Discover the Rhine District of Neuss

In the Rhine District of Neuss, you can discover the Lower Rhine by bike, on hikes and among places of art and culture. The area offers everything from long themed routes and floodplain landscapes to museums, historic buildings and an indoor ski slope. When choosing a holiday apartment, it therefore makes sense to start by deciding which experiences you want to shape your stay.

Cycling routes through varied landscapes

With around 1,200 kilometres of cycling infrastructure, a network of numbered junctions and clear signposting, the district offers many opportunities for cycling tours. The Rhine Cycle Route, the Erft Cycle Route, the Fietsallee along the North Canal, the Lower Rhine Route and the Hanseatic Cycle Route, all regional themed cycling routes, pass through the area. All of these routes are signposted except for the Hanseatic Cycle Route. The Two Rivers Tour is a circular route of its own, connecting the Rhine and the Erft.

The nature cycling routes through Neuss also offer different experiences. The 48-kilometre southern route leads to river and stream floodplains and passes the Ölgangsinsel, Uedesheimer Rheinbogen and Mühlenbusch nature reserves. The approximately 40-kilometre northern route is called “Neuss Central Terrace Landscape” and passes through an area with relatively few bodies of water. If you are choosing between the two, you can base your decision on precisely this difference: floodplains and nature reserves on the southern route, a landscape with less water on the northern route.

Along the Rhine Cycle Route are Neuss’s industrial harbour, the Zonser Grind nature reserve and the Zons customs fortress in Dormagen. The Rhine dyke in Meerbusch opens up a panorama of the Lower Rhine landscape. Cycling tours along the Rhine and Erft, as well as hikes through the Lower Rhine landscape, also offer opportunities to discover traces of the past and present.

Experience nature and stay active

Since 1988, the Tannenbusch forest near Dormagen has had a nature discovery trail with eleven stations. Information about nature and environmental issues is presented in a child-friendly way, giving families a practical opportunity to explore these topics together. Also in the Tannenbusch is an approximately three-kilometre fitness trail with a range of fitness and climbing equipment. Visitors can therefore choose between an educational trail and a course for exercise, depending on their interests.

Those interested in art in a landscape will find an extensive landscape park at Museum Insel Hombroich, with a rich variety of flora and fauna. Its aim is to make art and nature directly accessible to the senses; the museum also displays Far Eastern art and an archaeological collection. Schloss Dyck is the centrepiece of a park and garden complex covering around 70 hectares. The Schloss Dyck Foundation serves as a centre for garden art and landscape culture—a distinct focus alongside the nature experiences at Museum Insel Hombroich.

Art, agriculture and history

The Langen Foundation presents changing exhibitions and regular displays from the collection of Viktor and Marianne Langen. Works of Classical Modernism and traditional Japanese art are on view. Contemporary art and agriculture come together at the Sinsteden Cultural Centre, which includes sculpture halls, an agricultural museum and an outdoor area of around four hectares. The museum uses a restored Franconian four-sided farmstead as an exhibition space and presents changing exhibitions on art and agriculture. It explores the development of agricultural technology through older and newer equipment, machinery and tractors.

The district’s architectural and local history also offer things to discover. Knechtsteden Abbey in Dormagen includes a Romanesque double-choir basilica dating from the 12th century, one of the country’s most impressive religious buildings. On the first Sunday of each month at 4 pm, the basilica hosts organ concerts featuring artists from across North Rhine-Westphalia. In Liedberg, the listed mill tower was probably built in the 12th century as part of the fortifications of the second castle. It was later converted into a windmill and operated until 1836. A historic shaft has been preserved on the grounds of the Sandbauernhof in Liedberg; the town of Korschenbroich converted the farmstead into a cultural meeting place.

The JEVER Skihalle Neuss offers another option for an active day: it is a snow-reliable ski resort in the Rhineland, with activities for skiers, snowboarders and freeskiers of various experience levels. This experience is therefore quite different from the tours and cultural sites in the district.

When looking for a holiday apartment, you can weigh up your priorities: longer cycling tours, nature and environmental topics with children, art and landscape, or historic places. More places in the Rhine District of Neuss: Meerbusch, Kaarst, Dormagen, Grevenbroich, Neuss, Korschenbroich, Jüchen, Rommerskirchen.

For the regional travel overview: North Rhine-Westphalia.