wandern

hike

verb VAHN-dern Less Common

Also means

roam

Usage Note

wandern means to hike for pleasure over longer distances, a beloved German pastime. It takes sein when moving toward a goal; figuratively it can mean to wander or migrate, as birds wandern.

Examples

"Am Wochenende wandern wir gern in den Bergen."

Natural Translation

On weekends we like to hike in the mountains.

Literal Translation

On-the weekend hike we gladly in the mountains.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Related Words

Explore German by topic

GermanNow

German Cases Explained Simply (4 Cases)

German has four cases, and each answers one question: wer, wen, wem, wessen. Learn nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive without drowning in charts.

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

German Days, Months & Seasons (am, im & -tag)

Days of the week in German use am, months and seasons use im — plus the -tag pattern, capitalized nouns, and how to build a real sentence with a day.

June 5, 2026 4 min read

GermanNow

German Word Order: The Verb Rules That Trip You Up

German word order comes down to three verb-position rules: the verb is second in main clauses, last after weil and dass, and time comes before place.

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

How Long Does It Take to Learn German? Real Timeline

How long to learn German? Conversational B1 takes ~6–12 months, fluent B2 about 1.5–2.5 years part-time. Here's an honest, hours-based timeline by CEFR level.

June 9, 2026 5 min read