Every once in a while this summer I thought I should pick up my “Walk the German section of the Camino / Way of St. James” activity again. To get one more of those sections done this year. On the bus on my way to the starting point yesterday morning I pulled up the blog and checked and to my dismay I realized, I haven’t done any walking on that Way this year. The last time I did that was almost a year ago. Ooops.
Part 4: Greven – Schmedehausen to Münster – Dorbaum
(~ 16 km)
Saturday, 17 October 2025
According to my smartwatch I walked an additional 6 km (in the morning from the bus stop to the starting point and in the afternoon to the bus stop and in the city and all that). I’m taking it extra slow today.
Once again it took me a while to get to the starting point. The original plan had always been to mostly use public transport but in this case I opted for a mix: Drive to Münster (90 km, 1h), park the car, take a bus to the main station to get the bus to the starting point, which still took about another hour. It was an early start to get to the starting point about 10:00 in the morning, but all in all worth it.
The sun was out, the air was crisp, but not too cold, the way was once again clearly marked all he way through (and I had a map on my phone as well) and I knew this and my next few sections would be on plain level, which makes it much easier / less strenuous to walk. I had packed my hiking poles just in case, but that was definitely unnecessary ballast.
The path leads through a rather rural setting, the occasional farm or just secluded residences. Lots of fields.
After about an hour I crossed the Dortmund-Ems Canal once again and later on I was supposed to switch back the other side and then cross again 2 km further down. I decided to skip that part and just continued along the canal, because it shortened the way to the countryside restaurant I had picked for my lunch (and restroom) break.
I don’t know why there were two stickers marking the way.
I passed so many more fields and tree lined small roads…
Only towards the end I came through some more “proper” woodland.
At some point – before that – the path led on a narrow trail between two fences (which didn’t make a good photo), between a drinking water protection area on the right and a military training area on the left. For someone of my generation in Germany, who had thought we live in peaceful times and had naive hopes that the military might outlive itself, it felt weird to walk past that. And imagine that German soldiers are actively training for war (or just defending the country).
Of course there was more colourful foliage towards the end of the walk as well.
And the last waymarker I noticed…
… before stepping back into more urban setting and walking about 10 minutes along the residental road to get me to the bus stop for the bus back into Münster city centre. For some food. And books 🙂
Part 03: Lengerich to Greven – Schmedehausen, ~ 16 km, 27 October 2024
Part 02: Natrup-Hagen to Lengerich, ~ 13 km, 13 October 2024
Part 01: Osnabrück to Natrup-Hagen, ~ 17 km, 15 September 2024
