The hills here are not high, no more than three hundred metres or so, but they are steep, well wooded and cut with small valleys, and the road in from the plain climbs through beech forest with a satisfying series of bends. The town has fuel, bakeries and several inns, and it is a pleasant place for a late lunch.
Above the town stands the castle of Iburg, once a Benedictine abbey and later the residence of the prince-bishops of Osnabrück. It is a large and handsome complex, with a mix of medieval and baroque buildings, and it is open to visitors. In 1668 Sophie Charlotte, later the first queen of Prussia, was born here, and the rooms hold a small museum about her. The castle stands on a ridge, with a fine view over the town and the forest, and the walk up from the market takes about ten minutes.
Bad Iburg is a Kneipp spa, a place where the water cure promoted by the Bavarian priest Sebastian Kneipp is practised, and you will see small pools in the park where visitors stand in cold water up to their knees. The air is clean, the forest paths are well marked, and the Hermannsweg, a long-distance trail, runs along the ridge. The ridge road offers good riding, with gentle climbs and descents, long views to the north and a surface that is generally smooth. Traffic is heavy on summer weekends, when families come to walk.
Lienen, four kilometres away, has a quiet centre and a fine church. For food, look for the regional dishes of Westphalia: Pfefferpotthast, a spicy beef stew, and Pumpernickel, the dense dark rye bread, served with ham and good butter. In the evening, the light is soft over the forest, and the air smells of pine and woodsmoke. It is a sensible place to stop for the night, and an even better place to finish a day.