Heiligenhaus: Museums, Nature and Cycling Routes

Heiligenhaus offers a variety of options for a stay: museum visits, routes through the countryside, and activities centred around forests and water. If you are looking for a hotel in Heiligenhaus, you can use the focus of your trip as a guide. Outdoor activities include a moderate themed trail, Abtskücher Pond and a cycling route just under 40 kilometres long.

Museums in Heiligenhaus

The permanent exhibition at the Abtsküche Museum showcases life and work in Heiligenhaus, from tradition to modernity. Exhibits and installations cover domestic life and schooling, pre-industrial crafts, and the beginnings of the lock industry. Everyday subjects are presented alongside the development of crafts and early industry. The museum also hosts special exhibitions and activities such as museum nights, book fairs, markets and festivals, as well as events featuring local dialect and concerts. If you have a particular event in mind, check in advance which dates fall within your travel period.

The Heiligenhaus Fire Brigade Museum documents the development of firefighting techniques through a collection spanning more than 100 years of fire brigade history. The museum barn displays numerous fire engine classics from seven decades of fire engine development, most of which are in working order. The same museum therefore brings together two distinct perspectives: the development of firefighting techniques and the history of fire engines.

Forest, Pond and Nature Experiences

The forest museum of the Heiligenhaus Environmental Education Centre is housed in a former waterworks and features an exhibition about people and forests. At the Abtsküche Nature Experience Park, visitors of all ages can touch, see and learn about many things in the exhibition. The Environmental Education Centre also offers tours of its natural history collection, which includes bird and animal exhibits. Guided forest walks are also available; booking may be required.

Abtskücher Pond is a reservoir pond in the local recreation area on the edge of Heiligenhaus. It is ideal for hiking and walking, observing flora and fauna, and relaxing. Another way to explore the landscape is the “Heiligenhauser Runde” Discovery Loop: the 7.78-kilometre circular themed trail is rated moderate and passes through the Rinderbachtal and Vogelsangbachtal nature reserves. The Heiligenhaus leisure map brings together hiking and cycling routes of varying lengths and difficulty levels and is available online.

Cycling Routes and Outdoor Activities

The PanoramaRadweg niederbergbahn, just under 40 kilometres long, connects Haan, Wülfrath, Velbert and Heiligenhaus along a disused historic railway line. It is therefore on a different scale from the 7.78-kilometre Heiligenhauser Runde: the cycling route passes through several towns, while the Runde is a moderate circular themed trail through two nature reserves. The first and only wagon bridge of its kind in Germany is located on the PanoramaRadweg in Heiligenhaus.

The low ropes course is located at Am Sportfeld. Covering around 3,800 square metres, it offers more than 70 metres of rope courses, a bouldering wall and a versatile sports area. The rope courses, climbing wall and sports area each offer a different focus for physical activity.

Note for Planning Your Trip

Heljensbad in Heiligenhaus is currently closed and is not expected to reopen until 2028. Keep the provisional reopening date in mind when planning your stay.

Discover more destinations: Monheim am Rhein, Ratingen, Velbert, Mettmann, Erkrath, Langenfeld, Hilden, Haan

Back to the main travel overview: Mettmann.