Heiligenhaus offers several highlights for a trip: museums tell the story of everyday life and technology, the Heiligenhauser Runde trail passes through two nature reserves, and the PanoramaRadweg follows a disused historic railway line. If you’re looking for a hotel in Heiligenhaus, you can plan your stay around the theme that matters most to you. Experiences range from exhibitions and collections to hiking and cycling routes, as well as a pond in a local recreation area.

Museums covering everyday life, nature and technology

The permanent exhibition at the Abtsküche Museum presents life and work in Heiligenhaus between tradition and modernity. Exhibits and installations cover domestic life, schooling and pre-industrial crafts, as well as the beginnings of the lock industry. Special exhibitions and activities round out the program. These include museum nights, book flea markets, markets and festivals, as well as events featuring local dialect and concerts. If you’d like to attend a particular event, check its date in advance.

The environmental education center’s Forest Museum is housed in a former waterworks and features an exhibition about people and forests. At the Forest Museum in Abtsküche Nature Experience Park, visitors of all ages can touch, see and learn about a variety of things. The environmental education center also offers tours of its natural history collection, which includes bird and animal exhibits, as well as guided forest walks. Advance booking may be required for guided forest walks.

The Heiligenhaus Fire Brigade Museum focuses on technology: a collection spanning more than 100 years of fire brigade history documents the development of firefighting techniques. The museum barn displays numerous vintage fire engines from seven decades of fire vehicle development, most of them in working order. A museum visit can therefore cover a range of topics, from the everyday lives of earlier generations to the history of firefighting technology.

Hiking and cycling at different scales

The Heiligenhaus leisure map brings together hiking and cycling routes of varying lengths and difficulty levels; the brochure is available online. One specific example is the “Heiligenhauser Runde” Discovery Loop. It is 7.78 kilometers long, rated moderate, and is both a circular and a themed route. It passes through the Rinderbachtal and Vogelsangbachtal nature reserves. When choosing a route, you can take into account both its stated difficulty and its passage through the two protected areas.

For cyclists, the PanoramaRadweg niederbergbahn offers a longer route. This nearly 40-kilometer trail connects Haan, Wülfrath, Velbert and Heiligenhaus along a disused historic railway line. In Heiligenhaus, the trail crosses the Waggon Bridge, the first of its kind and unique in Germany. The route’s connection between several cities and its passage along the former railway line give it a distinctive character alongside the circular and themed trail.

Pond, nature and activity

Abtsküche Pond is a reservoir in the local recreation area on the edge of Heiligenhaus. It’s a good place for hiking and walking, observing flora and fauna, or simply relaxing. Alongside the named routes, it offers a place where nature watching and taking a break can be the main focus.

Another way to get active is the low ropes course at the sports field in Heiligenhaus. Covering around 3,800 square meters, it offers more than 70 meters of rope course, a bouldering wall and a versatile sports area. These features make it different from the hiking and cycling routes: the focus here is on the course, climbing and use of the sports area.

Practical tips for planning your trip

Heljensbad is currently closed and is not expected to reopen until 2028. Keep this status in mind when planning a visit to the pool. Also check the dates of special exhibitions and events at the Abtsküche Museum; advance booking may be required for guided forest walks.

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

Go to the main travel overview: Mettmann.