Externsteine: 8 tips for a weekend in the Teutoburg Forest

📝 About the Author: Matthias

Matthias is the founder of travel-du.de and a native German, who travels a lot through his own country. He shares the best Germany tipps with you here. Explore all the picturesque landscapes, idyllic towns and hidden treasures that Germany has to offer. All texts, pictures and videos are authentic and based on personal experience and thorough research.

The Teutoburg Forest is a low mountain range located east of Münster between Osnabrück and Paderborn in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. However, the main tourist area of the Teutoburg Forest can be found in the region around Detmold. It was here that the Germanic tribes once defeated an entire Roman legion at the Varus Battle. One of the most famous statues in Germany still commemorates this today. You can also discover the impressive, mystical rock formations of the Externsteine here.

In addition to these two main attractions, there are many more great things to discover.

You can also find all tips here on the map:

1. Externsteine

The Externsteine are the highlight of this region, and probably the reason why so many tourists come to visit.

The oddly shaped sandstone cliffs were formed over 100 million years ago in the Cretaceous period and were later inhabited and used by humans. Some finds indicate that hunters were already on the move here in the Palaeolithic Age.

Over the centuries, people have also left many other traces here, some of which still pose a mystery today, such as:

• The artificial grottoes in front of which a 12th-century relief of the cross is punched into the wall
• An open rock tomb in a round arch niche
• A chamber with an altar niche
• The remains of a sculpture of St. Peter

Scientists suspect that the stones were once a sanctuary for the Celts or Germanic tribes, but this has not been proven. But it is precisely this mystery surrounding the Externsteine that makes a visit here so interesting.

Today, tourists wind their way up the stairs over a curved bridge to the top of two of the stones and walk around with their smartphones on which they have installed hiking apps.

For €4 admission, you can also climb the Externsteine

• Opening hours: daily from 10:00 – 18:00 (last ticket sale 17:30)
• Prices: Adults 4,- €, children 2,- €
• Apps: (currently not available)

There’s a lot of hustle and bustle along the paths all day long, especially at the weekend, when everything almost gets a bit too crowded. I found it nicer here in the morning, when the mist is still hanging in the treetops, or in the evening, when there is no longer an entrance fee. By then, most of the day tourists have already left.

Towards the evening, when no one asks for admission at the ticket booth, completely different people come to visit the Externsteine – me, for example, but also two people with long hair and guitars who exude a slight touch of esotericism and probably want to soak up the power of the stones here. A few out-of-towners venture past one of the easily surmountable barricades in front of the stairs. From the top, they have a good view of the area. Crickets chirp, the smell of the forest fills the air and in the background the sun slowly disappears through the clouds into the treetops. While two guys with drums sit down in one of the echo-friendly grottos and hum rhythmically to the sound of their drums, the sky above the furrowed rock formation slowly turns into a sea of stars.

Matthias

You should definitely take enough time to take a closer look at the region here. Because the Externsteine are surrounded by a 127-hectare nature reserve.

At the entrance right next to the large parking lot, you can fortify yourself after a long walk in the Felsenwirt restaurant. Right next to it you will also find the information center, where some brochures are available. The price of €4 for the parking lot is not exactly cheap if you only stay for 1-2 hours. However, there are also free hiking car parks in the area, such as the one at Bärenstein. From there, a beautiful path leads directly to the Externsteine.

2. Hermannsdenkmal

You can’t miss the Hermann monument even from a distance. If you hike in the Teutoburg Forest area, the colossal statue with the sword stretched into the air will always appear above the treetops of the forest.

The monument actually depicts the Cheruscan king Arminius, who defeated a large Roman region in the Teutoburg Forest with a small army in 9 AD and thus prevented the Romans from advancing into eastern Rhineland Germania. A Netflix series called “Barbarians” was even made about this battle. Arminius was later Germanized to Hermann.

The monument was built in the 19th century by Hermann Bandel and you can admire it from the outside for free. To get to the viewing platform, you have to pay an entrance fee of €4. Around the monument there is also a climbing park with many different parkours and a restaurant. The parking lot at the monument is also not free. A little further away, however, you will also find a few free forest parking spaces.

