Discover Erkrath: Nature, History and Hotels

Erkrath brings together water-based leisure activities, nature and environmental education, historic buildings and landscapes. The wider destination of Mettmann also offers its own cultural attractions.

Swimming and nature education in Erkrath

The Neanderbad in Erkrath has a sports pool with eight lanes and a combined teaching and leisure pool for the whole family. The two pools offer different experiences: swimming lanes in the sports pool, and learning and fun in the combined pool. Before your visit, check the operator’s latest information on facilities and operating arrangements.

The Bruchhausen Nature Conservation Centre is a nature conservation and environmental education facility, as well as an out-of-school learning and discovery centre. The centre offers guided tours and workshops in natural sciences and geography for school classes. Its focus is therefore different from that of the Neanderbad: nature and the environment as areas for learning and discovery.

The Neander Valley and the Historic Buildings Route

The Neander Valley extends through Erkrath, among other areas, and is a vast recreational landscape. The site where skeletal remains of Neanderthals were found was in a former limestone quarry in the Neander Valley. The area can therefore be appreciated both as a recreational landscape and for its discovery history; the find site is a historical point of reference.

The “Historic Buildings Route in Alt-Erkrath” discovery trail brings together architectural history and landscape. It is just over 13 kilometres long and links Erkrath’s oldest and most historically significant buildings with the natural landscapes of the Stinderbach Valley, Rotthäuser Bach Valley and Düssel Valley. The route thus connects historic buildings with three named landscapes. If you plan to include it in your itinerary, check the latest route description.

Culture in the wider destination of Mettmann

In the wider destination of Mettmann, the City History House offers insights into more than a thousand years of the city’s history across three floors. Its timeline spans the early historic long-distance road “strata coloniensis” and the construction of the royal estate in the time of Charlemagne, through to the present day. The various exhibits put the city’s history into context over a long period.

The Mettmann Art House organises around twelve exhibitions and events in the visual arts each year, including publicly funded and private exhibitions featuring artists from Germany and abroad. The range extends from painting and sculpture to photography, object art and video art. As individual exhibitions change, the current programme provides details of upcoming dates.

The Neanderthal Museum offers various guided tours for adults, as well as special tours for children’s groups. If a guided tour is important to your plans, check the latest booking details directly with the museum. Mettmann’s recreational facility in the city forest has a skate park, climbing wall, beach volleyball court and dirt bike track. It also has barbecue areas, a children’s garden, an insect house and other attractions for children.

Discover more destinations: Hilden, Ratingen, Langenfeld, Monheim am Rhein, Wülfrath, Mettmann, Velbert, Haan.

Back to the wider travel overview: Mettmann.