Sole & Kneipp-Tour

The view from Iburg Castle makes you want to get to know the beautiful landscape better. That's why there is the approximately 50-kilometer long Sole & Kneipp Tour, which also connects Bad Iburg with two other healthy places: Bad Laer and Bad Rothenfelde with their charming spa parks and historic town centers. The tour leads over the Teuto Ridge, through the Borgloher Switzerland, around the Kleiner Berg and through vast meadows and fields. It's not exactly easy to manage - but that's what e-bikes are for, as well as plenty of good places to stop for refreshments along the way. In early summer, you should plan your stop in the Glandorf area. Numerous farm cafes then serve fresh asparagus from the field. Allegedly, there are cyclists who take two lunch breaks here.

What makes the tour especially exciting is the comparison between the three spa towns, each with its own unique charm. If you start in Bad Iburg, you are already familiar with the Kneipp spa town: the residence castle on the height, the forest spa park with treetop path, the Kneipp adventure park with plenty of water.

In clockwise direction, the journey first takes you to Bad Rothenfelde, the fashionable summer resort of the nobility and wealthy bourgeoisie of past centuries. Numerous villas from the time of the turn of the 19th century stand around the 18-hectare spa park with its huge saline graduation towers. Some buildings even date back to the early 18th century - the time when the first brine spring was discovered and salt production began. If you have enough time, you should definitely treat yourself to two to three hours in the carpesol Spa Therme. If time seems short, you should at least take a quick look at the rose garden at the east end of the saline graduation towers: 6,000 plants - each more beautiful than the other. It's worth it.

A short way leads past the "Natura 2000" protected area Kleiner Berg to Bad Laer, a cozy family-friendly brine spa. The centerpiece of the local spa park is the Glockensee, which, like the saline graduation pavilion, is fed by a brine spring. The center of the half-timbered town is the St. Marien Church with an unusually large and old tower, the Griese Toarn. It was built from Piepstein, which is unique to this area. The fine tube or Piepen structure of the stone gives rise to a local specialty: the Pielpstein praline, which can be bought at the confectionery shop across the street.

The return journey to Bad Iburg, as mentioned, leads through asparagus fields. Everyone knows what to do in early summer when one of the farm restaurants comes into view.