Münsterland: radial tour 8 days

Münsterland – radial-tour

8 days on beautiful field paths.

The historic university city of Münster and the cyclist's paradise Münsterland are an ideal departure point for radial-tours. You will find Germany's best bike trails and a variety of attractive sights and local excursion restaurants in cities and on the country. We recommend to spend the evening in the historical Old Town of Münster. It offers a great variety of cultural attractions and gastronomy. You cycle through the flat Münsterland on well signposted field path, the so-called "Pättkes". Overall, this attractive radial-tour offers beautiful nature, interesting places to visit and varied gastronomic opportunities.

Your hotel: Mövenpick Hotel Münster

Be spoiled in the wellness oasis of the **** S Movenpick Hotel in the center of Münster.

The hotel is located near the Aa Lake and only 15 minutes walking from the city center.

The interior of the hotel is characterized by a modern ambience and creative design. All furnishings are individual designs to accommodate requests and requirements of our guests. All rooms have air conditioning, radio, hairdryer, telephone, modem connection, Wireless LAN, minibar, kettle and safe. The hotel has available a gym and sauna area on 350m² in the 6th floor.

Mövenpick Hotel Münster

1. day Münster arrival

The most cycling friendly city awaits you. Here the "Leeze" is the most used means of transport and no other city has such an extensive network of cycle paths and so many special offers around the bicycle. We recommend to arrive early in Münster and use this first day for a little exploration tour: at the "Promenade", a 4,5 kilometer-long, car-free ring around the Old Town you can literally make a complete city tour. In the evening the night watchman will take you on a tour (Fri and Sat at 9:30pm) and so you immediately get an entertaining overview of the city's history and the first insider tips for the following days.

2. day Round trip in the footsteps of Annette von Droste-Hulshoff 28 km

Today's tour takes you right into the heart of the Münsterland. You cycle on small, mostly paved rural roads through the typical park landscape with its fields, pastures, woodlands and hedgerows. Your first destination is the "Haus Rüschhaus" which was the residence of the poet since 1826. Today it hosts the Dorste-Museum where you can make hourly tours. (Tue-Sun 10am-5pm). You continue cycling past the “Haus Vögeding” till you reach castle Hülshoff, one of the romantic moated castles in Westphalia. The local museum (daily 11:00am-6:30pm) provides insights into the habits of the Münster nobles in the days of Classicism and Biedermeier. After so much culture you can relax in the cafe in the courtyard before you cycle through Roxel back to Münster. Here you can visit the Münster City Museum (Tues-Sun) and learn more about the history of the Westphalian city.

3. day Round trip between Angel, Werse and Hoher Ward 35 km

New experiences are waiting for you today! Right at the edge of the city of Münster you reach the former water castle “Haus Lütkebeck” whose two distinctive octagonal pavilions are evidence of the original baroque splendor. Only a few minutes away is the “Paohlbürgerh", a former estate that houses today the first Westphalian Carnival Museum , showing over 10,000 props and documents from the Narrenzunft from the Münster. Soon after you ride on the beautiful Weser-bike trail through the surrounding meadows and fields and pass through the forest area “Hohe Ward” featuring the picturesque pumping station from 1906. A perfect location to relax, refresh and recover is lake Hiltruper. In this well-known recreational area you can swim, relax and tank up new energy. To return to Münster you follow the new bike paths on the Dortmund-Ems Canal till the center of the city to the old port of Münster. Here at the “creative-pier” with its loving restored barns, the old industrial heritage still is visible. During the day a colorful mixture of beach bars, restaurants and cafes bring the pier alive as it never has been before.

4. day Guided Tour in Münster 15 km

This morning a guide awaits you to take you on a 2-hour tour in Münster (usually Tuesdays at 9.30 am). No traditional walking tour, instead you will discover more distant sites of Münster by bike.

