Erzgebirgskreis: Hiking Trails, Mining Towns and World Heritage

Erzgebirgskreis offers extensive hiking opportunities and places with a distinctive mining and craft tradition. They provide two different ways to plan your trip: landscapes and trails on the one hand, and history, architecture and traditional crafts on the other.

Hiking from Circular Trails to Long-Distance Routes

A signposted network of hiking trails covers around 4,500 kilometres in Erzgebirgskreis. The wide range of options can be narrowed down to individual routes for a specific hike. The Panoramaweg Schwarzenberg is a 13.8-kilometre circular hike through the hills around Schwarzenberg. It takes about four hours and five minutes to walk—the distance and estimated time together give you a specific guide for planning this hike.

The 285-kilometre Kammweg Erzgebirge-Vogtland, in the wider region, offers a different scale. From May to October, hikes there pass through forests, flowering mountain meadows and idyllic stream valleys, as well as offering far-reaching views. The approximately 130-kilometre Zschopautalweg, a long-distance trail for active outings and walks based from one location, also runs in the wider area. This gives you the choice of a specified circular hike and two considerably longer routes with different uses.

There are also numerous mining trails in the Erzgebirge. Their varied circular routes lead through unspoilt landscapes and picturesque mountain villages. This regional hiking offer complements the routes described in more detail with tours where mining history is part of the theme.

World Heritage, Crafts and Regional Traditions

The Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 2019. In the spa town of Seiffen, the connection between place and craft is especially tangible: Seiffen is considered the birthplace of Erzgebirge folk art. The Erzgebirge Open-Air Museum in Seiffen displays historic buildings and workshops from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The centrepiece of the museum is the original, well-preserved Preißler’s lathe, powered by water. As part of the historic workshops, it illustrates a specific aspect of the history of craftsmanship. Traditional techniques such as ring turning and wood shaving carving are still passed down from generation to generation in the Erzgebirge.

Regional cuisine also preserves a tradition: restaurants in the Erzgebirge serve Neunerlei. The tradition consists of nine different dishes, which are said to bring good luck and blessings for the coming year. Crafts, museum buildings and food thus offer different ways to experience the region’s culture.

Mountain Landscapes and Historic Town Centres

At 1,215 metres, Fichtelberg near Oberwiesenthal is the highest mountain in Saxony. Panoramic trails around Schneeberg, Schwarzenberg and Zwönitz offer views of the historic town centres. These trails focus on something different from views of the highest mountain: here, the focus is on the towns and their historic centres.

When planning a stay, you can first decide based on the main focus of your trip: would you like to centre it on a circular hike or a longer route in the wider region, or include cultural sites such as Seiffen? When looking for a hotel in Erzgebirgskreis, weighing up these interests is a good place to start; the places below offer further points of interest for planning your trip.

Discover More Destinations

Pockau, Großolbersdorf, Amtsberg, Annaberg-Buchholz, Aue, Blauenthal, Deutschneudorf, Ehrenfriedersdorf, Geyer, Jöhstadt, Marienberg, Mildenau, Olbernhau, Scheibenberg, Schönheide, Stollberg, Wolkenstein, Johanngeorgenstadt, Eibenstock, Königswalde, Bad Schlema, Grunhainichen, Crottendorf, Bärenstein, Zwönitz, Stützengrün, Schwarzenberg/Erzgebirge, Pobershau, Oberwiesenthal, Großrückerswalde, Bockau, Neukirchen/Erzgebirge, Zöblitz, Niederwürschnitz, Schneeberg, Burkhardtsdorf, Wiesa, Hormersdorf, Thalheim/Erzgebirge, Gehringswalde, Tannenberg, Heidersdorf, Lauter/Sachsen, Schlettau, Thum, Pfaffroda, Lössnitz, Breitenbrunn/Erzgebirge, Sehmatal, Dorfchemnitz, Bernsbach, Borstendorf, Lugau, Drebach, Krumhermersdorf, Raschau-Markersbach, Grünhain-Beierfeld, Kurort Seiffen/Erzgebirge, Elterlein, Lengefeld, Zschopau, Gelenau, Jahnsdorf/Erzgebirge, Hohndorf.

For the broader travel overview: Saxony.