this purpose most castles have an orangie, rooms with big windows and access to the garden.
The orangerie here in Weilburg is really pretty colored. I recommend a guided tour through the castle during which you will also have a chance to walk through it.

Some more artwork. The Lions spring.

Very close to the entrance to the guided tours there is a room in which these carriages are stored. I thing the room used to be the horse stable, but I am not sure.