In the afternoon we are offering another attractive treat: you change your "vehicle" and 'take off to sea'. The 2.5 km long Lake Aa is the most popular recreational area of the city. Here you will make a boat tour with the solar ship 'Solaaris' (daily) and you have the opportunity for a stopover, to visit the famous open-air museum, 'Mühlenhof' (daily open to visitors). The museum shows the culture and history of the country featuring more than 30 historic buildings. This boat tour terminates at lake Aa terraces where you can comfortably end your day.

5. day Round trip Werse about 25 km

Today you can choose; sleeping late before it goes back into the saddle, or visiting the large weekly market (Wednesday and Saturday) at the Cathedral Square in the city center. The weekly market is one of the most “beautiful farmers markets in Europe”, this recognition was given at an international competition by the Foundation "Living City" in 2008.

Later you cycle along the floodplain of the romantic Werse, a small tributary that flows into the Ems nearby Münster. Follow the signposted Weser-cycle track on its last and most beautiful kilometers and discover the original river landscape with its oxbow lakes, floodplains and sand banks. This cycle track is also very popular with locals and therefore there are many secluded picnic areas and beautiful tourist cafes and beer gardens on the road. Enjoy the round trip with all your senses before cycling back to Münster.

6. day Round trip to sewage farms, orchards and herons 33 km

Today you are heading north, cycling on complete new routes. Soon you reach the City Park Wienburg and the first beautiful beer garden. The trail leads into the so-called sewage, a wetland of international importance, as it is used as refuge for many rare bird species. You can read about the importance of this area as a European reserve classified bird sanctuary in the local Biological Station before you continue to cycle to the typical farming village Gimbte with its picturesque town center. The beautiful path leads you to the Dortmund-Ems canal, easily you cycle back to the center of Münster.

7. day On discovery tour of 'a museum of a special kind' 42 km

Münster is also a cultural city of European standing. Since 1977, international artists made more than 60 sculptures for selected buildings and spaces within the city and created a now established worldwide unique collection. You can discover this 'museum of a special kind' everywhere in the city, because it is for free and outside. Take a bike and go to discover the sculptures. The 42 km long route is divided into five different tours, so you can freely choose whether you make the 3 km long tour though the Old Town or if you include the outskirts. Some of the art works you saw already within in the last few days, and so you can decide yourself which area you still want to explore.

8. day Münster departure

In the morning your beautiful radial-tour is ending at the hotel. We wish you a safe journey home and hope that you will keep this week for a long time in good memory.

Our diverse visiting program

You can do a lot of sightseeing during your bike tour. Decide for yourself what you would like. There are 15 museums in Münster alone with free entry.

The following attractions can be highlighted as special experiences (prices 2023):

• 1.5-hour tour with the night watchman (18.00 €)
• Guided tour of the Droste Museum in the Rüschhaus building (5.00 €)
• Visit to Hülshoff Castle (5.00 €)
• Visit to the Mühlenhof open-air museum (6.00 €)
• Tour of the Hall of Peace (2.00 €)
• Visit to the Pablo Picasso Graphic Museum (12.00 €)

The bike routes

You may choose every day which tour you would like to do. However, the guided tour by bike will be on one special day according your voucher. This tour normally is on Tuesdays. The guide will meet you at the reception of your hotel. 

Worth knowing

Below you will find specific information about the radial bike tour in the Münsterland. If you have further questions about this trip, you simply call us: Phone: 06421 – 886890.

Arrival by train

Münster is easily accessible from all major cities in Germany by train. You will reach our hotel in Münster by taxi from the station. Current schedule information and price information can be found at: www.bahn.de.

Train schedule information

Parking facilities at the hotel

The hotel has a limited number of parking spaces in the underground car park (2023: approx. EUR 15.00 per night/car). These cannot be reserved in advance and must be registered on site at check-in. Alternatively, free public parking is available near the hotel.

