A watchtower, an expansive landscape park and trails through varied scenery give you several reasons to visit Isselburg. You can choose to focus on cultural history, gardens, wildlife watching, cycling or hiking.
Watchtower and Anholt Castle
The Isselburg watchtower is a 15th-century tower built around 1417 by the Duke of Cleves as a corner tower of the city’s Cleves fortifications. It is about 15 metres high, with walls up to 1.75 metres thick. Its height and wall thickness give a tangible impression of the scale of this part of the city’s fortifications.
Visits to the Isselburg town tower are scheduled for the first and third Sundays from May to October, from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, as well as by individual appointment. Before your visit, check whether your chosen time is going ahead.
The historic landscape park at Anholt Castle covers 34 to 35 hectares. Baroque pleasure gardens, English landscape gardens and a rose garden bring together different garden styles. The art collection is also part of the estate’s history: this historic private collection comprises more than 700 paintings by important Dutch, Flemish, German, Spanish and Italian masters. The picture gallery is not currently part of the regular tour.
The main castle includes reception rooms and salons with princely art collections, the 12th-century keep known as the “Dicker Turm” (Fat Tower), and a medieval courtyard kitchen dating from the 15th century. These areas have been opened to the public as part of guided tours. Before your visit, check which tours are currently available.
Nature trails and wildlife park
The Anholter Schweiz Biotope Wildlife Park in Isselburg-Vehlingen covers around 56 hectares. More than 50 native animal species can be seen along six kilometres of well-surfaced walking trails, which are also suitable for wheelchair users. The park also features an enclosure where visitors can walk among donkeys and fallow deer, a goat enclosure and a large playground. Public feeding sessions take place daily; schedules may change seasonally or temporarily.
There are also hiking trails around Isselburg, following quiet riverbanks, passing through green forests and running by local districts. This gives you a choice between the well-surfaced trails in the wildlife park and hiking routes through these different landscapes.
Cycling in Isselburg and the wider Borken destination
The “Stadt-Land-Fluss” (City-Country-River) cycle route passes through Isselburg and is about 53 kilometres long. The western loop of the Hohe Mark cycle route is longer, at about 115 kilometres; it runs through Borken, Raesfeld, Hamminkeln, Isselburg, Bocholt and Rhede. Comparing the two distances can help you choose between the routes. The Bocholter Aa cycle path runs from Velen to the mouth of the Bocholter Aa, where it flows into the Oude IJssel in Isselburg.
For regional orientation within the wider Borken destination: Borken district lies north of the Ruhr region and is the westernmost district of MĂĽnsterland. Its cycling network includes more than 5,000 kilometres of well-developed routes away from busy roads. Themed cycling routes in Borken district and MĂĽnsterland include the 100 Castles Route, the Hohe Mark cycle route and the Flamingo Route.
You can tailor your stay to different interests: the watchtower and Anholt Castle highlight architectural and cultural history, the wildlife park combines animal watching with surfaced trails, and cycling and hiking offer more ways to explore the landscape.
Discover more destinations: Heiden, Raesfeld, Heek, SĂĽdlohn, Ahaus, Stadtlohn, Vreden, Velen
Go to the wider travel overview: Borken.
