Discover Pelm: Kasselburg Castle, wolves and the Vulkaneifel

Pelm is a destination for travellers who want to include a historic site and wildlife viewing in their trip. Kasselburg Castle combines both: the 12th-century ruins, with their 37-metre-high twin towers, stand above the Kyll Valley and Pelm. The grounds are also home to Kasselburg Eagle and Wolf Park.

Kasselburg Castle and its wildlife

The two towers define the silhouette of the ruins; from Kasselburg Castle, you can look out over the Kyll Valley and Pelm. Visitors interested in medieval castles will find a tangible point of interest here, while the view takes in both the valley and the town. Together, the castle and park are the main highlights of a visit to Pelm.

At Kasselburg Eagle and Wolf Park, visitors can encounter wolves, eagles, falcons and other birds of prey. The programme also includes scheduled birds-of-prey flight demonstrations and wolf feeding sessions. As the operator may change the programme, check the current times before your visit. This lets you plan your stay around the demonstrations or feeding sessions that interest you most.

Hiking and cycling from Pelm

Pelm is connected to the Eifelsteig hiking trail network and the Kyll Cycle Route. Hiking and cycling trips therefore offer another way to plan your visit alongside the castle and park. Buses that can carry bicycles also make longer excursions to the Nürburgring and the Moselle possible. Check local route and transport conditions before making plans, especially if a particular connection or taking a bicycle with you is important.

The Vulkaneifel: a geological overview

Figures for the wider Vulkaneifel destination give an impression of its geological diversity: 77 maars have been identified there to date, and 350 volcanic centres have been counted, around 270 of them from a more recent period. Ulmen Maar marks the most recent volcanic eruption in the Vulkaneifel, which took place about 10,900 years ago. These details provide context for the Vulkaneifel landscape and represent a different focus from the castle and wildlife in Pelm.

Hiking routes and cycling network in the Vulkaneifel

The Vulkaneifel Trails lead to scenic highlights on both sides of the Eifelsteig. The routes are marked and signposted, and include half-day hikes, day hikes and multi-day hikes. This lets you match the time you set aside for hiking to your preferred route length. As one specific example, the eleventh stage of the Eifelsteig runs from Daun to Manderscheid and is 23.4 kilometres long. Check current trail conditions when planning a particular route.

For mountain biking, the Vulkaneifel Trail Park has a network of around 750 kilometres of trails with more than 17,500 metres of elevation gain. These figures describe an extensive range of routes, not a single tour. If cycling is a key part of your trip, you can factor these regional details into your plans alongside the Kyll Cycle Route and the option of taking bicycles on buses.

Museums and volcanism

Museums in the Vulkaneifel also cover a range of subjects. The Eifel Volcano Museum in Daun features three-dimensional landscape models of cinder cones, maars and mineral springs, as well as exhibits on West Eifel volcanism. The interactive Volcano House in Strohn includes a roughly 30,000-year-old lava fissure wall in its exhibition; it is around six metres long and four metres high. The models in Daun and the geological feature in Strohn offer different ways to explore the volcanic landscape.

The Natural History Museum in Gerolstein is described as the Eifel’s largest and oldest geomuseum. Across three floors, it displays stone records of the region’s geological history. Along with the museums in Daun and Strohn, it offers a choice of landscape models, volcanism exhibitions and geological exhibits.

When looking for a hotel in Pelm, it helps to decide what you want to focus on during your trip: would you like Kasselburg Castle and its wildlife to be the main attraction, or would you also like to include hiking, cycling and volcanism in the wider Vulkaneifel destination? Pelm’s local attractions and the region’s offerings provide different ways to plan your stay.

Discover more destinations: Densborn, Müllenborn, Gees, Neroth, Oos, Mürlenbach, Kalenborn-Scheuern, Rockeskyll.

For the wider travel overview: Gerolstein.