Porta Westfalica and Schaumburg Ridge + Solling Forest and Weser Quiet Roads

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hannover west gate

   Hannover has a gate in every direction, at least in this ride's plan, and the one in the west lies near Seelze, a town on the Leine river a few kilometres outside the city. The Leine is a quiet and rather muddy stream that winds through flat country, and from here the ride sets off west, into the Weser hills, toward Bückeburg and onward into the Harz foothills. For a rider the gate is simply a convenient place to start with a full tank, light traffic and an easy road out, and it avoids the knot of the city centre.

   Read the complete Hannover west gate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hannover west is where the day begins. Next is Bad Nenndorf.

2. 2. Bad Nenndorf fuel gate

   Bad Nenndorf is a spa town that never grew into a resort, and that suits it. It sits in the Schaumburg countryside west of Hanover, at the foot of the low wooded ridge of the Deister, and its trade is sulphurous water. Springs here were developed as a bath in the late eighteenth century under the rulers of Hesse-Kassel, and a park of old trees, colonnades and bathhouses survives from that period. The smell of the water is distinctive, and the baths are still used for health treatments, particularly for joint and skin complaints. The town is quiet, tidy and slightly formal.

   Read the complete Bad Nenndorf return write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bad Nenndorf is the fuel stop for this leg. Next is Bückeburg palace sight.

3. 3. Bückeburg palace sight

   Bückeburg is a town to be seen from the inside of its palace, and the palace does not disappoint. Schloss Bückeburg, a Renaissance and Baroque complex surrounded by a moat, has been the seat of the princes of Schaumburg-Lippe for four hundred years, and the family still lives in part of it. A series of interiors are open to visitors, among them the Golden Hall, a magnificent room with an ornate, gilded ceiling. The gate and gardens are free to walk through, and the park around it is pleasant.

   Read the complete Bückeburg palace sight write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   65 km in you reach Bückeburg palace sight. Next is Minden river stop.

4. 4. Minden river stop

   With about eighty thousand people, it is a real city, with fuel, restaurants, shops and a railway station. The Weser here is wide and calm, with a promenade and a few cafes, and the old cathedral stands on a terrace above the water.

   Read the complete Minden river stop write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Minden river stop, early in the day. Next is Porta Westfalica ridge.

5. 5. Porta Westfalica ridge

   The ridge above the Porta Westfalica is where the Wiehengebirge, a long thin line of hills running east to west, comes to an abrupt end at the Weser river. Seen on a map, the range looks like a ruled line suddenly cut by a knife. In fact it is a belt of Jurassic limestone and sandstone, tilted and eroded over millions of years, and the river found its way through at the weakest point. That geology is the reason the road along the crest is so quietly satisfying: it follows a sharp edge, with steep wooded slopes falling away to the north and gentler land to the south.

   Read the complete Porta Westfalica ridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Porta Westfalica ridge tops the climb. Next is Rinteln coffee road.

6. 6. Rinteln coffee road

   Some stops exist to fill the gap between one good road and the next, and the coffee road in Rinteln is one of those. It runs along the edge of the town where the Weser valley is flat and the lanes are lined with orchards, plain houses and the occasional old half-timbered farm. Nothing here is dramatic, which is exactly the point. After the bends of the hills, it is a pleasant way to slow the pulse.

   Read the complete Rinteln coffee road write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Rinteln coffee road is where this day stops to eat. Next is Back to Hannover.

7. 7. Back to Hannover

   Seelze sits on the western edge of Hannover, where the Leine river and the Mittelland Canal run almost side by side across a flat plain, and its principal claim on the map is as a railway town. A huge marshalling yard has long dominated its southern flank, and the freight trains that rumble in and out give the place a faintly industrial rhythm. The countryside beyond is quiet, with fields, poplars and farm tracks, and a long, low line of woodland on the horizon.

   Read the complete Hannover write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back to Hannover closes the day. Next is Hannover south-west.

8. 8. Hannover south-west gate

   Springe sits at the southern foot of the Deister, a ridge of beech forest that runs across the landscape between Hannover and the Weser hills. It is a town of nearly thirty thousand, with an old centre of half-timbered houses, and it has its own claim to fame: the Saupark, a large walled forest that was once a royal hunting ground for the Hanoverian rulers, still home to wild boar and deer. The wall can be followed for miles, and gives a sense of how seriously the nobility took their hunting.

   Read the complete Hannover south-west gate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   You start here, at road level. Next is Einbeck.

9. 9. Einbeck fuel gate

   If you drink bock beer, you owe Einbeck a toast. In the Middle Ages this small Hanseatic town became rich on exporting its strong, dark beer, which was carried by wagon all the way to Munich, where brewers later copied it. In the Bavarian accent the name Einbeck turned into Oanbock and then simply Bock, which is how a town in Lower Saxony ended up giving its name to one of the great beer styles. The town still brews, and the smell of malt sometimes drifts through the streets.

   Read the complete Einbeck fuel gate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Next is Dassel forest road.

10. 10. Dassel forest road

    Dassel is a small town on the western edge of the Solling, the broad wooded upland that fills the space between the Leine and the Weser. Its name is not much known outside the region, but one of its sons altered the map of Christian Europe. Rainald von Dassel, born into a local noble family, became archbishop of Cologne in the twelfth century and, in 1164, brought the relics of the Three Kings from Milan to Cologne, which is why Cologne's enormous cathedral exists in the form it does. Pilgrims came in their thousands, and the money paid for the cathedral. A statue of Rainald stands in the town, and the town is proud of the link.

    Read the complete Dassel forest road write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Dassel forest road comes up 292 km in. Next is Uslar Solling.

11. 11. Uslar Solling entry

    Uslar is where the Solling begins to feel like real country. The town sits at the western foot of that big, rounded upland, on the little Ahle stream not far from the Weser, and it has the unhurried look of a place that serves the farms and forests around it. The old centre has a handful of timbered houses, a church and a modest square, and that is about the extent of its showing off. Behind it, the forest rises in dark folds.

    Read the complete Uslar Solling entry write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Uslar Solling is the summit of this stretch. Next is Bodenfelde river stop.

12. 12. Bodenfelde river stop

    Bodenfelde is a small town on the Weser at the southern tip of Lower Saxony, where the river is still young, having been born a little way south at Hann. Münden from the meeting of the Werra and the Fulda. From here it flows north through the Weser Uplands, between the Solling on the west bank and the wooded slopes on the east, and the valley is one of the quieter and prettier river landscapes in the region.

    Read the complete Bodenfelde river stop write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Bodenfelde river stop, late in the day. Next is Höxter old town view.

13. 13. Höxter old town view

    Höxter sits on the west bank of the Weser, one of the old river towns of the Weserbergland, and its centre is a close-packed cluster of half-timbered houses and a church tower. This is the view you want: the roofs, the river and the forested hills beyond. The town has thirty thousand people if you count its surrounding villages, and a long history that began when the Franks built a river crossing here.

    Read the complete Höxter old town view write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Höxter old town view sits at 390 km, late in the day. Next is Back to Hannover.

14. 14. Back to Hannover

    The ride ends where it began, at the foot of the Deister near Springe, with the long wooded ridge behind you and the plain of Hannover stretching away in front. After a day in the forests of the Solling and the quiet valleys of the Weser, the return is a gentle comedown, with roads that grow straighter and busier as the city gets closer. The ridge itself is a good landmark, a long dark line against the sky that tells you home is near.

    Read the complete Hannover write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Finish at Back to Hannover. That is the ride.