Sunday, April 14, 2013

Another Dutch German bike route, The Berkel Route

The River Berkel starts west of Münster and flows 168km east through an area of quiet countryside to finally joins the River Ijssel in Zutphen. This area is not well known as a tourist area, but offers a number of treasures:

  • Billerbeck with the gothic Ludgerus Cathedral, the Romanesque Johanniskirche and the historic merchants' store houses.
  • Coesfeld set in a park landscape.
  • Gescher with its bell museum.
  • Stadtlohn famous for its potteries.
  • Vreden borders on the Zwillbrocker Venn nature reserve which offers a flamingo colony.
  • Borculo and Eibergen both offer water mills, chateaus, ancient churches and in addition the biggest labyrinth in the world the village of Ruurlo. 
  • Zutphen offers defensive gates and merchants' houses.
However having written this list from E to W I would suggest that wise cyclist follows it from W to E. The west wind in the Netherlands is a serious matter. In addition once you arrive in Billerbeck you can travel on to Münster which was recently voted the most cyclist friendly city with over 200 000 inhabitants in Germany.

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