The last of the summer holidays are over, and it’s likely that many of you have already taken your big vacations for the year. Maybe you’ve even found yourself lost in thought at your desk or in the warehouse while you remembered the fun you had during your time off.

While we definitely hope you made some great memories this summer, we also want you to know that just because vacation season is over, the good times don’t have to stop. That’s why we’re doing something a little different with our Learning Nugget in August. Instead of one Learning Nugget, we’re doing three with suggestions for exciting day trips that can help your days off feel like mini-vacations, not just short breaks between working days. The other two will arrive in your inbox next week and the week after.

Without further ado, here’s the first of our TIP TOP Tips for Trips.

Traumschleife

The Traumschleife are trails in the Saar-Hunsrück hiking area of Germany. If you translate “Traumschleife” directly into English, it means “dream loops”, and those two words point out the most important things to know about these trails.

The “dream” part of the name comes from how these trails have been tested by the German Hiking Institute (Deutsche Wanderinstitut) and certified to offer great experiences to hikers. Along with excellent signage so that you’re never lost, great sights like rocky cliffs, amazing views of the Rhine, beautiful forests, or historical sites are numerous on these trails. The idea is that your hike will be so wonderful, it will seem like a dream.

The “loop” aspect is simple. Every trail is a loop trail, meaning a trail that goes in a circle so you start and end at the same point.

TIP TOP recommends: Traumschleife Rheingold

There are quite a few trails certified as Traumschleife, but TIP TOP’s founder, Beatrice Müser, has done one herself – Traumschleife Rheingold – and has nothing but great things to say about it.

“There are amazing and astounding views from endless places,” Beatrice said. “I’ve never been to so many dreamlike and magical overlooks.”

The trail begins near Hirzenach between St. Goar and Boppard (you can find the exact starting point here), and its “amazing and astounding views” are often of the narrow, history-filled Rhine Valley, with its castles and picturesque towns. One of the overlooks on the trail was even used as a setting for a scene in the film Heimat by Edgar Reitz.

Along with the overlooks, the trail also has a lot of informational signs that inform you about the history and significance of the places you’re visiting, making your hike as educational as it is beautiful.

The trail is about 11 kilometers and takes around four hours to complete at a normal pace. However, with plenty of benches and great places for a picnic, you may want to plan on it taking a little longer.

See you next week!

We’ll be sending you another tip next week, but if these Traumschleife have caught your attention, you can find a list of them all here. Or if you want to learn even more about what it takes to be a Traumschleife, this page from Saar-Hunsrück Steig has everything you could want to know.

Have a fun weekend, and let us know if our advice helped you plan your weekend!