Once upon a time, Kassel was even a port city for inland transport of grain, coal and machinery. Since 1977, however, the Fulda's waterway has belonged solely to excursion boats and sports skippers as well as canoeists and rowers and day-trippers. They also find time for a hot or cold drink in one of the nearby cafés and club restaurants. The cafés line the banks along with countless boathouses and tranquil riverside promenades. The Hessian long-distance cycle route R1 also runs along the Fulda almost entirely with a view of the water.
Framed by the Fulda floodplain with the Buga lake site, the Karlsaue and the Waldauer meadows colourfully mixed with market gardens, allotments, sports fields and sheep pastures, the river crosses the north Hessian metropolis. Shortly before it leaves the city again in a north-easterly direction, the renaturation of the bleaching meadows at the mouth of the Ahna has created an attractive gem for the residents of the district of Wesertor.
