Schlösser-Tour

The Osnabrücker Land region is steeped in history and has been offering the "best place to live" for centuries.
The large number of palaces, castles and manor houses between the ridges of the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehengebirge mountains is therefore hardly surprising.
You can cycle through the "noble estates" on your tour in the eastern Osnabrück region. Many of them are privately owned and are not, or not always, open to the public.
However, you will also get your money's worth on external tours.
Starting in Melle, driving via St. Annen with its formerly important pilgrimage church, you will reach Königsbrück Castle with its exemplary renovated Weser Renaissance façade. An opportunity to visit the interior: concerts are held here from time to time.

Sondermühlen moated castle south of Melle lives up to its name: it is still completely surrounded by moats and a stone bridge leads to the gatehouse.

Above Gesmold Castle with its baroque gardens and picturesque overall view, you will reach the Bissendorf vacation region; another area rich in castles.

Ledenburg Castle is idyllically hidden in the forest; the ruins of Holter Castle are also located in the forest. Alongside the Iburg, it is the only medieval hilltop fortress in the Osnabrück region.
Now don't be put off by a little incline in the terrain, the moated castle Schelenburg is undoubtedly worth the journey.

A medieval residential tower and a Renaissance extension combine wonderfully in this building.

The scenery continues in a northerly direction; you can see the Mittelland Canal and the Kronensee lake, take a refreshing dip or cool off in the cool interior of the half-timbered church at Gut Arenshorst.

Under a shady avenue, you cycle towards Hünnefeld Castle near Bad Essen. Here you can visit the café and take in the wonderful English landscape park behind the castle from afar. The baroque pigeon tower from 1710 is unique in this area.

A short time later, Ippenburg, which is now internationally renowned for its garden festivals, is on the route.
The neo-Gothic castle is surrounded by a magnificent English garden filled with lush perennials, roses and many other plants. Visits are possible during the festivals.

Be sure to pass through the spa town of Bad Essen, which is characterized by half-timbered houses, and take time to visit the dinosaur tracks in Barkhausen.

You then approach Melle again. Here you will pass the Ostenwalde estate with its watermill and three-winged manor house, where you may even encounter a wild boar or two in the Melle mountains.
All in all, this tour promises to be a special experience, and not just because nobility obliges!