Cycle tour Ochtrup Fietsen Tour

On the first day of the cycle tour, you will explore the Münsterland pottery, textile and shopping town of Ochtrup in the charming border triangle of Lower Saxony, the Netherlands and Münsterland with a wide range of excursion options. It particularly delights cyclists with idyllic cycle tours such as the fascinating 100 Castles Route, the Ochtrup Fietsen Tours, the Vecht Valley Route, Aa-Vechte Tour or NaTourismus Route - and of course with picturesque Münsterland parkland. Interesting sights such as the Pottery Museum, the Bergwindmühle, Villa Winkel, Wasserburg Haus Welbergen, Langenhorst Abbey or the imposing Beltman building of the former textile company Gebrüder Laurenz will whet your appetite for the town's history. Guided tours of the sights and the town bring you closer to Ochtrup. At the McArthurGlen DESIGNER OUTLET OCHTRUP, your shopping experience awaits you with an exclusive 10 % day pass. Ochtrup also invites you to take a relaxed stroll and go out. In the town centre and in the districts of Langenhorst and Welbergen, you will find some lovely restaurants, bars and pubs.

The first stop on the cycle tour through the Driland from Ochtrup to Gronau is Europe's first rock'n'pop museum in the former turbine hall of the van Delden textile empire in Gronau. The restored Schepers Mill in the district of Epe is also interesting. Beautiful cycle paths lead you to Heek and Nienborg. Take a tour in Nienborg to a functioning corn mill from 1368 and through the picturesque Burgmannshof with gatehouse, church and lovely houses. Enjoy a stroll through the present-day home of the NRW State Music School with its sound garden and castle café before heading back to Ochtrup.

"Quiet country, wide country" - this is the motto of today's stage. An infinitely diverse mosaic of meadows and fields, dense hedgerows, gentle hills and shady farm woods awaits you. In Metelen, you should visit the corn water mill located north of the monastery on the Vechte. The route continues to the artists' village of Schöppingen. Young artists show their creative works here. The spring at Schöppinger Berg is also the basis for the Sasse grain distillery. You can let yourself be initiated into the secrets of the famous "Lagerkorn" during a tour.

Even today, you can still experience the medieval appearance of Horstmar's historic centre, which is well worth seeing, with its church, town hall and courtyards on an almost square town plan. Not only the moated castle of Haus Alst from 1624, but also four of the eight castle manors founded in the 11th century invite you to visit. You then drive over a small hill to Steinfurt. On the edge of the town centre stands the oldest and one of the largest moated castles in Westphalia. In addition to a tour of the historic old town, it is worth taking a detour through the nearby Bagno, a park from the 18th century.

Today, the route of the cycle tour runs in a northerly direction. In the municipality of Wettringen, the Ahlers house is the oldest building, being almost 500 years old. It represents an early form of the western farmhouse. In the north of the municipality, the Haddorfer Seen recreation area is embedded in a beautiful heath and lake landscape and offers a wide range of leisure activities. Your path leads you past the Offlumer See lake - The promenade and the Trichtertürme towers, from which you have a fantastic view, are the main attractions.

The landmark of Neuenkirchen is the church of St. Anna, built in 1899 in neo-Romanesque style. The municipality also has two completely different landscapes: In its northern part, a limestone ridge stretches out, covered by fertile clover soil; in the western and southern part, the Münsterland gravel sand channel crosses wide areas of heather sand.

The consistently flat cycle paths bring you to Rheine. The town has a lively city centre with numerous shops, cafés and restaurants. Don't miss the Bentlager triad of Rheine Nature Zoo, Salinenpark and Bentlage Monastery. The cycle tour leads back to Ochtrup through the northern Münsterland.

The last day of the cycle tour also has a lot to offer. Many kilometres of cycle paths lead through magical landscapes to the Gildehauser Venn nature reserve. If you see a flash of blue above the waters of the Dinkel, then it's probably a kingfisher. And with a bit of luck, you might spot deer on a trip through the Bentheim Forest. In Bad Bentheim, Bentheim Castle (currently closed!) is a fascinating sight: It is the only preserved hilltop castle in the Münsterland region and is home to the early Romanesque stone crucifix "Lord God of Bentheim", one of the earliest testimonies to Christian life in the region. Visitors can explore the castle with St Catherine's Church, Kronenburg Castle and Powder Tower for themselves or take part in a guided tour.