With almost 40 million foreign overnight guests every year, Germany is one of the seven most visited countries in the world. There are 6,135 museums, 366 theatres, 34 leisure and adventure parks, 45,000 tennis courts, 648 golf courses, 190,000 km of hiking trails, 40,000 kilometres of long-distance cycle paths as well as holiday and theme routes available for use in tourism.
Business and congress tourism is of outstanding importance; Germany is the most important international trade fair location with several world-leading trade fairs: Caravan Salon Düsseldorf, CMT Stuttgart, etc. The Internationale Tourism-Börse Berlin is the world's leading tourism trade fair. Germany also has the highest density of festivals like Wacken, Rock am Ring,
Outstanding sights: Sanssouci Castle - Brandenburg Gate - Cologne Cathedral - Saxon Switzerland National Park - Wadden Sea - Hamburg Harbor - Brocken - Old Town of Hameln - Externsteine - Wartburg - Neuschwanstein Castle - Zugspitze near Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Königsee in Berchtesgadener Land - Old town of Bamberg - Imperial castle in Nuremberg - Mainau Island in Lake Constance - Lichtenstein Castle - Meersburg - Ulm Minster - etc.
The Borbach has its headwaters not far from the Witten district of Schnee and then flows into the Erlenteich. Again we are fascinated by the naturally preserved course of the stream. It then flows through the Hasenholzken and turns west towards the Buchenholz.
Another hike in the vicinity of the Hohenstein, not far from the Berger monument, brought us to the well-known Ruhr Viaduct and the hydroelectric power station that spans the Ruhr River as a railway bridge.
The river Volme forms the natural border between the Sauerland in the east and the Bergisches Land in the west. From the source of the Volme in Meinerzhagen to its confluence with the Ruhr below the Hengsteysee, the Volme covers a distance of just 50 kilometers.
We had been hiking in Hohenstein recreation area in the foothills of the Ardey Mountains several times. This time it should hike to the Berger monument, an observation tower near Witten.
The city of Witten, the destination of our visit last weekend, is located at the transition from the lower Sauerland to the Lower Mountainous hills in the west and the Emscherland in the north, framed by the cities of Dortmund, Bochum and Hagen.
Hattingen's old town with its almost 150 medieval half-timbered houses is a popular year-round destination, not just when the historic Christmas market is taking place.
After a few years of abstinence, also due to the complex and sometimes far away leading project work, it finally should allow the time for small tour by motorcycle.
Every year, about 800,000 tourists visit the city of Xanten, located in the northwest of Germany, mostly because of its historic center, but also due to the archaeological park of the Roman Colonia Ulpia Traiana and the leisure center with its distinctive cycling and walking routes in the relatively flat terrain of the Rhine meadows.
A meeting with Andreas should happen in Cologne, which was supposed to serve "just" the testing of the touring bike HNF XD2, this is followed in an article shortly, quickly expanded to a visit of an old churchyard next to Vitalis Church, which we had agreed as a meeting point.
Once again on the way between the lock Herbede and the castle ruin Hardenstein on the Ruhr Valley cycle path, the ferry Hardenstein forms a possibility to cross the Ruhr, whereby the ferry closes the gap in the strongly frequented bicycle net along the Ruhr.
The Kemnader lake is located between Bochum, Witten and Hattingen and as a popular destination attracts outdoor fans from all over North Rhine-Westphalia.
Once again, one of our project supporters has send news regarding the installation of his new travel concept "BT Voyage", traveling by bicycle and the mini-caravan B-Turtle which origins from Vienna.
The beautiful weather had lured us again below the open sky to Baldeneysee near Essen, where we, supplied with coffee, homemade waffles, no longer hot cherries and whipped cream, wanted to hike the castle ruins New Isenburg, which are located in the Essen district Bredeney.
Our short walking tour through the centre of Cologne had lead us into the direction of Central Train Station and to Hohenzollern Bridge, where the architecture of the bridge does not only counts to the peculiarities of Cologne, but is also the original place, at least for Germany, of an interesting tradition to be seen in thousands: the Love Locks.