Lower Rhine: radial tour 8 days

Wesel, the old Hanseatic city at the Rhine is full of culture, tradition and young life. Particulary worth seeing is the citadel, which is considered to be the largest preserved fortress in the Rhineland and which is the base of the "Prussian Museum" as well as the Willibrordi Cathedral in the middle of the city. The redesigned pedestrian zone is also known as a promenade, a splendid boulevard or the Champs-Elysée of the lower Rhine and attracts a leisurely stroll through the city center. Enjoy this flair on the day of you arrival, then you will be immediately familiar with the many possibilities that Wesel has to offer.
Wesel can be easily reached by train and car. Parking spaces are available for you at the hotel (fee required). Your rental bike will be ready on the day of your arrival and waiting to be used.

The character of your first round tour is very close to nature. On the Lower Rhine north of Wesel, the inland is criss-crossed by wet meadows, small ponds and numerous quarry ponds, which have been developed as recreational areas and the same time, as bird sanctuaries, which not only attract storks. You cycle comfortably through this varied landscape to bathing areas and observation huts, to Diersfordt Castle and small cafes along the way. In Hamminkeln, marvel at the 4x6 m large Christopherus fresco in the Protestant church and take a excursion to the friendly family-run village distillery from 1750 in Ringenberg (+3 km). In the historical distillery museum you will learn a lot of interesting facts about the production of grain brandy, in the small shop you can try it and convince yourself of the distillery quality before you roll back to the hotel in Wesel.

Look forward to the flat Rhine Cycle Path, which you can enjoy to the fullest after the Friedrichsfeld lock. Sometimes on the dike, sometimes along small towns, you cycle through a wonderful nature reserve with fantastic views of the typical Lower Rhine landscape. Behind the mouth of the Emscher, the landscape slowly changes and imposing industrial plants become your new companions. Take a break at Alsumer Berg, from which you can enjoy fantastic views of the vast industrial landscape. You get to the Duisburg district of Meiderich on quiet paths and cycle direktly to the "Landschaftspark Duisburg Nord", a 200 hectare disused ironworks. We recommend that you take part in a highly interesting industiral history tour. In any case, you should climb the disused blast furnace, stroll through former ore bunkers and marvel at the casting hall, gasometer and blower hall. After an impressive tour, you roll 6 km on a comfortable bike path that was laid out on the former railway line to the next train station in Oberhausen-Sterkrade. With 1000 impressions of the day, you start the train ride back to Wesel (duration 23 minutes).

Today's cycling day takes you to the Lippe and the Weser-Dattteln-Canal. It will be exciting right at the beginning of your bike tour, because you will reach the unmanned yaw ferry "Quertreiber" with shich you will cross the Lippe river. The ferry can carry up to 6 persons with bicycles but the cyclists have to operate the ferry on their own. The ferry is kept in the current by an approx. 100 m long suspension cacle. Two free-running chains, which are attached on land and on the ferry, enable the drive. So the passenger can pull the ferry to the other side of the river with the chains. After successfully crossing it, you are quickly at the Wesel-Datteln-Canal, which was built in 1915-1931 as the Lippe side canal. Today it is one of the most important and busiest shipping channels in Germany. The canal runs through the Northern Ruhr area and connects the Rhine near Wesel with the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal near Datteln. Via Schermbeck and the excursion destination Krudenburg you cycle back through the nature reserve Drevenacker Dünen to Wesel to the Welcome Hotel.

Today you shouldn't forget your bathing suit. You cycle the first few kilometers on the Rhine Cycle path to the small ferry "Keer Tröch II" with which you cross over to the left bank of the Rhine. There the two recreational lakes "South Sea" and "North Sea" invite you to take a nice bathing break. You roll through protected floodplains along the broad river to the "Wunderland Kalkar" amusement park. Enjoy your bike route over the longest suspension bridge in Germany, also known as the Golden Gate of the Lower Rhine. This is how you reach the old Hanseatic city of Emmerich with the beautiful Rhine promenade, which invites you to stroll before you start the relaxed journey back to Wesel by train (direct connection, travel time 1 hour).

Today you will experience the most densely wooded day tour of your radial bike tour. You cycle from the Lower Rhine into the Münsterland to the beautiful Raesfeld moated castle. On the typical Pättkes you roll to the Dusk Forest and the historic Raesfeld Zoo, which was laid out in the Renaissance. Today it still provides a natural environmend for a large number of red deer and fallow deer. The cycle path leads right through it and suddenly you are standing at the imposant moat and look at the highest tower of all castles in Westphalia. Take time for a long break, because both the Raesfeld Castle with its knight's hall and the outer bailey are absolutely worth seeing, as is the "Schloss Freiheit", a small medieval panoramic views and the castle cafe with the terrace remains unforgettable. You cycle back via the excursion destination Marienthal, whose monastery church and historic village square invite you to take a break.

Enjoy the Rhine Cycle Route again today. It leads you to the Bislicher Island, a major nature conservation project in a loop of the Old Rhine, and then soon afterwards to Xanten. Look forward to the historic city center, the lavishly decorated St. Viktor's Cathedral and the archeological park with the Roman museum. Take a worthwhile break in this special open-air museum. Be amazed at the historical excavation remains, which today have been reconstructed as a vivid Roman townscape. Stroll through the former Roman city with its amphitheater and harbor temple and let yourself be inspired by the handicraft demonstrations. After a worthwhile visit, enjoy your time on the Xanten market square in the shadow of the cathedral. Enjoy the vastness of the square and relax in one of the nice cafes. The return trip even has a longer incline ready at the end of your radial tour, because the ice age glaciars made this far and left hilly terminal moraines behind. You will be rewarded with the most beautiful panoramic views. It quickly becomes flat again. With pleasure you follow the cycle path along the historic windmill in Menzelen to the Rhine and back to Wesel.

You have now got to know and fell in love with the Lower Rhine and drive back home with many unexpected impressions - we are firmly convinced of that and are already pleased that you enjoyed it so much!

On this star bike tour we offer you 6 different day tours to choose from and you can decide freely every day which of these tours you would like to take. Only the tour to the Landscape Park Duisburg North is bound to two weekdays (Sat / Sun), in order to be able to experience an exciting industrial history tour there (12:00 or 14:00). All routes lead in the flat landscape of the Lower Rhine on separate bike paths, wide forest paths or small roads without disturbing traffic. Even the Rhine route to Duisburg leads over disused railroad lines to the former ironworks.