Altenbeken brings together two distinctive themes: beech forests and railway history. If you want to combine nature trails and striking railway architecture in one trip, you can plan your stay around these interests.

Forest and hiking trails

There are two nature reserves in the municipality of Altenbeken: Egge-Nord and Stollen am großen Viadukt. Egge-Nord is a 2,600-hectare forest nature reserve in the northern Egge hills. Around Altenbeken, the Egge-Nord forest is recognised as a natural heritage forest in OWL, with ancient beech forests. Forest management has been suspended across around 600 hectares in favour of research, allowing the forest to gradually develop back towards its original beech primeval forest.

Altenbeken offers numerous hiking trails and nature paths. The Panorama Wanderweg V3 is 13.2 kilometres long, rated moderate and described as a half-day hike. It is marked with V3 along the entire route. Views of the Rehberg Tunnel portal, the railway station and Altenbeken can be enjoyed along the way.

At 23.2 kilometres, the circular Wildnis-Steig is ten kilometres longer than the V3, which is described as a moderate half-day hike. It runs through the beech-rich Durbeke valley in the Egge-Nord nature reserve. The two routes can therefore be distinguished by the time required, route type and landscape: the V3 offers views of the tunnel portal, railway station and Altenbeken, while the longer Wildnis-Steig is a circular route through the beech-rich Durbeke valley.

To get to the Wildnis-Steig, you can take the train to Altenbeken and then use the Naturerbe bus to reach the start and finish at Waldhaus Durbeke. Check the bus timetable in advance if you plan to use this connection during your visit.

Railway viaduct and cycle route

The railway viaduct in Altenbeken spans the Beketal valley for 482 metres and is 35 metres high. It is considered Europe’s largest stone railway bridge. Since December 2003, 20 of its 24 arches have been illuminated at night.

The Viadukt Radweg begins and ends at the Mobilstation Bahnhofsvorplatz in Altenbeken. This clearly identifies its start and finish if you would also like to include a cycling route in your travel plans.

More to explore in the wider Paderborn destination

The wider Paderborn destination offers its own cultural and nature experiences. Schloß Neuhaus is in the Paderborn district of the same name and is an impressive example of early Weser Renaissance architecture. The Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn offers a 5,000-year journey through information technology—from the first written characters and historic writing and calculating machines to early computers, modern robots and artificial intelligence. The Steinhorster Becken, also in the wider Paderborn destination, offers another nature experience: on both sides of the Ems, it forms a mosaic of shallow-water ponds, islands, reed beds and wet grassland. Many migrating waders and waterbirds find undisturbed areas there to rest and forage.

Kloster Dalheim is also in the wider Paderborn destination. It is an almost completely preserved medieval monastery complex, with a richly painted late Gothic cloister, around 20,000 square metres of monastery gardens and 3,000 square metres of exhibition space.

Discover more destinations: Bad Wünnenberg, Hövelhof, Bad Lippspringe, Paderborn, Borchen, Lichtenau, Herbram, Barkhausen.

Back to the main travel overview: Paderborn.