Day Trip: The Perfect Stroll Through Solingen

If you’re looking for the perfect Sunday outing just outside of the city, I would definitely suggest making a visit to Solingen. Here you will find an amazing path that runs for about 15 kilometers. I recently took the perfect stroll through Solingen on this route and am excited to share it with you here.

Looking for some more Sunday Funday inspiration? Check out the numerous other hiking & nature tips on Life in Düsseldorf!

 

Welcome to the beautiful city of Solingen

Solingen is a small city located just south of Düsseldorf which was formed by a few villages that merged together. As a result, Solingen is still crossed by many small forests, meadows, and streams which made our hiking adventures out to be quite charming. These former villages are now considered to be Solingen neighborhoods and each has a peculiar atmosphere worth exploring.

Solingen is also known around the world because of their high-quality cutlery which is produced here. These knives are often used by some of the most famous chefs and cooks. There is even a festival that is organized each year called KNIFE Solingen/The Solingen Blade Fair. The last edition (due to COVID) took place online, but hopefully, in years to come, they will be able to continue to host them in the villages.

 

Places to see on your stroll through Solingen

The path begins at the Solingen Main Station. From there, you will walk along the rails, on their east side. The road will turn into a path: the Caspepersbroicher Weg – follow this path (you may also see the sign «W» on the trees).

This path leads you to the first highlight of our hike: The Casperbroich Castle

This castle was built up in 1220. In 1965-67, the place was totally renewed and is now a nice private apartment building worth checking out along your hike.

After the castle, you’ll continue along the Itter Dam and follow the «S» sign.

On the right side of the path, you will find the first mill on our hike: The Heidberger Mill

When you walk along the Itter, you may spot an outdoor pool through the trees which is, according to my friend, a very nice place to go during the summer.

After that, you will continue along the Itter Dam and arrive at a small vale where you may spot some animals: donkeys, goats, hens, and chickens. It is a little paradise for children and grown-up children too!

After that, you will arrive at Gräfrath which is a historic neighborhood where the houses are covered up with slate still in the Bergisches Stil.

The market square (Markt Platz) is the perfect spot to take a break and have some snacks. For dessert, I highly recommend the Italian café in the square (Eiscafé Giulia) where you can find delicious ice creams, waffles and also a very good coffee (and that is priceless in Germany where good coffee is not easy to find…!).

From there, you may follow the steps to the church where you will have a nice viewpoint. Just near the church, you will discover the museum for cutlery (Deutsches Klingenmuseum) which is, according to my friend, worth visiting.

You can then walk onwards to the Solingen Art Museum (Kunstmuseum Solingen).

The building was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, in the Bergisches Stil, and built to be the town hall of Gräfrath. After WWII, the building was renovated and used by the museum of cutlery. In the nineties, the museum moved to its actual site and the building was renewed again to become today’s art museum which opened in October of 1996.

You will then continue along the Korkenziehertrasse, an ancient rail line from the 19th century which goes through Solingen and is a paradise for cyclers and pedestrians.

After the Korkenzieherstrasse crosses the Frankfurter Damm road, you can turn right and follow the steps to arrive on the footpath of the Frankfurter Damm road. Then, cross the street and after a little more walking, you will see a path on your right with the «W» sign. This path is going to lead you through the last part of the hike in the Lochbach area.

Along the way, you will come across the Jugendhilfe Werkstatt: a workshop where young people can work and create with metal.

There are indeed some interesting metal sculptures (notably, a scorpion) on the facade of the building.

Once you pass by the workshop, you will continue along the Schneider Mühlenweg. When you actually see the restaurant Schneider Mühle, cross its backyard and follow the path (and the «W» sign) that continues along the Lochbach.

After some more walking, you will stumble upon a large blue sphere: the Galileum Solingen, which opened in 2019.

The sphere was erected in 1957 and back then was green in color as it was used for storing gas. Today, it is open as a planetarium for guests to explore (check opening hours first).

After you watch it from the outside, you will circumvent the sphere and continue along the Planetenweg until you get to Sauerbreystrasse. From there, you will see, on your right, the main station of Solingen. And you’re finished!

 

How to get there?

The easiest way to get there from Düsseldorf is to take the train (S1). This line serves a lot of stations in Düsseldorf (for instance: Derendorf, Volksgarten S, and Oberbilk). If you would rather use your car, there is parking at the main station.

In a few words, this walk is easy, pleasant, and diverse: perfect for a family Sunday. Even though Solingen may be a city, you may still feel as if you are surrounded by nature – but you can at any time reach a cup of coffee or decide to take a shortcut if you (or your children) are too tired.