Wellness Royal

Spa hotels in the Sauerland

The Sauerland is NRW's iconic upland — the “land of a thousand mountains” with the Kahler Asten, the Rothaarsteig, the winter-sports stronghold of Winterberg and the “Sterne im Sauerland” hotel cooperation.

Sauerland wellness & spa hotels

Holidays & wellness in the Sauerland

The Sauerland is NRW's iconic upland region — around 5,000 km² of hilly, wooded cultural landscape in the south-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, with the Kahler Asten (841 m) as its highest summit. Economically shaped by the structural change of the steel and tool industries, touristically positioned for decades as the “land of a thousand mountains”. In wellness medicine the Sauerland carries no UNESCO World Heritage anchors — but a dense hotel tradition with the “Sterne im Sauerland” cooperation as its trademark, complemented by healing-climate stays around the Kahler Asten, winter sports in Winterberg and Willingen, and the Rothaarsteig (a 154 km premium long-distance trail) as the central hiking experience. To the north the Sauerland borders the Münsterland and the Ruhr area, to the east the Hessian forest, to the south the Siegerland and the Westerwald.

What this region stands for

  • Upland active holidays
  • Hiking (Rothaarsteig)
  • Winter sports with après-spa (Winterberg, Willingen)
  • Family wellness
  • Hotel spa with a healing-climate component
  • Brine spas (Bad Sassendorf)

Why wellness here?

The Sauerland is not a classic spa-town region — the state-recognised health resorts concentrate on the northern edge (Bad Sassendorf, Bad Westernkotten) and the southern foreland; the Hochsauerland itself carries healing-climate profiles (Schmallenberg, Winterberg) rather than a classic spa tradition. Its wellness speciality lies in upland active holidays with a spa component. Three axes shape wellness tourism. First, the “Sterne im Sauerland” hotel cooperation — an association of wellness houses rich in tradition in the Hochsauerland, above all around Schmallenberg, which combine the Sauerland's typical host tradition with a modern spa choreography. Second, the Rothaarsteig: a 154 km premium long-distance trail, certified as a “Top Trail of Germany”, connects the Sauerland with the Siegerland and leads over the Kahler Asten (841 m). Third, the winter-sports programme: Winterberg, with its ski-lift carousel and its bobsleigh run (an Olympic home), carries the largest ski area in NRW; Willingen adds the Mühlenkopfschanze (the largest ski-flying hill in the world) and a winter-sports tradition of its own. On the outer edge of the Sauerland lie brine spas: Bad Sassendorf (brine and a brine graduation tower, very classic) and Bad Westernkotten (brine, smaller). The Möhnesee, the Edersee (Hesse) and the Biggesee offer pre-Alpine-lake-like water-sports anchors for longer stays.

When to travel here

Summer (May–October): the main season for hiking (Rothaarsteig), mountain biking (the Sauerland counts among the densest German MTB regions with the Bike Arena Sauerland trail network), water sports on the reservoirs (Möhnesee, Biggesee, Sorpesee). June for the mountain-meadow blossom, September/October for Indian summer and the mushroom season. Winter (December–March): winter-sports high season around Winterberg (ski-lift carousel, 27 pistes) and Willingen, the classic Sauerland winter-sports tradition with a dense hotel scene. The shoulder months April and November as insider phases for longer wellness stays without the crowds.

Sights and anchors for the spa-free day

Official tourism portals

Up-to-date information on getting there, events, opening hours and visitor's tax is available directly from the destinations.

Frequently asked questions about the region

What is the “Sterne im Sauerland” cooperation?

The “Sterne im Sauerland” are an association of hotels rich in tradition in the Hochsauerland — predominantly around Schmallenberg and the surrounding hill villages. The members combine the Sauerland's typical family host tradition with a modern spa choreography; together they organise, among other things, the “Sterne hiking weeks” with guided tours, lunch stops and transfer logistics between the houses.

Concretely the membership means a certified quality in the spa area, the cuisine and the hiking programme — comparable with other regional hotel cooperations in Germany. Whoever travels the Sauerland and books a “Sterne im Sauerland” house has a stability of expectation otherwise hard to assess when booking individually.

Which spa towns are there in the Sauerland?

