Cycling is not just a transport option in Münster — it is the defining culture of the place. The Promenade, a 4.5-kilometre ring of tree-lined boulevard built on the old city walls and fortifications in the early 19th century, encircles the old town and is one of the great urban cycling routes in Germany. It is flat, wide, tree-shaded, and free of cars. A circuit takes about 20 minutes at a gentle pace, longer if you stop at the benches.
Bicycles can be rented from Radstation, the enormous bicycle parking and rental facility outside the main train station. A day's hire is inexpensive and the city's extensive cycle path network makes it easy to navigate without a map. Beyond the ring, the flat Münsterland countryside — dotted with small moated castles (Wasserburgen) — extends in every direction, and several well-marked cycling routes lead out of the city into the surrounding landscape.