Cycling routes and rest areas offer one way to explore Bawinkel; Alexander Park, churches and local history offer another. When planning your trip, consider whether you would like to spend most of your stay cycling or focus on selected cultural themes.
Plan cycling tours and breaks
The parish cycling route passes through Bawinkel, Plankorth, Duisenburg, Clusorth-Bramhar, Bramhar and Klosterholte. Nature and rural tranquillity are at the heart of this route. There are cycling and hiking huts in the municipality for short breaks; cycling rest areas with shelters are located in Plankorth, Mäske and Möllenhook.
If you prefer a route with a defined distance, you can choose the Mills and Grain Route: this 61-kilometre circular cycling route is rated very easy. Bawinkel is listed as a stop on the route. This gives you different ways to plan: a route passing through several named places, or a circular route with a stated total distance and difficulty level.
The route passes the Pigstop on the Picnic Route, where Hof Pleus has vending machines. The café in the bakehouse offers a stop along the cycling route; check its opening arrangements before visiting.
Alexander Park and architectural history
Alexander Park includes a grotto, a bakehouse and a demonstration workshop for traditional crafts. It also has a market square with a fountain and a quiet area. The park offers everything from a focus on crafts to a more peaceful place to relax.
The buildings each have a distinct character: St Alexander’s Church is a Gothic hall church built in 1906; the old rectory was built in the Gothic style in 1904. The Protestant St Peter’s Church was built in 1949 using Scandinavian timber construction. A Protestant emergency church dating from 1950, known as Barning Church, is a listed building. Gothic forms therefore sit alongside Scandinavian timber architecture and the distinctive design of an emergency church.
Saint Alexander is the patron saint of the church in Bawinkel. In the Middle Ages, the historic Flemish Way was a pilgrimage route to the relics of Saint Alexander. The local heritage association offers visits to the heritage house by appointment; advance registration is required.
Landscape and ways of life in the past
Swamps and wetlands shaped the landscape around Bawinkel for a long time. Historically, the area was known for butter, geese and wild duck hunting. These themes complement the architectural and church history with a perspective on the rural landscape and way of life.
In the Emsland region: nature park and long-distance routes
HĂĽmmling Nature Park covers around 580 square kilometres in the north-east of the Emsland district. Cycling and hiking trails, with information points along the way, pass historic sites, megalithic tombs and Clemenswerth Palace. This regional landscape perspective complements the routes and destinations in Bawinkel.
The Crane Trail leads for about 2.5 kilometres into Theikenmeer Nature Reserve; the return journey follows the same route, making the round trip around 5 kilometres. The trail has an observation platform with panoramic views of Lake Theikenmeer and the Wehmer Dose moorland, as well as an observation hut on the lakeshore. The 395-kilometre Emsland Route offers a very different scale: its circular route passes through the Northern Ems Valley, HĂĽmmling, Bourtanger Moor, Hasetal and the Southern Emsland.
Discover more destinations: Spelle, Walchum, Emsbüren, Vrees, Haren / Ems, Heede, Sögel, Herzlake
For the full travel overview: Emsland.
