Husky, suspension bridge, handbike

Rushing through dense pine forests with a dog team, crossing rapids in a wheelchair, exploring a rocky national park on a handbike: Never before has there been such a selection of accessible outdoor experiences in Germany. We present the most exciting accessible hiking trails and handbike tours for this summer.

Experience this indescribable feeling of freedom and adventure with a dog team: You don't have to be travelling to Greenland. You don't even have to be physically fit. In Storbeck-Frankendorf, a small community in the Ruppiner Seenland, north of Berlin, Sabine Kühn and Elmar Fust offer a very special experience: tours with Siberian huskies. People with disabilities can also enjoy the little adventures they offer with their more than 20 dogs in the vastness of Brandenburg. 

People with limited mobility take a seat on a training wagon. An experienced guide steers the husky team in front of the carriage. Then it's off along wide forest and field paths from the farm through Frankendorf Forest. People with visual impairments and blind people go on a hiking tour together with a sighted companion and a husky. This offer is also open to people with learning difficulties. People with learning difficulties also have the opportunity to lead their own team of three to four huskies on the ‘Hälla’ dog sledding course.

www.ruppiner-seenland.de/poi/ruppiner-seenland/aktiverlebnisse/freizeit-mit-huskies/

Spectacular views and a little thrill: that's what a tour through the Southern Eifel Nature Park just before the Luxembourg border promises. Picturesque river valleys, extensive forests and mysterious rock formations as well as a rich variety of flora and fauna can also be experienced by people with limited mobility on selected tours. There are three rental stations for wheelchair traction devices: the Euvea Hotel in Neuerburg, the Teufelsschlucht Nature Park Centre in Ernzen and the tourist information office in Bitburg.

One of the most exciting hiking adventures is a tour on the 4.5-kilometre-long combined route Irrel Waterfalls Suspension Bridge - Prümzurlay from Irrel, via Prümzurlay, to the ‘Irrel Waterfalls’ suspension bridge. The waterfalls are actually rapids. The sight is impressive. Since the end of September 2023, a new, partially barrier-free, 110-metre-long suspension bridge has spanned the narrow Prüm valley. The base of the suspension bridge consists of particularly close-meshed grating. The view down from the 16-metre-high structure is awe-inspiring: the water rushes past beneath feet and wheels on boulders weighing tonnes.

www.eifel.info/a-kombi-route-haengebruecke-irreler-wasserfaelle-pruemzurlay

www.eifel.info/barrierefreie-eifel/verleihstationen

On the other side of Germany, people with limited mobility can also take part in the great experience of nature. The Saxon Switzerland National Park region near Dresden is world-famous for its bizarre rock formations, majestic table mountains and mystical gorges. With 1200 kilometres of marked trails, it is a hiker's paradise. There is also a small but excellent range of tours suitable for handbikes here.

A tip for spring is the five-kilometre handbike tour from the Bastei to Stadt Wehlen. The first highlight of the route is at the starting point: the new, barrier-free Bastei viewpoint. From here, there is a wide view of the Elbe valley, table mountains such as the Lilienstein and the fairytale-like Rathener Felsenwelt. In the beer garden in front of the Basteihotel, hand cyclists can fortify themselves for the actual tour. This leads from the Bastei car park, along a forest path and through the impressive Tscherregrund with its imposing, moss-covered rocks to the small town of Wehlen. From there, hand cyclists can take a detour to the mighty Uttewald rock gate, which inspired Caspar David Friedrich. You can round off the day with a piece of cake in a café on Wehlen's market square.

www.saechsische-schweiz.de/en/tour/handbiketour-von-der-bastei-nach-stadt-wehlen

The Lusatian Lakeland, just 80 kilometres to the north, is also an exciting handbike region. It is a region that has undergone a fascinating metamorphosis in recent decades: from a lignite mining area to a watery holiday paradise. It will soon be Europe's largest man-made lake landscape. In some places, the landscape transformation project of the century can still be experienced live.

The highlights for hand cyclists and leisure cyclists are the wide, flat and largely car-free paths around the new lakes. One of the most beautiful tours is the 18 kilometre route around Lake Senftenberg. It leads along a tarmac path past the modern town harbour, the Koschen Canal, where you can watch the ships being locked, and the family park, where barrier-free beach access is due to be completed in the summer. A longer option is the 37-kilometre tour around Lake Geierswald and Lake Partwitz, past floating houses, the Barbara Canal and a riding stables. The restaurant at the Leuchtturm Hotel in Geierswalde is the perfect place to stop for refreshments.

Iba-Aktiv-Tours rents out bicycles and handbikes in the family park and organises guided tandem tours in the Lusatian Lakeland for people with visual impairments and the blind.

www.lausitzerseenland.de/en/experience/cycling/circular-lake-routes.html