A further „sweetmeat“ for the more active visitors: Paderborn’s surroundings offer the perfect chance to enjoy interesting trips of discovery, enjoyable cycle tours and diverse hikes and walks.

With high-profile sporting events and energetic leisure activities, Paderborn is a city on the move. Over 50 different sports activities and numerous sport clubs and grounds ensure that every need is catered for. Decide for yourself, whether you want to participate actively or enjoy the excitement as a fan. Either way, Paderborn offers a high level of leisure entertainment, which even exceeds Germany’s borders, for instance the International Easter Run.

The Pader, Germany’s shortest river, has its source in the city centre. From more than 200 springs, the water surfaces at an average rate of 5,000 litres per second. The beautiful area around the Pader springs, right next to the pedestrian zone, invites everyone to linger or take a walk.

Where the Pader flows into the river Lippe, about 4 km downstream, one of the most beautiful moated castles of the early Weser Renaissance period rises up: Neuhaus Castle. It once was the residence of the Paderborn prince bishops; today, visitors can enjoy the well-groomed Baroque gardens and the adjacent Schloss- und Auenpark. The area, which covers about 42 hectares, is coined by charming meadows created by the rivers Pader, Lippe and Alme.

An excellent network of bike paths and hiking trails running along the rivers, leads to another local recreation area: Freizeitanlage Lippesee. The lake Lippesee is a paradise for all people who like aquatic sports like sailing, surfing, wakeboarding, and water skiing. A wide range of activities that do not involve water are also available. There are, for instance, a miniature golf course, a trail for mountainbiking, beach volleyball fields and a skating park. 

In the Paderborn surroundings, there are interesting historical sites and natural monuments to be explored: The castle Wewelsburg with its striking triangular shape is a landmark of the Paderborn region. It was built in the 17th century and was a secondary residence of the Paderborn prince bishops. Today, the castle houses the Historical Museum of the Archdiocese Paderborn, the permanent exhibition “Wewelsburg 1933-1945 - Ideology and Terror of the SS”, and a youth hostel.

Dalheim Monastery on the edge of the Egge Mountains has a long and eventful history. It is remarkable that the site has been almost completely preserved. Today, the building houses the Westphalian Museum of Monastery Culture.

The Hermann Monument (Hermannsdenkmal) near Detmold towers above the landscape of the Teutoburg Forest. It commemorates the battle of the year 9 AD when the German leader Hermann the Cheruscan prevented any further advances of the Romans into German territory for all times. The region surrounding the monument is also known as an attractive hiking area (Hermansweg).