Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [200]
Apart from hiking and skiing, the main attraction in Hahnenklee is the unusual Gustav-Adolf-Kirche (Gustav-Adolf Church; 1907), a Norwegian-style wooden stave church with an interior of Byzantine and Scandinavian features.
In winter, most visitors come for the downhill and cross-country skiing on the Bocksberg. Day tickets for the Seilbahn (cable car) and lifts cost €20/13 for an adult/child. Snow-Fun ( 0178 180 3045) is the main equipment-hire place in town – head to Hindenburgstrasse 4 for nordic skis, and Rathausstrasse 6 for snowboards and alpine skis. Hahnenkleer Skischule ( 0170 874 4510; Rathausstrasse 6) runs various ski courses.
Hahnenklee is also popular for its hiking, with trails leading to the Bocksberg from the car park near the stave church, and longer trails to Goslar (trail 2G, blue dot, 11km) via Windsattel and Glockenberg. Remember to take the Harzclub 1:50,000 walking map and be prepared for changing weather conditions.
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Getting There & Away
Hahnenklee is just west of the B241, between Goslar and Clausthal-Zellerfeld. Bus 830 serves Hahnenklee from Goslar on the way to Clausthal-Zellerfeld. The BEX BerlinLinienBus stops here daily.
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BAD HARZBURG
05322 / pop 22,500
This pretty spa town just 9km from Goslar is a magnet for visitors seeking health and curative spas. Unless you’re one of the many cure-seekers, the main attraction will be the nearby Harz National Park and trails, which offer excellent access to some typically picturesque Harz landscapes.
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Information
Haus der Natur ( 784 337; Berliner Platz; adult/concession €2/1; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun) Harz National Park information centre, with a small interactive exhibition that kids will enjoy most.
Spielpunkt (Herzog-Wilhelm-Strasse 42; per hr €2.50; 9am-11pm Mon-Sat, 11am-11pm Sun) Internet access.
Tourist-Information ( 753 30; www.bad-harzburg.de, in German; Nordhäuser Strasse 4; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun Mar–mid-Jan, 9am-5pm Mon-Fri mid-Jan–Feb)
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Activities
A nice thing to do here is hike or ride to Grosser Burgberg, a hill above Bad Harzburg with ruins of an 11th-century fortress built by Heinrich IV. There’s a 481m-long cable car ( 753 71; adult/child return €3/1; 9am-1pm & 1.30-5pm May-Oct, 10am-1pm & 1.30-4pm Nov-Apr) that goes up to the fortress, and it can be reached by walking up Bummelallee to the Kurpark.
Marked hiking trails lead into the national park from Berliner Platz and Grosser Burgberg, the latter just over 3km from Berliner Platz on foot. Among the many walks are those from Berliner Platz to Sennhütte (1.3km), Molkenhaus (3km) and scenic Rabenklippe (7km), overlooking the Ecker Valley. All destinations have restaurants; a board inside the cable-car station indicates which ones are open.
From Grosser Burgberg you can take the Kaiserweg trail, which leads to Torfhaus and connects to the Brocken. A marked trail also leads to the 23m-high Radau Waterfall, some 7km from Grosser Burgberg. If snow conditions are good, it’s possible to ski cross-country to/from Torfhaus, which has equipment-hire facilities.
Bad Harzburg’s Sole Therme ( 753 60; Nordhäuser Strasse 3; per 2½hr adult/child €7.50/5; 8am-9pm Mon-Sat, 8am-7pm Sun) has heated indoor and outdoor saltwater pools, and six types of saunas. Wednesday and Thursday mornings are respectively men- and women-only sauna days.
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Sleeping & Eating
Several good hotels are situated west of the tourist office on Am Stadtpark.
Villa Feise ( 967 00; www.villa-feise.de; Rudolf-Huch-Strasse 20; s €45, d €76; ) Given its proximity to the promenade, this place is great value, offering much more comfort and style than some places that charge double the rate. If you don’t have a room with a balcony, there’s a nice garden down below.
Hotel Tannenhof-Solehotel ( 968 80; www.solehotels.de, in German; Nordhäuser Strasse 6; s €60, d €99; )