Along the Border – cycling between Teutoburg Forest and Ems

Historic castles, cosy farm shops and picturesque old towns, in between wide meadows and fields where the "royal vegetable" grows — the asparagus for which the region is famous. The varied landscape will delight you with the beautiful hilly landscape of the Teutoburg Forest in the north and with refreshing views of the Ems river, which flows through North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in gentle turns in the south of the route. On the 150 kilometres of the Teuto-Ems border crossing route you will experience the best that Osnabrücker Land, Ostwestfalen-Lippe and Münsterland have to offer. You will discover relicts of historical borders, old smuggler paths and historical trade routes, some of which are still important today.

You can ride the cycle path, which the ADFC has chosen as a four-star quality route, as a stage ride or divide the entire route into shorter tours. Two connecting routes make it possible for you to enjoy three different circuits, each about 50 to 70 kilometres long, individually. Basically, you are free to choose where you want to start the tours. But thanks to very good rail connections, Warendorf, Bad Rothenfelde or Borgholzhausen, for example, are the starting points. Whatever you choose, you will always be well looked after along the route. You can take a breather at one of the many bike rest areas, refresh your feet in cool Kneipp facilities, stop off in cosy restaurants and even recharge your batteries at one of the numerous charging stations if you are travelling by e-bike. Should you ever have a mechanical, there are many bicycle shops along the way where you can get help — often you can also borrow a high-quality bicycle here.

By the way: On the official webpage of the Grenzgängerroute you will find all kinds of information that can help you plan your tour. Here you can listen to informative audio stories about various stations along the route, find out about events along the route or view Bett+Bike accommodation: grenzgaengerroute.de.