Dülmen

Dülmen is a city in southern Münsterland, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. It is surrounded by the river Lippe to the south, the Baumberge hills to the north and the river Ems to the east. South of Lippe you will find the Ruhr.

Understand
Dülmen was first referred to in a document written in 889. It became a city in 1311, after which the Lüdinghauser Tor was built. During World War II, a good 90% of the city centre got destroyed; after the war, it was rebuilt from the ground up.

The city is very friendly towards bikers, and offers a large network of cycleways.

By plane
The nearest airport is the Münster/Osnabrück airport.

By car
The A 43 passes the city in the northwest. This autobahn connects to the A 1 near Münster and A 2 near Recklinghausen, merging with A1 at Wuppertal. Federal Highway B67 runs from Dülmen to just short of the german-dutch border near Emmerich, passing Borken and Bocholt. Once the final missing link near Dülmen is completed, it will be almost entirely limited-access eliminating most at-grade intersections with other roads.

Dülmen has a mixed parking system which offers both free parking and parking using Parkscheibe and/or tickets.

By train
Dülmen is located at the interchange of the major Essen - Münster - Hamburg railway and the smaller Enschede - Ahaus - Dortmund line which is a single-tracked line run by diesel trains. The latter crosses the mainline on a bridge at an 90 degree angle. IC and ICE services run through, RE2 Osnabrück - Münster - Gelsenkirchen - Essen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf Airport - Düsseldorf, RE42 Münster - Gelsenkirchen - Essen - Duisburg - Krefeld - Mönchengladbach and RB51 Enschede (NL) - Gronau - Ahaus - Dülmen - Lünen - Dortmund stop here. All run at least hourly with additional service on weekdays.

Get around
Bus service is provided by RVM (Regionalverkehr Münsterland) and by community-run minibuses. Bus schedules are very sparse on weekends, so definitely make sure to plan ahead or arrange a ride. A taxi stand is just outside Dülmen station. Riding a bike is also a good idea, paths are well maintained and the terrain is relatively flat.

Do

 * Semiannual funfairs: Dreifaltigkeitskirmes (trinity kermess) in May and Viktorkirmes (St Victor's kermess) in early October
 * 1000-Schlösser-Route (1000 castles route): bike path throughout the Münsterland, passing a thousand old castles and manors.

Buy
The town centre has the usual selection of stores needed for daily life and is mostly pedestrianised.

Go next

 * Münster, large university city with young and open population, very bike friendly
 * Ruhr, one of europe's largest urban metropolis', former industrial centre turned to education, culture and modern business.
 * Ruhr, one of europe's largest urban metropolis', former industrial centre turned to education, culture and modern business.