Cycle Tour through the Ruhr Area

Welcome to the Revier! Your bike tour starts in Herne, in the heart of the Ruhr area. After check-in at the hotel, grab your bike. Discover the Rhine-Herne Canal, the Teutoburgia coal mine settlement and the Strünkede moated castle. Are you interested in the history of mining? Then we recommend a trip to nearby Bochum. The Mining Museum there is the largest of its kind in the world and provides exciting insights into the coal and steel industry that has shaped the Ruhr region from its beginnings to the present day.

You will spend the first kilometers of your bike tour through the Ruhr region on the Route of Industrial Culture bike path. It takes you along the Rhine-Herne Canal to the Henrichenburg ship lift. Now an industrial museum, it once served as a 14 meter elevator for ships. This was considered a masterstroke over 100 years ago. Continue along the Emscher Cycle Path in the direction of Dortmund. On the way, detours to the Hansa coking plant and the stadium of the Borussia Dortmund soccer club are worthwhile. Another highlight of the day is a guided walk around the Phoenix-West blast furnace plant.

Today's stage of your bike tour through the Ruhr region takes you along a disused railroad line, first to the Nightingale Mine. The former coal mine and the surrounding Muttental valley are considered the cradle of Ruhr mining. Equipped with a helmet, you will take part in a guided tour (included) through the galleries of the mine and learn more about the mining of the black gold and the working conditions in the 19th century underground. On the Ruhr Valley Cycle Path you cycle past Lake Kemnader, one of six Ruhr reservoirs, and reach the half-timbered town of Hattingen.

Before you get on your bike, a guided tour (included) through the industrial museum Henrichshütte in Hattingen is on your daily program. Visit the oldest blast furnace in the Ruhr region, marvel at enormous gas machines and experience in the show foundry how the principle of forming from liquid iron works. The Ruhr Valley Cycle Path takes you through green landscapes to Lake Baldeney, where a longer break is worthwhile. Visit the Villa Hügel built by industrialist Alfred Krupp with its extensive landscape park - impressive! Continue along the Ruhr River to your overnight stop in Kettwig.

On today's stage of your bike tour through the Ruhr region, there are only a few kilometers of driving ahead of you. In Mülheim, a longer break is worthwhile. The local Aquarius Water Museum provides multimedia insights into the world of water. From the water tower, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the region. Once in Duisburg, you will have ample time for a tour of Duisburg Harbor. The largest inland port in the world has 21 harbor basins and a shore length of 40 kilometers. The structural transformation of Duisburg that has taken place over the last few decades can be best appreciated during an evening stroll through the inner harbor.

Your cycling day will first take you to the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord. During a guided tour (included) by bike, you will get to know the 180-hectare site and its most secluded corners. It was created around a disused iron and steel works and, with its numerous recreational facilities and cultural events, is one of the best urban parks in the world. Continue along a disused railroad line to Oberhausen. Visit the nearly 120 meter high gasometer before cycling to Bottrop. From the abstract-looking Tetraeder, a walk-on observation terrace, you have a wonderful panoramic view. You will spend the night in Essen.

With the guided tour (included) through the Zeche Zollverein your bike day begins today. Known as the Eiffel Tower of the Ruhr, you will get to know the once largest and most powerful coal mine in the world. With momentum, you continue by bike to the Hoheward spoil heap. Together with the Hoppenbruch slag heap, it forms the largest slag heap landscape in the Ruhr region. A special eye-catcher is the horizon observatory, from which you can watch the course of the sun, the moon and the stars. Across the Dragon Bridge it goes briskly to the starting point of your bike tour through the Ruhr area to Herne.

After breakfast your bike tour through the Ruhr area already ends. We would be happy to extend your stay in Herne with an extra night.