Varrel: St. Mary’s Church and the Große Aue

Varrel offers two distinct ways to experience a stay: at St. Mary’s Church, stained-glass windows and a biblical scene take centre stage, while on the Große Aue you can experience the landscape and wildlife from the water. This means your trip can combine cultural discoveries with a canoeing experience—or focus on just one of these highlights.

A special window at St. Mary’s Church

St. Mary’s Church in Varrel has room for approximately 400 people. The chancel contains three stained-glass windows. The central one dates from 1998 and depicts the story of Peter sinking into the water. For those interested in culture, it offers a specific point of interest that connects architecture and storytelling.

Canoeing on the Große Aue

On the Große Aue, you can experience the landscape from a new perspective on the water by canoe; the wildlife can also be seen from this vantage point. Varrel has five canoe launch and landing points. Check the current operating details for the sites before setting out. This allows you to take practical tour-planning considerations into account without losing sight of the experience on the water.

The church and river offer different highlights: at St. Mary’s Church, the focus is on a precisely identified window and its subject, while on the Große Aue it is on the landscape and wildlife seen from the water.

Diepholz as a wider travel destination

The wider travel destination of Diepholz offers a broader range of themes. The district of Diepholz comprises two tourism regions and two nature parks. A signposted cycle route network guides recreational cyclists along around 1,700 kilometres of paths. In the Diepholz Moor, a roughly two-kilometre-long Moor Nature Trail follows ten informative stops and lets visitors experience the moorland ecosystem at any time of year. The Moorwelten in Wagenfeld is a multimedia visitor experience focusing on moors and climate. The Moorbahn stops directly at the Moorwelten and takes visitors to the “Moorpadd” nature trail and walking paths in the Neustädter Moor.

Water and cycling trips also offer different perspectives on a larger scale. The Hunte in the district of Diepholz has been developed as an attractive area for nature-based canoe tourism; around 105 kilometres of the river are navigable by canoe, from the Osnabrück region to Oldenburg. This is distinct from the 137-kilometre Hunte River Cycle Route, which runs from Elsfleth to Lake Dümmer. As route conditions can change, check them before a cycling trip.

Museums exploring nature and everyday history

The Dümmer Museum in Lembruch presents the nature, landscape and culture of Lake Dümmer in the past, present and future. The “Life in the Water” research station provides a detailed explanation of the ecology of the Dümmer ecosystem. The museum explores the Stone Age at Lake Dümmer through original artefacts dating from 4,000 to 2,000 BC and reconstructions.

A two-hour discovery tour explores life in the waters of Lake Dümmer using a dip net, plankton net, thermometer, questionnaire and microscope. It is intended for families and smaller groups of fewer than 15 people, school classes, and groups of up to 25 people. The Syke District Museum, with the Gesseler Goldhort Forum, is the district of Diepholz’s museum of cultural and everyday history; it presents everyday life from the Stone Age to the threshold of the present day. These attractions complement the picture of Varrel with their own nature and culture themes within the wider travel destination.

When looking for accommodation, let the kind of trip you want guide your choice: would you mainly like to discover Varrel, its church and the Große Aue, or also explore nature and museum attractions across the wider Diepholz destination? Your answer can help you plan your trip around the experiences that matter most to you.

Discover more destinations: Lembruch, Asendorf, Sudwalde, Neubruchhausen, Stemshorn, Süstedt, Bruchhausen-Vilsen, Syke.

Go to the overview of the wider travel destination: Diepholz.