If you "love to go a-wandering", the Lippe highlands between the Teutoburg Forest and the river Weser is the perfect place for you. See places of historical interest with a trip on the Museum Coach through the grounds of the open-air museum in Detmold. Explore the Weser Renaissance Route, which runs past the confluence of the Werra and Fulda rivers. Or visit the Externsteine natural monument, one of the most famous and most controversial places of worship and mystical power in Germany.Westphalian Open-Air Museum, Detmold
Along with Detmold's palace and old quarter, the Westphalian Open-Air Museum is well worth a visit. With its 90 historical farmhouses from all over Westphalia, it is one of the largest museums of its kind in Europe. Covering an area of approx. 80 hectares, the museum features painstaking reconstructions of whole farmsteads and even a complete village. Traditional crafts are demonstrated every day at the flour mill, blacksmith's workshop and pottery barn. Special guided tours on specific themes are offered on many weekends. The museum also has a restaurant.Weser Renaissance Route
This marked route runs for approx. 350km through several federal states linking a number of architectural monuments from the 16th and 17th centuries. This magnificent style of building - named after the river - is a cultural and historical delight. Running through the wonderful countryside to the left and right of the river Weser, the route presents fairytale palaces and stately homes, the most prominent Renaissance buildings, town halls, stone and timber-framed town houses, and some of the prettiest Weser Renaissance towns."Externsteine" natural monument
Generally thought to have once been a Teutonic cult site, there is also evidence that early-Christian worship also took place at this fascinating natural and cultural monument. The Externsteine natural monument is made up of five strangely shaped sandstone crags, the highest of which is approx. 37 metres. The chapel, which is carved out of a rock, is a copy of the grotto in Jerusalem where St. Helena found Christ's cross. Next to the monument there is a relief carved into a corner of the rock by an unknown artist that dates from around 1130 and depicts Christ being taken down from the cross.