The town lies in the South Eifel between the rivers Lieser in the east and Kleine Kyll in the west.

Northeast of Manderscheid lies the Bleckhausen Juniper Conservation Area, the biggest of its kind in the whole Eifel.

Near Wallscheid, graves from Hallstatt and La Tène times have been found, too, and likewise near Laufeld.

Besides the “Villa of Bettenfeld”, which was unearthed in 1863 at the foot of the Mosenberg (mountain), Roman finds come to light in almost every town and village in the surrounding area.

Besides the Viergötterstein (a “four-god stone”, a pedestal on which a Jupiter Column was customarily stood), special attention is earned by two altars from Großlittgen that were found in Pantenburg in 1920.

They were dedicated to the god Vovotius and the goddesses Boudina and Alauna and might have belonged to a Gallo-Roman spring sanctum.

This may make it clear that a great many settlements in the surrounding area arose as early as Roman times.

From the Luciakapelle comes the image of the Sorrowful Mother, which is today found in Saint Hubert's Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Hubertus).

The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:[3] The town's arms might be described thus: Or a fess dancetty gules, the shield ensigned with a crown of the field.

Manderscheid lies on the river Lieser, which can be followed along the Eifel Club's trail, the Lieserpfad, to Daun or Wittlich.

The Manderscheider Maß was decreed in a Mühlenordnung (“mill order”) on 20 October 1736 by Prince-Archbishop-Elector Franz-Georg, and was valid for the whole of the Electorate of Trier.