Taunus - Land of Mountains, Castles & Spas - Hofheim am Taunus - TravBuddy

We went hiking the day after Christmas in the Taunus Mountain range, about half way between Wiesbaden and Frankfurt am Main, just north of Autobahn 66 in Hesse, Germany. Although it was a bit cool and misty, we all had a great time working off all the roast duck we had eaten Christmas Day. There were many paths to choose from for our hike so we needed a map to get around. In the forest we discovered several small "imbis" type schnitzel/bratwurst/beer/Glühwein (warm red wine with mulling spices and cinnamon, Jeff's favorite warm drink) stands that were open to serve food and hot drinks to hikers.

The Taunus Mountain Range is bounded by the river valleys of the Rhein, Main and Lahn Rivers. The Großer Feldberg is the highest mountain (878 meters/2,880 feet) in the Taunus Mountains and the Feldberg/Taunus TV/Radio transmitter mast can be seen easily from several miles away on top of this mountain.

We enjoyed our hike through the forest on the mountain top and we found the Roman fort ruins very interesting. There were quite a few Roman ruins up in the hills. Here is the history lesson:

The second highest peak is the Kleiner Feldberg and the Altkönig (798 meters/2,618 feet) with the remains of a late Iron Age hill fort (La-Tène A, ca. 400 BC) near the summit.

The Roman Limes was built across the Taunus and the Saalburg, a restored Roman castellum, now also houses a museum. After the fall of the Limes (in 259/260 AD), the Alamanni settled here. For this reason there are some Alemannic cemeteries in the southern foothills of the Taunus (Eschborn). This area became Frankish after the Battle of Tolbiac. [From Wikipedia]

We recommend hiking only after checking the weather in the local area but the hiking was fun just for the interesting Roman ruins and small Glühwein shops.