Hiking and Pilgramages

The ‘Heidschnuckenweg’ route was voted the most beautiful hiking trail in Germany in 2014.  Divided into 13 stages, it stretches over 223 km and if starting from the Hamburg area in the north (Hamburg-Neugraben train station in the Fischbek district), heading in southerly direction, it eventually ends at the beautiful Ducal Palace in Celle - and thus a large part goes through the Celle region.  This route leads through more than 30 areas of heathland - first to Buchholz and Handeloh, on via Soltau and the Wietzer Berg to Unterlüss, on through Lutterloh and to the historic inn “Zur alten Fuhrmanns-Schänke”, founded in 1814 and now a family friendly hotel. From here the hiking trail leads over the 84 metre high Citronenberg peak, through beautiful forests within the Südheide and later along the river meadows to Celle and the famous Ducal Guelph Palace. Signposts along the route are identified with a white ‘H’ on a black background.

Some pilgrimage routes go directly through Celle, such as the Way of St. James, the 7th stage of which leads from the Wienhausen monastery (where the oldest known spectacles in the world were discovered during renovation work) into Celle’s Historical Old Town. The subsequent 8th stage of the route begins here, on its way to the town of Winsen / Aller.

The E1 European long distance hiking trail currently runs for around 7000 kilometres from the North Cape in Norway, to Salerno in southern Italy - a continuation to Sicily is planned. In some parts of Sweden, Denmark, Germany and northern Italy, the route is marked with a white St. Andrew's cross on a black background (or a red diamond, from Pforzheim in the Black Forest to Feldberg). The German section from Flensburg to Constance, comprises 76 official stages; it is around 1900 km long and runs between Hamburg and Celle through large parts of the Lüneburg Heath.

Long distance hiking trail within the Celle district boundaries:
Within Celle’s district boundaries the long distance hiking trail begins at junctions K13 and K45 between Wietzendorf and Müden,  It continues south via Hermannsburg to Celle, but then leaves Celle’s district boundaries at the L310 in the west, just a few metres behind the L298 and up to an old Guttore (previously an historic manor house with land) and on to the town of Rixförde.

The pilgrimage routes ‘Via Scandinavica’ and the ‘Via Romea’ also lead through Celle’s district boundaries - under shady pine forests, along picturesque streams, quiet moorlands and heathlands.  Throughout, the paths are marked with a yellow shell on a blue background. The “thin end”, which shows the ‘rays’ grouped together, always points towards the furthest direction.