Gristede: Rhododendron Park and Cycling Tours

Gristede offers two specific starting points for planning your trip: the Rhododendron Park in Gristeder Wald and several cycling routes that lead to the park. The garden has a seasonal focus, while the cycling options can be explored via named routes. When planning your trip, you can therefore first consider whether the flowering season or a cycling tour should be the main focus.

Rhododendron Park Gristede: Garden and Flowering Season

Rhododendron Park Gristede is a 25-hectare show garden in Gristeder Wald. More than 1,000 different varieties of rhododendrons and outdoor azaleas make up its botanical focus. The grounds also include two ponds and a park pavilion. The garden thus combines an extensive plant collection with named water features and a pavilion.

The park is usually especially worth seeing between May and June, when it transforms into a colourful landscape of blossoms. If flowering is your main priority, plan your trip around this usual time frame.

A Special Rhododendron Variety

On 23 June 2019, comedian Otto Waalkes named the rhododendron variety “OTTOdendron.” The “OTTOdendron” varieties are located in the entrance area of Rhododendron Park Gristede, on the Walk of Fame.

Cycling to the Park

The 45-kilometre cycling tour “45 km Rhodopark Gristede” leads to Rhododendron Park Gristede. It can be ridden independently using the published directions. The stated route length gives you a specific point of reference when deciding how to fit the tour into your plans. If you use a downloadable route file, it is advisable to check that it is up to date before setting off, as such files may be revised.

The “Rhododendron Route” and the themed routes “Resort Town and Rhododendron Town” and “Tour de Flur” also lead directly to Rhododendron Park by bicycle. The park is therefore not only the destination of the 45-kilometre tour, but also the endpoint of these other named routes. Their different names give you a choice of route descriptions when planning your cycling tour.

Cultural and Historical Attractions in Wiefelstede

The wider destination of Wiefelstede offers other cultural and historical attractions. St. John’s Church in Wiefelstede was consecrated in 1057 by Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen and is considered the oldest church in Ammerland. Wiefelstede Local History Museum presents changing exhibitions on cultural history, everyday life, and regional artistic work.

The garden of Wiefelstede Local History Museum has become an open-air museum, with a permanent exhibition on trade and crafts featuring technology from the 1920s and 1930s. Visitors can see a shoemaker’s workshop, a hair salon, a wheelwright’s workshop, an old blacksmith’s forge, a bakery, and a general store. The exhibition thus brings together various trades and shops from the period mentioned.

At the Wemkendorf burial mound, a waymarker designed by Barbara Jaros marks a Bronze Age chain of burial mounds. The waymarker is a two-metre-high concrete stele with a decorative pin cast in bronze. It is part of the “Forgotten Places” project of the Ammerland Art Trail. These cultural and historical sites and exhibitions are located in the wider destination of Wiefelstede; they are separate attractions from the Rhododendron Park and cycling routes in Gristede.

Dining Information

Discover more destinations: Hollen, Mollberg, Neuenkruge, Metjendorf, Spohle, Dingsfelde, Nuttel.

Go to the wider travel overview: Wiefelstede.