Condition of cycle paths

The Münsterland and especially Münster is criss-crossed by well-developed cycle paths and small streets that are ideal for leisurely cycling. Forest paths, hiking trails and country lanes are also integrated into the cycle path network and offer so much variety in the saddle. Our route also leads over these typical "Pättkes" and so you cycle mostly on flat asphalted paths and sometimes also on forest or hiking trails.

Available rental bikes

If you would like a Velociped rental bike for the tour, it will be ready for you at the hotel. You can choose between women's and men's bikes with either 7-speed hub gears and coaster brakes or 27-speed derailleur gears and freewheel, as well as electric bikes. Our women's bikes are suitable for all cyclists from a height of 150 cm and men's bikes from 165 cm.
If you would like an electric bike, we can provide you with a Velo de Ville unisex bike. Simply let us know what bike you want when you make your booking.
The Velociped Tourer Bikes

Extra costs which are not included in the price

A possibly applicable city tax is not part of the travel price and therefore has to be paid at the hotel locally.

7 day hotline service

In case of chain breakdown, flooding or other bad surprises that makes a continuation of your tour impossible: no problem, we also work during weekends and you can reach us 7 days a week in case of emergency.

Passport and visa requirements

For EU citizens, there are no special passport or visa requirements and no health formalities to be considered for this trip.

Travel insurance

The tour price already includes the statutory insolvency insurance. In addition, we recommend that you take out travel cancellation insurance upon receipt of your travel confirmation in order to protect yourself against financial disadvantages in the event of travel cancellation, interruption of travel, illness or accident.

St. Lamberti Kirche, Münster

Lamberti Church is the central market and parish churhc of the town and at the same time on of the most important sacred buildings built in Westphalian late Gothik style. In 1941, bishop von Galen preached against the Nazi regime in the church. On of the very few tower-keepers in Europe serves his duty on the tower. Of specific significance are the interior design and both of the organs.

St. Lamberti Kirche

Historical town hall, Münster

With its high gable, Münster’s Town Hall, a gothic building from the mid-14th century, is second to none in Germany. The characteristic arch house was reconstructed true to the original in the 1950s.

In April 2015, the European Heritage Label has been awarded to the Town Halls of Münster and Osnabrück as the ‚Sites of the Peace of Westphalia‘ by the European Commission.

Historisches Rathaus

Water Castle Hülshoff, Droste-Museum

Castle Hülshoff is a typical water castle in the Münsterland. It is located between Havixbeck and Roxel and belongs to the town of Havixbeck since 1975. The family of Droste zu Hülshoff is the owner of the castle since 1417 and the house where the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff was born.

Water Castle Hülshoff

Guided Tour Night Watchman Münster

An entertaining journey through a town of Münster which doesn't exist for a long time.

When the daily work is done the night watchman goes around the town. With the light of a lantern you will accompany the night watchman through the dark roads of the old town. He will tell a lot about his daily work as well as about the life and the goings-on between the cathedral and the town wall: about rich traders and dirty lanes, about the market place and the power of the bishop, about the local beer and the justice - and of course about his "colleague", who worked on the tower.

Der Nachtwächter-Rundgang

Haus Rüschhaus

In 1743 Johann Conrad Schlaun bought this building from the ducess of Plettenberg-Lenhausen. He designed the Gräftenhof, a farm with a moat, in a new way. In 1825 the family "von Droste-Hülshoff" bought the Rüschhaus. One year later Annette, Jenny and their mother moved in. Annette von Droste-Hülshoff stayed there untel 1846.

Since 1936 exists a museum in the Rüschhaus. The areal (incl. the garden) is opened every day. The inside visit is possible with a guided tour (included in the entrance fee). The house is closed on Mondays.

Haus Rüschhaus

Boat trip with the solar ship on the Lake Aa

The water bus connects the city center of Münster (terraces of Lake Aa) with the open air museum Mühlenhof and the famous zoo. You will have nice and interesting views to Münster and its surroundings. The boat departs daily from 10 am to 6 pm, except Mondays!

Schiffsrundfahrt Aasee mit dem Solarschiff