TRAVEL GERMANY'S VULCANEIFEL REGION

Motoring Into Europe In Search Of Relaxation, Jonathan Crouch Enjoys Germany's Volcanic But Beautiful Vulcaneifel Region

'Getting away from it all' can mean a number of different things. Lying on a beach is all very well but it may not be doing you all that much good.



It's better, any doctor will tell you, to go somewhere calmer and less crowded than the normal tourist hotspots. Somewhere free of dust with a healthy climate that encourages sleep, and ideally a spa for revitalisation and recuperation.



As far as Europe goes, most of the places that fit the bill in all these respects are usually both expensive and over-filled with tourists. But there are exceptions. We tried the Vulcaneifel region in Germany, not far to the south of Koln, an easy five-hour hop from the channel ports.



It's an area which is said to have been formed about 11,000 years ago when Volcanoes exploded, spewing out fire and larva that created hilltops, ridges and romantic valleys. It's said that 350 to 400 million years before that, a warm sub-tropical pre-historic ocean rolled across this land, inhabited by shells, corals and sea lilies and that these can be found even today, preserved as stones. Whatever the truth, it's a fact that carbon dioxide still escapes from ...