What exactly does “easy hiking” mean?
Occasionally, people still ask me that question, particularly if they have just received our calling card. One would think that I, after all these years, had developed a one-sentence standard reply, something along the lines of “adventures for beginners” with a bit more meat on the bones, but one would be wrong.
So I stumble and mumble something about “civilized encounters with nature” (another catch phrase that we once used on our masthead), undoubtedly confusing our new contacts as much as I am enlightening them.
Perhaps the next time, I will try another strategy. When someone asks “what is easy hiking?” I will just give an account of our recent hike through the German town of Tecklenburg and the surrounding countryside.
Meat on the bones! Instead of an abstract definition, I will provide a comprehensive list of features that make this specific easy hiking trip so entertaining: picturesque urban scenery …
… and carefully landscaped parks …
… as well as some craggy stone formations that suddenly seem to pile up, blocking your way and forcing you to switch to a different walking mode, one in which you must plan each and every move two steps in advance (“adventures for beginners”).
The route features the ruins of an old castle …
… and a moated manor, …
… wide open meadows …
… and enchanted forests, …
… as well as a small river, ornamental ponds and not one lake but three, neatly arranged side-by-side and separated by narrow foot paths.
Listing the features of the walk like this, I find it difficult to believe that you can squeeze all of that into a single morning or afternoon.
But you can, and that is not even all: you will start and finish your walk in one of Germany’s prettiest small towns, which means that there are plenty of coffee shops and ice cream parlours where you can have a little something before you go and just as many restaurants for something more solid on your return (“civilized encounters with nature“).
Easy hikers, you have never had it so good easy hiking in Tecklenburg
The town of Tecklenburg is located on the western flank of the mountainous Teutoburg Forest.
Take a train from Münster or Osnabrück to Lengerich and change into Bus R45 right outside the station (hourly departures, so you’d better time your arrival carefully by using the Die Bahn website).
Leave the bus in the centre of Tecklenburg (the station is called “Stadt”) and make your way down the high street to the town’s market square (the “Markt”).
Have a good look around first: there are many pretty side streets to discover …
The trail is very well marked, and reassurance markers every 100 metres or so ensure that it is almost impossible to get lost.
Behind the Kurpark, you will find yourself walking out of town, past historic landmarks such as the town’s last community well which was in use as recently as the 1940s.
Soon, you will reach the ruins of Burg Tecklenburg, once (in the Middle Ages) northern Germany’s largest hilltop fortress.
The space inside the walls is now used as an open-air theatre stage for musicals and light entertainment…
In the forest underneath the castle, you will come across the stone formations of the Hexenküche, the “Witches’ Kitchen” …
… and, after crossing the tracks of the now disused local railway line, two neighbouring mansions: first Hülshoff Manor with its wide open spaces and large ornamental pond …
… and less than a kilometre after that, the moated castle of Haus Marck with its gardens and tree-lined driveway.
From here on, you will walk back to town to close the loop.
Keep your eyes open for the tripartite Königssee (the one with the dividing foot paths), only one of many attractive details along the way.
There is more to discover on the Tecklenburg trail than we could possibly mention in this brief space.
The 6.2 km long Teutostadtschleife or Tecklenburger Romantik is one of only two town-centered trails that have been awarded the title of Premium Trail by the German Hiking Association.
The Association is increasingly recognizing hiking in urban areas – integrating points of architectural as well as historical interest – as a growth market with huge potentials.
Premium Stadtwanderwege are a new concept: certifications have only been issued since 2016, and the catalogue of criteria is still a work in progress.
Still, it seems a pity that only two premium certifications have so far been awarded (the other town thus honoured is Frankenberg in Hesse), and one hopes that more will eventually follow.
In the meantime, we will always have Tecklenburg – a Stadtwanderweg which is certainly well worth the trip.