3. Detmold Open-Air Museum

For just €8, you can get entry to the really great Westphalian State Museum of Everyday Culture in Detmold. It is a 90-hectare, extensive landscape through which you can move freely and explore many of the restored half-timbered houses with their colorful gardens, old farms with windmills and the beautiful nature on your own.

You should plan at least 4 hours for a visit, but there is actually enough to see and discover here for a whole day.

Everything has been built as it once looked hundreds of years ago, with many loving details. A lot of effort was put into this. The buildings were dismantled at their original location and then rebuilt in the open-air museum true to the original.

For example, you can marvel at an old bakery where fresh bread is baked and sold, an old grocery store and a blacksmith’s store. You can look at old photographs in the photo studio and the historic petrol pumps in an old petrol station.

Chickens and goats run around the pastures and meadows of the Landscape Museum, horses peer through walls in the courtyards and donkeys greet passers-by (but actually they probably just want to dust off a carrot).

4. Historic town center of Detmold

The special thing about the historic old town of Detmold is that it was largely spared from the two world wars and you can still see original half-timbered facades and houses from the past that were not destroyed by bombs.

A total of over 700 architectural monuments characterize the Detmold townscape. The focal point is the market square with the Donop Fountain. I also liked the park around the Detmold Residential Palace.

When walking through the city, you should definitely take a few detours into the small side streets, such as Grabenstraße, Adolfstraße or Auguststraße.

5. Beer tasting in the brewhouse of the Strate brewery

Is it a castle or a brewery? When you see the Strate Brewery in Detmold, you will certainly ask yourself this question first. You can get to know the private brewery with its adjoining gardens on a guided tour of the brewery, including beer tasting. For example, there are beers here with the memorable name Detmolder Thusnelda-Bier (Thusnelda was the wife of the Cheruscan prince Arminius, also known as Hermann).

You can also enjoy Strate beer in the Brauhaus in Detmold city center.

6. Lavender fields Frommhausen

You will almost feel a bit like you’re in Provence in the lavender fields near Frommhausen, which are cultivated on a small hill. The view from here over the pink fields towards the sunset is fantastic.

If you want to see the lavender in bloom, you should come here between June and early July. However, this always depends on the weather and varies from year to year.

The lavender is harvested from mid-July. But even after that, it’s worth making a detour to the field. Because the view here over the wide landscape as far as the Hermann monument is magnificent and it still smells of lavender.

7. Heiligenkirchen Bird Park

A paradisiacal attraction that I wouldn’t necessarily have expected to find near the Externsteine, but which is still worth a visit, is the Vogelpark Heiligenkirchen.

I was impressed by the variety of bird species from all over the world that live here. You can even observe rare toucans or kookaburras from Australia here for just €8.90 entrance fee.

You can also go inside some of the cages to observe and feed the colorful birds up close, such as the budgie cage or the parrot cage.

The bird park is particularly suitable for families with small children, as in addition to the bird cages there are also other animals such as meerkats, small monkeys and a small petting zoo as well as a few play equipment.

8. Falkenburg Castle

The ruins of Falkenburg Castle are enthroned in the middle of the Teutoburg Forest. It was built in the 12th century and then slowly fell into disrepair over the decades. Around 2005, its remains were uncovered and secured.

Today, you can walk along the old castle walls for free and get a very good impression of what it must have looked like here in the Middle Ages.

The Falkenburg is perfect for a picnic during a walk in the forest and you also have a wonderful view over the landscape as far as the Hermann monument.

Overnight stay at the Externsteine

You can find many hotels and accommodation directly in Detmold. It’s not far from the town to the open-air museum and the Hermann monument. For example, stay at the 4-star H&S Residenz Hotel Detmold in the historic town center or the historic Hotel Detmolder Hof, which dates back to 1560.

If you want to be even closer to nature, I recommend accommodation right next to the Externsteine. The Ringhotel Waldhotel Bärenstein in Holzhausen is a very well-located place to stay. From here, you can reach the Externsteine in just 5 minutes by bike. This is very practical if you want to be there in the morning to avoid the large crowds during the day.

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Have you ever been to the Teutoburg Forest? What did you like best there? Write it in a comment!!!