Tourist attractions include the Dornburg [de] (394 metres), site of some Celtic ruins from La Tène times (5th to 1st century BC), found in the community of the same name, and Limburg an der Lahn, a town with a medieval centre.

The geologically old, heavily eroded range of the Westerwald is in its northern parts overlaid by a volcanic upland made of Neogene basalt layers.

The name "Westerwald" was first mentioned in 1048 in a document from the Electorate of Trier and described at that time the woodlands (Wald is German for "forest" or "woods") around the three churches in Bad Marienberg, Rennerod and Emmerichenhain, west of the royal court at Herborn.

The Westerwald lies mostly southwest of the three-state common point shared by Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia in the districts of Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Neuwied, Rhein-Lahn, Rhein-Sieg, Westerwaldkreis and partly in Siegen-Wittgenstein.

It is found south of the Rothaargebirge, southwest of the Lahn-Dill-Bergland (another low mountain range), north of the Taunus and east of the Middle Rhine and stretches more or less southwards from Siegen and Burbach, southwestwards from Haiger, northwestwards from Weilburg, northwards from Limburg an der Lahn, northeastwards from Koblenz, eastwards from Linz am Rhein, southeastwards from Wissen and southwards from Betzdorf.

Clockwise, the Westerwald is bordered by the following river valleys: the Rhine between Koblenz and Linz, the Sieg as far as Betzdorf, the Heller, the Dill and from its mouth near Wetzlar, the Lahn up to Lahnstein.

Geomorphologically, the Westerwald belongs to the Rhenish Massif, which forms the greater part of that range's eastern half on the Rhine's right bank.

Summer days are pleasantly warm and rarely become hot due to a cool breeze, while winters are cold and rich in snow.

If Sieg is taken as the Westerwald's northernmost limit, then the Rhein-Sieg district likewise belongs here, at least in parts (for example the Siebengebirge and the communities of Eitorf and Windeck).

Economically important, besides slate, limestone and clay quarrying, were, and still are, iron and its processing industry between Rheintal (Unkel, Linz) and the lower Wied, pumice gravel in the Neuwied Basin, various mineral springs and, once, brown coal mining.

The towns of Siegen and Koblenz on the Westerwald's north and southwest edges even gave two Lower Devonian layers, with their colourful slates, their names.

Today one finds not only highly crafted moulded vases and mugs but also a range of handcrafted utility ware, with hand-painted swirling floral motifs.

Even in the time when the Celts found themselves having to avoid the Germanic invaders by moving to the west, the Romans were also pushing in from the Rhine's left bank to the southwest.

The Westerwald's permanent settlement and thereby its territorial history began with the Chatti (Hessians) pushing their way into the area after the Romans were driven out in the 3rd century.

These lie around the forest's outer edges in basins and dales whose soils and climate were favourable to early settlers, and include, for instance, Hadamar, Lahr and Wetzlar.

The Franks built their old settlements on the edge of the Westerwald in the central areas of their districts, to build up slowly and permanently strongholds in the interior.

After many changes in ownership between the Ottonian and Salian noble families, it was in the end the Counts of Sayn, Diez and Wied who managed to take hold of extensive landholdings.

[7][8] In recent years it has become somewhat controversial in Germany due to its origins during the National Socialist era,[9] with the German military ceasing performances of it in 2017.

[9][10][11][12] The standard German term for a Westerwald dweller is Westerwälder (IPA: [ˈvɛstɐvɛldɐ]; plural: same), but they are also popularly known as Basaltköpp (“Basalt Heads”), as they are said to be thickheaded, and they live in a basalt-rich region.