Haltern am See is in Münsterland.

Understand

The "See" in the name (official since 2001) refers to an artificial lake created by a dam in the Weimar Republic era, where the small Stever river joins the Lippe river. Haltern is within the county of Recklinghausen, sitting at the northern end of the Ruhr Area. Head further north, and you'll be greeted by fields and small wooded areas. The municipality of Haltern am See consists of the town centre with a small old core, and some outlying villages and settlements.

Get in

By plane

Osnabrück / Münster airport does sit between Münster and Osnabrück, but is mostly used for domestic connecting flights or holiday charter planes to sunnier lands. Your best bet is to fly to Düsseldorf and take train RE2 to Haltern.

By train

• 1 Haltern am See station (0.5 km (0.31 mi) south-west of town centre). Small regional station with bakery, ticket machines inside of the station building and plenty of bike parking nearby.  

Haltern am See is the northern end of the S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr network, with line S9 Haltern - Essen - Wuppertal terminating here. Regional train RE41 from Bochum via Herne and Recklinghausen terminates here as well. Services RE2 Osnabrück - Münster - Essen - Düsseldorf and RE42 Münster - Essen - Mönchengladbach stop here too. Services are frequent. Long-distance trains stop in Münster or Essen.

By car

Autobahn A43 Wuppertal - Bochum - Münster passes Haltern, use exit 8, or exit 7 if you're going to the village of Lavesum. Between these two exits, there's a rest area with service station on both sides of the Autobahn, use bus 275 to Am Treckeberg stop, if you're hitchhiking.

By bike

The terrain is flat and there's plenty of bike paths.

Get around

Bus services are run by Vestische under the VRR transit association. Service is relatively sparse but does reach most of the municipality.
Some settlements are only served by Anrufsammeltaxi or Taxibus service. Both are taxis running on order of Vestische to replace low-demand bus routes, and require booking 45 minutes before via phone +49 2366 186186. You need to state your name, departure stop and time, destination, number of passengers including small children and if you're transporting large luggage or suitcases.

See

• 1 LWL-Römermuseum Haltern am See, Weseler Str. 100 (Bus 298 Römermuseum stop). Small museum at the place of an old Roman settlement.  
• 2 Old city hall (Altes Rathaus). (updated Jul 2024)
• 3 St. Sixtus, Markt. Catholic church from 1885, churches stood in this spot since at least the year 800. (updated Jul 2024)
• 4 Siebenteufelsturm, Turmstr. 11 (bus stop Kärntner Platz). Large round brick tower, once part of the medieval city fortifications. (updated Jul 2024)
• 5 Sythen Mill (Sythener Mühle), Stockwieser Damm 22 (RE42, bus 273 Haltern-Sythen Bf, stay on the Münster direction side of the railway, follow Stockwieser Damm.). Old water powered mill (updated Jul 2024)

Do

Haltern lake

• 1 Haltern Lake. The lake is available for multiple leisure uses, including boating, swimming and so on  
• 2 Kardinal-von-Galen-Park (between Rathaus and Siebenteufelsturm). Small public square in front of the city hall and police with grass to sit on and old trees for shade. (updated Jul 2024)

Eat

• 1 Taverna Samos, Rekumer Straße 16, ☏ +49 2364 22 30, mail@taverna-samos-haltern.de. Tu-Su from 12:00-22:00. 
• 2 Lofs olle Hüsken, Sythen, Blumenstr. 14, ☏ +49 2364 69374. Tu-Sa from 17:30, Su from 12:30. Good Italian food and wine 
• 3 Uhlenhof, Holtwick. 

Sleep

Campsites

• 1 Campingpark Flaesheim. 

Hotels

• 2 Ratshotel, Mühlenstraße 3-5, ☏ +49 2364 3465, mail@hotel-haltern.de. single €65, double €95, incl. breakfast. 
• 3 Hotel am Turm, Turmstraße 4, ☏ +49 2364 9601 0, info@hotel-amturm.de. single €69, double €99, incl. breakfast. 
• 4 Hotel Seehof, Südufer, Hullerner Straße 102, ☏ +49 2364 928 0, info@hotel-seehof.de. A hotel that's often used for congresses with a nice view of the lake single €90, double €115, Parking: €10/day.