Villas in Weserbergland

Hameln and Bodenwerder suit Weser cycling and boat trips, Bad Pyrmont suits a spa break, and Extertal suits quiet walking in Lippe. This is low, wooded hill country along the River Weser in Lower Saxony, with its western edge in North Rhine-Westphalia. Homes are holiday houses and flats rather than villas, often in villages, so a car makes life easier.

Where

Villas: 71
From, per week: £281
Cheapest month: November
Nearest airports: Hannover is the main airport, around an hour from Hameln and Bad Pyrmont. Paderborn/Lippstadt suits Höxter and Brakel but has few flights. Flights from London to Hannover take around an hour and a half.

Where to stay in Weserbergland

Extertal (Lippe)

Extertal has the most of our Weserbergland homes, spread along the valley of the little Exter between the Weser at Rinteln and the hills of Lippe. Burg Sternberg, a medieval castle, stands above the valley. The Hermannsdenkmal and the Externsteine rocks in the Teutoburg Forest are around 45 minutes to an hour away, and Rinteln's old town about 20 minutes. Hannover airport is around an hour and a quarter away.

Best for: Quiet woods, hill walks and day trips into Lippe

Not for you if: You want a river or a town on the doorstep: Extertal is a string of villages in a side valley.

Hameln and Hessisch Oldendorf

Hameln's old town is lined with Weser Renaissance houses, their stone fronts carved and painted in the 16th and 17th centuries. On Sundays from mid-May to mid-September a free Pied Piper play runs at midday on the terrace of the Hochzeitshaus, and passenger boats run on the Weser in summer. Hessisch Oldendorf, around 15 minutes downstream, is quieter, with the Schaumburg castle on a hill nearby. Hannover airport is around 50 minutes away.

Best for: A town base with the Pied Piper story and Weser boat trips

Not for you if: You want quiet streets on summer Sundays: the old town fills up for the Pied Piper play.

Bad Pyrmont and Lügde

Bad Pyrmont has been a fashionable spa for centuries, and its Kurpark has a palm garden, a moated baroque palace and a thermal pool complex nearby. Lügde, just across the state border in North Rhine-Westphalia, is known for its Easter wheel run, when oak wheels packed with straw are set alight and rolled down a hill on Easter Sunday evening. Hameln is about 25 minutes away, and Hannover airport around an hour by car.

Best for: Spa days, formal parks and gentle walking

Not for you if: You want nightlife: Bad Pyrmont is a sedate spa town and Lügde is smaller still.

Bodenwerder, Hehlen and Polle (the middle Weser)

This stretch of the Weser is the classic section for the Weser cycle path and for canoe trips, with hire firms that drop you upstream. Bodenwerder is the home town of Baron Münchhausen, with a museum in his family's former manor house. Hehlen has a Renaissance castle by the river, and Polle has a castle ruin it links to the Cinderella story. Hameln is around half an hour from Bodenwerder, and Hannover airport around an hour and a quarter.

Best for: Cycling and canoeing on the Weser, with castles along the way

Not for you if: You want a choice of restaurants: these are small riverside towns with a few places to eat each.

Höxter, Brakel and the Solling (Höxter, Brakel, Uslar, Bodenfelde)

Corvey Abbey, just outside Höxter, keeps a Carolingian westwork from the ninth century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Brakel is a small market town in the hills west of Höxter. Across the river, Uslar and Bodenfelde sit in the Solling, a big beech and spruce forest with signed walks and a wildlife park at Neuhaus. Paderborn/Lippstadt airport is about an hour from Höxter, and Hannover around an hour and a half.

Best for: UNESCO history, long forest walks and wildlife

Not for you if: You want a short transfer: this southern end is the furthest from Hannover airport.

When to go to Weserbergland

May to September is the season for the Weser cycle path and canoeing, and summer Sundays bring crowds to Hameln for the Pied Piper play. School holidays in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia make July and August the busiest weeks. September and October are quieter, with autumn colour in the Solling. Winter is damp and quiet, with no skiing to speak of, though the spa pools at Bad Pyrmont stay open and Hameln has a Christmas market. Most canoe hire stops in October.