Westschleife - Rennradtour bei Sottrum

Route Overview:
Sottrum – 8 km – Taaken – 5 km – Horstedt – 3 km – Nartum – 9 km – Kirchtimke – 4 km – Hepstedt – 12 km – Ostereistedt – 4 km – Badenstedt – 9 km – Wehldorf – 5 km – Elsdorf – 3 km – Hatzte – 9 km – Sothel – 5 km – Westeresch – 11 km – Rotenburg (Wümme) – 7 km – Unterstedt – 5 km – Waffensen – 6 km – Sottrum
 

Detailed route description:
The 106 km round trip starts at the Sottrum train station, which is located on the Hamburg-Bremen rail line and thus offers convenient access. The route begins with a 13 km stretch toward Horstedt. We’ll ride through residential areas and the town center, pass through the Wiestetal valley, and cross the A1 highway until we reach the herb-growing villages of Stapel and Horstedt. In Stapel, there’s a great rest area right next to Lower Saxony’s largest lavender field.
 
On quiet country roads, surrounded by fertile fields and rolling meadows, we follow the route through Steinfeld and the Schierk forest area to Kirchtimke, which we reach after 12 km, where the historic The 12th-century St. Lambertus Fieldstone Church, clearly visible in the town center.
 
Away from major roads, through open fields and small forests like the Ummel, we finally arrive in Ostereistedt, another stop on our journey 16 km away, and Home of the Easter Bunny “Hanni Hase”. Every year at Easter, Hanni Hase throws a big celebration and, together with her helpers from the Easter Bunny Post Office, answers letters from all over the world.
 
From Ostereistedt, the next leg of our journey takes us south again through a gently rolling Geest landscape shaped by the last Ice Age, and through the “Großes Holz” Forest Area.  Riding “from village to village,” we pass through Oldendorf, Brüttendorf, and Wehldorf, reaching the village of Elsdorf after 19 km, where we can stop for a quick break.
 
We cycle across the A 1 highway again, then through a cultivated moorland landscape and along small side roads to Sothel and Westeresch, two quiet villages with traditional farms. 18 km later, we cross the Wümme in the heart of Rotenburg (Wümme). With its numerous restaurants and ice cream parlors, this small county seat is an ideal place to take a break and refuel while soaking up the small-town atmosphere.
 
The final 18-km section of the West Loop follows gently winding roads that run alongside the Wümme, cross the Wiedau and Rodau rivers, and pass through the Ahewald forest and the “Golden Village” of Waffensen. This picturesque village won the national “Our Village Has a Future” competition in 1987 and 2010.  From there, the route continues via Hassendorf back to the Sottrum train station.

The road bike tours in the district of Rotenburg (Wümme) are neither signposted nor marked on site. GPX tracks are available for orientation (e.g. here on the page as a download).

Information and GPX tracks for all road bike tours in the district of Rotenburg (Wümme) can be found at app.nordwaerts.de, nordwaerts.de, komoot.com and strava.com or in the handy folding brochure.

All the information about the road bike tours in the Rotenburg (Wümme) district is presented in a handy brochure. It can be ordered from thewebsite of the Rotenburg (Wümme) District Tourism Association and is available at tourist information centers, including those in Sottrum and Rotenburg (Wümme).