The starting point is the national park town of Heimbach in the Rureifel and the smallest town in NRW. The International Art Academy at Hengebach Castle attracts thousands of visitors every year who come to see the grounds or take part in a workshop. In addition to a tour of the castle, we recommend a visit to the National Park Gate, where you can learn interesting facts about the transformation of the Eifel National Park into the primeval forest of tomorrow. It is also worth making a detour to the Schwammenauel landing stage on Lake Rursee, where the Rursee boat trip invites you to take a trip across the lake district.

The trip through the Rur valley with its mighty red sandstone cliffs and the small town of Nideggen with its imposing hilltop castle are impressive. The palace of the castle is one of the largest hall buildings in the Rhineland. Here, too, the National Park Gate invites you to visit its interesting exhibition.

The Bördeland landscape, where the last ice age left behind fertile soils, is characteristic of the rest of the cycle tour. Small villages, numerous manor houses and moated castles dominate the landscape today. An exceptionally high biodiversity with numerous endangered animal and plant species can be found here.

Sights / leisure facilities

Heimbach

• National park gate with tourist information and forest labyrinth
• Hengebach Castle (International Academy of Art)
• Art Nouveau power station
• Schwammenauel landing stage on the Rursee with Rursee boat trip
• Outdoor pool

Nideggen

• National Park Gate with tourist information and adventure exhibition "Nature's Treasure Chamber"
• Nideggen Castle with castle museum
• "Stage under the stars" (cultural summer at Nideggen Castle)
• Outdoor pool in Nideggen-Abenden
• Stiftshof in Nideggen-Wollersheim (experience archaeology at the annual Stiftshoffest)