BE8 Salt and more

68.57 km04:33 h367 hm65 m11 mHardTourinfo for download: On this route through the FFH nature reserve "Ilmenau and Nenenbäche" there is so much to see that it is worth taking the tour in two stages. The good railway connection with stops in Bad Bevensen, Bienenbüttel, and Lüneburg makes it possible. Without breaks, it takes about four to five hours for the entire route.

Just past Bad Bevensen, you reach Medingen and its Heidekloster. The former Cistercian convent has been an evangelical women's collegiate foundation since 1554. The most important treasures include the abbess's crozier from 1494, the golden reliquary statue of St. Mauritius (15th century), old silver and porcelain, as well as medieval chests and cabinets. Information and guided tours: Tel. 05821-96 78 38.

Via Bruchtorf, you will reach Wichmannsburg, where a fieldstone church with a magnificent late Gothic carved altarpiece opens its doors daily from Easter to Harvest Festival from 9 am to 6 pm.

The tour continues to Bienenbüttel. Here, art enthusiasts can enjoy a short walk (starting at the canoe dock) to admire 12 sculptures that nestle into nature between Bienenbüttel and Grünhagen along the Ilmenau.

Behind Bienenbüttel, the FFH nature reserve Ilmenau begins, which extends to Lüneburg. Cycle through the gentle river meadow landscape, on the edge of beech and oak mixed forests to the Lüneburg zoo.

Lüneburg could be the destination of the first day's stage. Magnificent merchant houses testify to its heyday as a salt and Hanseatic city. Also worth seeing: the town hall, the water tower, the German Salt Museum, magnificent churches. Daily city tour. Tourist information, Tel .: 0800-220 50 05.

From Lüneburg, head back south. In Embsen, the St. Katharinen church with its wooden bell tower awaits - open: daily from Easter to Harvest Festival from 9 am to 6 pm. And in Barnstedt, the manor chapel from 1593. Altarpieces and the cassette painting on the ceiling from that time are preserved. Open upon request, Tel. 04134-2 14.

Through the heath villages of Beverbeck, Rieste, and Varendorf, you will reach Addenstorf. Here, a break is worthwhile in the Addenstorfer Heide with its Bronze Age burial mound field (approx. 1500 BC) before heading back to Bad Bevensen.

Route information: Cycle paths and low-traffic, asphalted roads, some sections with field and forest paths as well as cobblestone. Hardly any inclines. Recommended for e-bikes.