Discover Sondernau: Salt Cave and Woodcarving

Sondernau offers a variety of reasons to stay: the salt cave, a playground at Kreuzbergblick, woodcarving and a road cycling route shape the local themes. If you are looking for a hotel for a trip to Sondernau, you can decide which experiences to focus on based on your interests. An old small-leaved lime tree is also one of the town’s described features.

Salt Cave, Playground and Woodcarving

The Sondernau salt cave is made up of 6.5 tonnes of salt, salt bricks and salt rock that is more than 500 million years old. The materials and the age of the rock give the facility its distinctive character. If you are planning a visit, check the practical visitor information before you travel.

There is a playground at Kreuzbergblick in Sondernau. Visitors can also watch woodcarvers at work in Sondernau. Woodcarver Günther Eyring is based at Lindenstraße 12. The playground and the craft are distinct local themes: one draws attention to a place to play, the other to working with wood.

Small-Leaved Lime Tree and Road Cycling Route

An old small-leaved lime tree stands on a hill below the church in Sondernau. Check the tree’s condition before visiting in person. This makes the lime tree’s exact location a landmark, while ensuring its current condition is checked again before your visit.

A road cycling route also passes through the area described here along a section between Oberelsbach and Sondernau: on the “Road Cycling Loop – From Bischofsheim Through the Brend and Elstal Valleys – Rhön,” cyclists use the road briefly there. The cycle path running parallel across the fields is gravelled for about 200 metres. As surfaces can change, check the current route conditions before setting out.

More Things to Do in the Wider Destination of Oberelsbach

In the wider destination of Oberelsbach, two circular routes differ in length and difficulty. The easy, family-friendly “Rhön Circular Route 9 – Butterfly Nature Trail” is 4.4 kilometres long, suitable for pushchairs and equipped with information boards about local butterfly species. The moderate “Rhön Circular Route 1 – Five Districts” covers 15.9 kilometres and connects all five districts of the Oberelsbach market municipality. These details allow for a direct comparison: one route is shorter and suitable for pushchairs, while the other is moderately difficult and connects the five districts.

Another hiking option in the wider destination of Oberelsbach is the certified premium extra tour “Hochrhöntour.” It is around 15 kilometres long and passes through meadows and forests via the Thüringer Hütte, the Basaltsee and the Schwabenhimmel. For cycling, the 180-kilometre Rhön Cycle Route is also relevant: it runs from Bad Salzungen in Thuringia to Hammelburg in Bavaria and crosses Oberelsbach approximately halfway along.

The Haus der Langen Rhön Biosphere Centre in Oberelsbach has a permanent exhibition about the UNESCO Rhön Biosphere Reserve. For children, there is a scavenger hunt in which Elsbeth the Rhön sheep asks questions and encourages close observation. As an event in the wider destination, the Oberelsbach market municipality hosts the Rhöner Maskenfastnacht every two years. Spanmänner, Fosenöchter and other participants parade through the streets in traditional costumes and historic wooden masks; the public is welcome. If you would like to plan your trip around this event, check the event dates.

The protection of the night and nature is also part of the regional context: all street lighting in Oberelsbach is designed to protect the night sky. In 2014, the UNESCO Rhön Biosphere Reserve was designated the Rhön International Dark Sky Park. The Oberelsbach market municipality also includes five nature reserves. These aspects complement the local experiences in Sondernau with distinctive themes of the wider destination.

Discover more destinations: Weisbach, Unterelsbach.

Go to the wider travel overview: Oberelsbach.