Discover Vechta: Hiking, moorland and culture

The district of Vechta combines routes through floodplain and moorland landscapes, forests and hills with museums, memorial sites and activities for active days. You can tailor your stay to nature, culture or a mix of both.

Plan hikes, cycling trips and stages

The district has 31 hiking routes through floodplain and moorland landscapes, forests and hills, as well as to historical sights and natural monuments. They are marked according to the quality criteria of the German Hiking Association and uniformly signposted. There are also various cycling options: the cycling network covers about 870 kilometres, with 16 themed cycling routes in addition, including “Discovering Aristocratic Estates” and “Art, Culture and Nature”.

The routes differ in length and layout. The signposted Wedding Trail in Vechta is a 5.2-kilometre circular route through the Citadel Park and the Wedding Forest, as well as along the Moorbach stream. The Cardinal’s Way connects Damme and Dinklage over 24 kilometres and is divided into five stations, or four stages. The Dammer Berge Panorama Trail is the longest route in the district’s hiking network. For a cycling trip, “Around the Dammer Berge” leads through Damme, Holdorf, Neuenkirchen-Vörden and Steinfeld.

Vechta: Citadel history and memorial sites

At the Zeughaus Museum, three wheelchair-accessible floors take visitors from the Bronze Age through the Middle Ages and the Thirty Years’ War to the building’s more recent history as a prison, which continued until 1991. Numerous exhibits invite visitors to touch and take part. The railway station can serve as the starting point for the city tour. The Wedding Trail offers another way to explore Vechta on foot.

Alongside the Zeughaus, the Kaponier is the only surviving fortification building of Vechta’s former citadel and now displays art from the region. The Memorial to Human Dignity addresses a different, serious subject: it commemorates 88 people with disabilities from the district of Vechta who fell victim to the Nazi regime’s so-called “euthanasia” killings. The memorial and the information available there are accessible to all.

A recurring highlight of the events calendar is the Stoppelmarkt fair. It lasts six days; every year, more than 500 showpeople set up their attractions on the 160,000-square-metre fairground. If you would like to plan your stay around it, check the exact event dates before you travel.

Moorland, water and discoveries in the district

In Goldenstedt, the Nature Conservation and Information Centre, NIZ, also known as the “House in the Moor”, brings the moorland to life on a moorland discovery trail, in an underground moor tunnel and at the Moorbioskopion. There is also an informative guided ride on the 11 hp moorland railway, which takes about an hour and a half. The NIZ café serves regional buckwheat specialities such as buckwheat pancakes and buckwheat cake.

In summer, Hartensbergsee recreation park offers swimming at a sandy beach and on spacious sunbathing lawns. There is also an 18-hole miniature golf course right by the lake. In Vechta, Bee-Park combines a short walk with play and fitness equipment; it lies between the Old Town Hall and the northern branch of the Vechtaer Moorbach. Golf enthusiasts will find a well-developed 18-hole golf course in Welper Forest, near Gut Welpe.

Discover culture and history in the towns

The Lohne Industrial Museum brings 200 years of Lohne’s industrial history to life for the public across 1,000 square metres of exhibition space. In Visbek, ArchäoVisbek, an archaeological and historical information centre, offers insights into the archaeology and history of the town, as well as historical evidence and finds from recent excavations. The centre was inaugurated in May 2018.

Dinklage also combines history with a place to visit: Benedictine nuns founded St. Scholastica Abbey at Dinklage Castle in 1949. Guests are welcome to attend services in the abbey church. Whether you are most interested in moorland, hiking, museums, water or cultural heritage can therefore be a useful starting point when choosing where to stay and what accommodation to book.

Discover more destinations: Visbek, Vechta, Dinklage, Neuenkirchen-Vörden, Lohne, Steinfeld, Holdorf, Goldenstedt, Bakum, Damme.

Back to the main travel overview: Lower Saxony.