Lower Rhine: radial tour 6 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.

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'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.

Start early to the train station in Wesel. You can reach Duisburg by train in about 30 minutes. From there it is about 10 km by bike to the 'Landschaftspark Duisburg Nord', a 200-hectare disused iron and steel works. We recommend that you take part in a highly interesting tour of industrial history. In any case, you should climb the disused blast furnace, stroll through former ore bunkers and marvel at the casthouse, gasometer and blower hall. Enjoy the way back to Wesel by bike! Take a break at Alsumer Berg, from where you can enjoy fantastic views of the vast industrial landscape. Behind Orsoy the nature reserve Rheinaue Walsum awaits you. Continue along the Rhine to Wesel, where you can end the day comfortably.

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.

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 4 different day tours to choose from and you are free to decide which of these tours you would like to undertake each day. Only the tour to the Landscape Park Duisburg North is bound to Wednesday, in order to be able to experience an exciting tour of industrial history there (10:00 a.m.). Start early to the train station in Wesel. You can take the train to Duisburg and from the main train station it is about 10km by bike to the Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord.