Discover Viersen: Lakes, Cycle Routes and Culture
Accommodation in Viersen
The district of Viersen, with its towns and municipalities and the Schwalm-Nette Nature Park, is an important part of the Lower Rhine tourism destination. Its lakes, trails through fields and forests, and traces of Lower Rhine history offer different ways to experience a stay. You can include nature watching, longer cycle rides and culture in your travel plans. Which of these interests you want to shape your vacation can also help you choose the right place and holiday apartment.
Lakes and nature watching
The information centre at the Krickenbeck Lakes is a starting point for excursions through the varied lakeside landscape. Its 30-metre-long viewing pier offers a good view across the Hinsbeck Bruch and of its breeding birds and winter visitors. Another nature theme is explored by the “Habitat Towers” in the Krickenbeck Lakes protected area: they offer an interactive way to experience biodiversity and local birdlife and have received a UN Decade award. Touchscreens, tactile models, audio stations and videos offer different ways to engage with these subjects.
If you would like to explore circular trails, the information centre provides a free map of the Biological Station’s circular routes. The station lists different trails through the nature park’s varied natural environments. This lets you combine time at the lakes with a tour through other landscapes, without limiting your excursion to a single viewpoint.
Cycling and circular routes
The BahnRadweg Kreis Viersen cycle route is 122.8 kilometres long. It follows or runs parallel to disused railway lines, passing through open fields and quiet forests and reaching the lakeside landscape of the Krickenbeck Lakes. Former railway lines and open scenery give the route its distinctive character. If you are planning a longer cycle ride, it offers a different focus from an excursion centred on individual nature or cultural sites.
The Viersen circular route offers another way to experience nature and the cultural landscape. The boat landing on the Niers near Viersen-Süchteln is considered a good starting point. The route initially follows the Niers for several kilometres through the Saalbruch nature reserve. A detour leads to the Clörather Mühle viewpoint. Another takes you to Dülken’s historic town centre at cycle node 40. Its historical history mile and the Narrenmühle windmill with its fools’ museum are cultural and historical stops; the mill is an old post mill. The circular route also passes St. Maria Hilfe der Christen parish church in Dornbusch. Check current route conditions before setting out.
Open-air museum and Lower Rhine history
In Grefrath, the listed Dorenburg, surrounded by a moat, is a central part of the Lower Rhine Open-Air Museum of the district of Viersen. Covering around 4.5 hectares, the museum showcases the Lower Rhine’s rural and craft culture. A permanent exhibition in the Dorenburg focuses on aristocratic life; there are also changing special exhibitions on cultural history. Historic farmsteads and workshops convey the region’s rural and craft history. Museum education programmes are intended for people of all ages.
The museum also includes the “Pannekookehuus” restaurant, which serves Lower Rhine specialities, and the Tante-Emma-Laden, which sells regional products. So, alongside its exhibitions, the museum also puts regional food and products in the spotlight. When looking for a holiday apartment in the district, it can help to first decide what you want to focus on: nature watching and circular trails by the lakes, a ride along the BahnRadweg, or cultural and historical discoveries in Grefrath and along the Viersen circular route. This way, you can choose a location based on the experiences you want to include in your stay.
Discover more destinations
Discover more destinations: Kempen, Willich, Viersen, Nettetal, Grefrath, Brüggen, Niederkrüchten, Schwalmtal, Tönisvorst.
Back to the main travel overview: North Rhine-Westphalia.