The Sauerland itself is not a classic spa-town region. The state-recognised spa towns concentrate on the edge: Bad Sassendorf (brine, the Soest plain on the northern edge), Bad Westernkotten (brine, south-west of Lippstadt), Bad Berleburg (healing climate, the southern Sauerland). In the Hochsauerland itself many hotels carry a healing-climate component (Schmallenberg, Winterberg and Olsberg lie at climatic-health-resort altitudes); classic spa-town titles are rarer here.

When is the best time to travel?

May–October as the hiking season (Rothaarsteig), the main mountain-biking time (the Sauerland counts among the densest German MTB regions), water sports on the reservoirs. June–September as a pre-Alpine-lake substitute for the Möhnesee, Biggesee and Sorpesee. September/October for Indian summer and the mushroom season.

December–March: the winter-sports high season in Winterberg and Willingen — the northernmost address for a classic ski holiday in Germany with reliable snow. A classic weekend ski-holiday region for NRW, Hesse and Lower Saxony.

April and November as insider shoulders for longer wellness stays: lower prices, emptier hiking trails, steaming outdoor pools in the spa hotels in cool upland air.

Sauerland vs. Eifel vs. Black Forest — what is different?

Sauerland: NRW's most touristically developed upland, with the “Sterne im Sauerland” cooperation as its trademark, a pronounced family and winter-sports tradition. Strength: a compact hiking and MTB network, reservoir water sports, the winter-sports stronghold of Winterberg.

Eifel: quieter, more natural — the Eifel National Park since 2004, an International Dark Sky Park since 2014. For astro-tourism and quiet wellness.

Black Forest: Germany's highest upland range, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Baden-Baden, a Roman bathing lineage, an exceptional density of starred cuisine. Strength: cultural-historical substance and top gastronomy. The Sauerland is more compact, less upmarket at the top, but more familiar.

Sauerland — spa hotels & holidays

“Land of a thousand mountains” — upland wellness in NRW

The Sauerland is NRW's iconic upland region — around 5,000 km² of hilly, wooded cultural landscape stretching from the Hellweg in the north into the Siegerland in the south. The marketing term “land of a thousand mountains” describes the topography precisely: densely packed upland heights between 400 and 800 metres, cut by valleys and reservoirs. The Kahler Asten (841 m) is the highest summit, the Rothaarsteig (154 km) the most important hiking trail. The Hochsauerland — around Winterberg, Schmallenberg and Olsberg — is the main tourist axis.

“Sterne im Sauerland” — the regional hotel cooperation

The “Sterne im Sauerland” hotel cooperation gathers wellness houses rich in tradition in the Hochsauerland — predominantly around Schmallenberg, in the Schmallenberg Sauerland. The members combine the Sauerland's typical family host tradition with a modern spa choreography; the annual “Sterne hiking weeks” with guided tours, lunch stops and transfer logistics between the houses are an established format. Whoever wants to travel the Sauerland systematically for wellness finds here the clear quality anchor of the state.

Winterberg, Willingen, ski jumping — a winter-sports tradition

The Sauerland is the northernmost German region with a reliable winter-sports tradition — the ski areas around Winterberg (ski-lift carousel, 27 pistes, around 30 km of pistes) and in Hessian Willingen (the Mühlenkopfschanze as the largest ski-flying hill in the world) carry the winter-sports identity. Winterberg is the German bobsleigh and luge Olympic home; the ski-jumping tradition reaches back into the early 20th century. In summer the mountain-biking tradition takes over with the Bike Arena Sauerland and one of the densest trail networks in Germany.

Reservoirs, spa towns and family wellness

Three of the largest reservoirs in North Rhine-Westphalia lie in the Sauerland: the Möhnesee (known through the historic Operation Chastise of 1943), the Biggesee (opened 1965, the largest reservoir in NRW) and the Sorpesee — they offer water sports, shore hikes and a pre-Alpine-lake atmosphere. On the outer northern edge Bad Sassendorf and Bad Westernkotten carry the classic brine-spa tradition. The Sauerland itself has a pronounced family-wellness tradition — many hotels are family-run over several generations, and family weekend wellness is an established travel format.

Images:

Asio otus, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons