Around the Elm

Tour Description

The starting and ending point of this tour is at the tourist information office on Burgplatz in Schöningen.

Since this is a loop route, you can also start and end the tour at any other point along the described route.

From Burgplatz, you’ll start pedaling hard right away—the Elm River is calling. Passing St. Lorenz Church and the golf course, the tour leads to the Goldener Hirsch and Elmsburg.

On the Kammweg trail, you’ll stay at roughly the same elevation all the way to the edge of the forest above Eitzum. The “City of Pranks” is getting closer—you can already see the many Eulenspiegel stations along the route.

In Küblingen, you’ll reach the outskirts of Schöppenstedt. Riding along the Altenau, you’ll head toward the market square, where the town hall and several Eulenspiegel installations are located. Not far from the town hall, the Till Eulenspiegel Museum invites you to take a tour.

Kneitlingen, Eulenspiegel’s birthplace, is the next stop on the route before Till’s baptismal trail leads to Ampleben. In the center of town, you’ll find the baptismal font where Till was first baptized.

Once you’ve conquered the strenuous climb to the edge of the Elm, an impressive view of the so-called “Tuscany of the North” opens up before you.

A little further west lies the fruit-growing settlement of Evessen, as the southwestern edge of the Elm offers ideal conditions for fruit cultivation. Several farms cultivate fields with apple, pear, and cherry trees, and their fruit is sold in farm stands.

Passing the Am Markmorgen adventure quarry (stamp station), the tour leads via Erkerode to the Lucklum manor. This centuries-old estate, featuring a manor house, a manor church, farm and residential buildings, and a landscape park, is well worth a visit. The route continues to Veltheim, where a detour to the moated castle with St. Remigius Church is a must. Shortly thereafter, Destedt Castle Park is on the itinerary.

Once you’ve left Destedt behind, the post mill in Abbenrode already comes into view on the horizon. From here, the route takes you through Bornum and Lauingen to Königslutter am Elm.

Here, the sightseeing tour begins at the historic market square. Right next to City Hall are the town church and the GeoPark Information Center. The tour then winds through the city center to the Imperial Cathedral, the Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments, and the over 900-year-old Emperor Lothar Linden Tree.

Heading east, the route continues via Sunstedt and Lelm to Räbke, the historic mill town featuring the Liesebach Mill, the Nord-Elm Recreation Park, and the source of the Schunter River.

On the way back through the Elm region, it’s worth making a detour to the Old Warberg Castle before reaching the eastern edge of the Elm a short time later, where the tour ends at Burgplatz in Schöningen.