Virtual offers – Digital museum visits and more
You can enjoy museum visits, wine tastings and music events in the Romantic Cities from the comfort of your own home. Our overview gives you information on upcoming events.
The city of Trier is surrounded by vineyards and forests and is close to Luxembourg, France and Belgium, making it the perfect starting point for excursions on foot or by bike to the wine-making villages of the Moselle valley, the Eifel and the Hunsrück. The ancient Romans were the first to fall in love with the scenery, produce fruity Moselle wines and build their villas on the banks of the Moselle. And it has lost none of its charm to this day. Three of the loveliest premium long-distance hiking trails in Rhineland-Palatinate – the Saar-Hunsrück, Eifelsteig and Moselsteig trails – approach the city from different directions. There are also various additional loops along the trails to provide lots of combination options and hiking routes that also take in the city.
View of Trier on the Moselle, Moselle valley
Walkers on the Saar-Hunsrück Trail through the vineyards of the Petrisberg are rewarded with fantastic sweeping views of the oldest city in Germany. The city was founded by Emperor Augustus in 16 BC and by 293 had risen to become the residence of the emperor and capital of the western Roman Empire. UNESCO has listed the Roman buildings, the cathedral and the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) as World Heritage Sites. No tour of the city would be complete without a look around them.
The tour begins at the bottom of the Petrisberg, at the Roman amphitheatre with space for 18,000 spectators. The large elliptical arena is surrounded by a wall that is four metres tall. Just a 10-minute walk away are the impressive ruins of the Imperial Baths. This massive baths complex was built in the year 300 by Emperor Constantine II. There are footpaths leading from the Imperial Baths through the gardens of the Prince-elector’s Palace to the Aula Palatina. The emperor’s throne once sat in this 67-metre hall. A wander along ‘An der Meerkatz’ and Liebfrauenstrasse takes you to the cathedral, which was built on the foundations of previous Roman buildings and combines many periods of European art and architectural history. In its shadow stands the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), the first and oldest purely Gothic church in Germany.
St Peter’s Cathedral in Trier is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Roman City
Sternstrasse connects the cathedral cemetery to the main market square, which features not only the Marktkreuz cross and the Marktbrunnen fountain, but also various charming colourful houses in the Renaissance and baroque styles. The ‘Steipe’, a town-house built in 1430, and the ‘Red House’ are very much worth seeing. Simeonstrasse leads in a straight line to the northern city gates of ancient Trier, the Porta Nigra. The impressive gate was built of sandstone blocks and withstood the attacks of the Teutons in the 3rd century. It was also the home of Simeon the Hermit in the Middle Ages and was completely overhauled under Napoleon in the 18th century.
The tourist information office in Trier offers a wide range of themed guided tours. One particularly popular option is the themed guided tours of the city, the amphitheatre, the Porta Nigra or the Imperial Baths with the devil, gladiator Valerius or a Roman tribune or centurion, all cleverly played by actors.
Walkers enjoy wonderful views of Trier, Moselle valley
From Porta Nigra, it’s over the bridge to the other side of the Moselle and straight along the Eifelsteig trail to a walk through the wildly romantic Butzerbach valley, or along the Moselsteig trail to Felsenpfad and the wonderful views from the heights of the Weisshauswald forest to the city of Trier, or, in the other direction to Konz, which was once the home of Roman Emperor Valentinian.
