Relax in Hülsen, Explore in the Lüneburg Heath in Northern Germany

For those who love to be in nature, the Lüneburger Heide (Lüneburg Heath) in Northern Germany is the perfect respite. It is full of woodlands, a large natural habitat for wildlife and many parks, with much of the area classified as a nature reserve.

The Village of Hülsen

I recently stayed in a country cottage in a small village at the end of the Lüneburg Heath, known as Hülsen. This area is super relaxing and peaceful. With a large meadow surrounding it, you can find absolute silence and tranquility, with the sounds of nature as your background noise.

The house is just a short walk from the Aller River (next to the cottage), which runs through the neighboring villages and into the Weser further north and offers recreational activities such as fishing, biking along it or taking dogs for a nice long walk! As well, during the warm months people in the vacation homes along the river can have outdoor fires, the perfect way to end a summer day!

The town also has a traditional soccer club, SVV Hülsen in the heart of the village, every other Sunday you can find nearly half the town’s residents there cheering on their local teams!

Exploring the Lüneburg Heath

If you’re interested in exploring outside the town and deeper into the Lüneburg Heath, there are tons of options!

Perhaps the one of the most popular reasons for visiting this area is to explore the natural beauty Heath, one of the largest in Europe. There are many walking trails with parking facilities nearby such as Overhaverbeek and Niederhaverbeek, northwest of Bispingen.

As well, there is a Wild Park, hole to around 140 animal species such as snow leapards, polar foxes, brown bears, Siberian tigers, wolves, elks and others like these little goats! Many of the species are native to Germany or live in the northern hemisphere. The park is also home to many old and rare breeds of domestic animals.

From the top of the Heath’s largest hill, Wilseder Berg (a whole 169 meters!) there is a beautiful panorama of the surrounding area, and if you’re lucky on a clear day you can see as far as Hamburg. This is a really popular spot, especially in the summer.

For a quieter trail, the Freuedenthalweg and Hermann Bilung Weg are over 100 km with trails for cyclists and walkers alike.

Also nearby is the Heide Park, in Soltau, this is the largest amusement park in North Germany. It’s a bit expensive, but really big. You can spend the whole day there easily. I went a few summers ago from Hamburg and it was really fun!

The Serengeti Park in the south of Bad Fallingbostel is the largest safari park in Europe, with four zones: Animal World (an open safari park), Water World (with a mix of water rides and activities), Monkey World (with safari tours through the terrain) and Leisure World (a leisure complex with a high ropes course, baby park and play scapes for children).

The Walsrode World Bird Park (Vogel Park) in Walsrode, is the world’s largest bird park and one of the top ten zoos in the world for number of species.

[Wikitravel]