The Lüneburger Heide is the great heath landscape that gives the city its surrounding identity — a rolling expanse of low pink-purple heather, juniper, sandy hillocks and birch woods, stretching south from Lüneburg almost to Hannover. The core nature reserve, around the Wilseder Berg (the highest point at 169 metres), is car-free and crossed by a network of marked walking and horse-drawn-carriage routes from the village of Undeloh.
Best visited in mid-August, when the heather flowers and the whole landscape turns a startling lilac. The local Heidschnucke sheep, with their grey curly fleece and black faces, are still herded across the reserve and you will sometimes meet a flock on the trail. By car the central village of Wilsede is about 40 minutes from Lüneburg; from the city centre, regular buses run to Undeloh in summer, with onward horse-drawn carriages or walking only into the reserve. Allow a half day at minimum.