Ruhr Valley Cycle Path

Look forward to Winterberg, the well-known holiday resort in the Hochsauerland near the source of the Ruhr, because Winterberg is not only beautiful in winter! If you have a little time, you shouldn't miss a trip to the observation tower and the fascinating Hochheide on the Kahler Asten. Winterberg can be easily reached by train. If you want to arrive by car, you can park directly at the hotel for the duration of the entire bike tour.

You start your varied journey at the source of the Ruhr at an altitude of 654 metres. With wonderful views, you cycle mostly downhill to the award-winning rose village of Assinghausen. Take a break here, because Assinghausen is a large garden. The village has been a recognised rose village since 2007! Marvel at the Kneipp spa town of Olsberg with its cafés, historic parlours and herb and fruit garden. Cycle via Bestwig to Meschede with its striking ‘Sauerland Cathedral’ and pretty pedestrianised zone.

Today the Ruhr runs deeply cut and is framed by the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park. As soon as you are in the saddle, the beautiful park of the moated castle Laer offers a first photo stop. Later in the morning you can take a detour to the Hünenburg before you come to the towering old town of Arnsberg, which is almost completely surrounded by the deeply cut Ruhr. Counts, electors, Hesse and Prussia have left their mark on this historic city with the imposing castle ruins, the Landsberger Hof with the Sauerland Museum and the classicism quarter in the well-preserved medieval timber-framed town. In the afternoon you continue cycling along the Ruhr to Neheim with its neat half-timbered houses and the typical Burgmannshöfen. Here you can end the day in the spacious pedestrian zone or have a sporty tour around the Möhnesee.

Today you leave the Hochsauerland, the surrounding hills become gentler and the valley floodplain becomes wider and forms a scenic new section of the Ruhr valley cycle path. Small towns like Wickede or Fröndenberg beckon for a break from the saddle. The route leads leisurely through wide meadows and fields to the old Hanseatic city of Schwerte, with lovingly tended half-timbered houses and the last historic mustard mill in Westphalia (tastings possible). In the afternoon, the Ruhr valley becomes narrower again and a sporty detour up to the viewpoint of the Hohensyburg ruins is possible. However, the bike path leads flat directly along the banks of the Hengsteysee, a popular local recreation area, and on to the idyllic Herdecke with its new promenade on the Ruhr bank.

Cycle along Lake Harkort, one of a total of six Ruhr reservoirs, to the Muttental valley, the cradle of Ruhr mining. The first chunks of black gold were mined here almost 200 years ago. The industrial museum ‘Zeche Nachtigall’ is well worth a visit and takes you back to the time when horizontal tunnels were driven into the slopes for coal mining and later the first shafts were dug into the depths. A visit is really worthwhile. At the Hardenstein castle ruins, take the small ferry across the Ruhr to reach the Kemnader reservoir, another popular leisure paradise in the Ruhr Valley. In the evening, you can look forward to a stroll through the historic old town of Hattingen.

In the morning you can first plan a tour of the disused Henrichshütte in Hattingen and follow the varied circular route vividly on the trail of iron up to the top of the blast furnace. Today, the cycle path leads again in an idyllic rural setting right along the river bank. In the morning there its the possibility for a detour to the Bochum-Dahlhausen Railway Museum with its more than 180 old steam locomotives, wagons and rail buses. You can then comfortably cycle along the Baldeneysee with its many refreshment stops. Here you can visit the Villa Hügel, founded in 1873 by the industrialist Alfred Krupp. With so much culture along the way, today's stage to the half-timbered old town of Kettwig is deliberately kept short!

The last day of cycling is also packed with highlights. In the morning, the bike path offers an idyllic alternative right on the riverbank to Mülheim. It leads along Broich Castle to the award-winning Aquarius water tower with its multimedia museum on 14 levels. At the end of the trip the route continues on separate cycle paths to where the Ruhr flows into the Rhine. Here, at the end of the Ruhr Valley Cycle Path, symbolically stands the fascinating Rhine Orange, a luminous 25 m high landmark in the middle of the impressive panorama of the Duisburg harbor. Hopefully you will have enough time in the afternoon to take part in a harbor tour through the largest inland port in the world. You can end the beautiful journey in the renovated inner port in one of the numerous restaurants, pubs or bars.

The impressive tour on the Ruhr Valley Cycle Path with its diverse scenic and cultural impressions will certainly remain in your memory for a long time!