Germany, May, what are my chances?

[Mythical]

I've been talking about going to germany with my bike for months, now I'm thinking...what would happen if I just booked my flight to Germany right now?
(Beyond the obvious I'de be £££ lighter and a return ticket to Germany would arrive sometime in the near future which I may or may not use.)

What are my chances of finding somewhere to sleep & safely stash my beloved Dora, in Germany, in mid May, without any reservations, seven nights in a row??
I don't fancy wild camping, and my budget may be a little short for some of the swankier places, but I'm not adverse to camping in a campsite or hosteling. Is it likely everywhere will still be closed? or booked up?

Also, can anyone recommend any particular part of germany? any good experiences with airlines and anywhere to put my bike box once it's all unpacked and on the road? I've had weekends away on my bike in England, but never taken it abroad.

edit.....wait! how do i get 4 panniers, tent, sleeping bag and my bike into as little luggage as possible???

[b1ke]

Germany, in my opinion, is one of the most underrated countries for cycle touring. Brilliant cycle network and great attitude towards cyclists. I've been there a couple of times, though I haven't flown. For shorter trips I've tended to take the Eurostar to Brussels and then swapped trains to either Cologne or Strasbourg. The Cologne trip takes three and a half hours these days from St Pancras.

In terms of tours, we did a rhein/mosel/eifel tour out of (and returning to) Cologne, which was easy, safe and very pleasant >> http://sites.google.com/site/grannygearonline/Home/waterways-of-england-cycle-tour/germany-rhine-and-mosel-tour-2009.

Also went to the Black Forest (via Strasbourg), cycled down the Rhine and stayed on a campsite in Bad Bellingen for a few days. The good thing about this area is that if you stay on a site for more than a couple of nights, you're entitled to a Konus Card >>http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/konus. Basically this means that you can travel for free on buses and trains (with a couple of exceptions) within the Black Forest region (check with sites that they offer this). We did day rides to Freiburg (well worth visiting - check out the solar city stuff) and into the hills. Lovely landscape.

We've also cycled across northern Germany to Berlin which was fine, but less interesting in terms of landscape. Berlin is interesting though.

One of the many good things about Germany is the variety of landscape, so you can choose your tour according to how fit you're feeling! Check out this site >> http://www.germany-tourism.co.uk/EGB/outdoors_activities/activity_cycling_experience.htm for all the info on long distance cycle routes.

Enjoy the trip.

[b1ke]

.... Just re-read your question... Regarding travelling by train (if you go down that route), you'll need a bike bag. I use a cheapie from SJS that I picked up on ebay. It is a hassle getting your bike on and off trains in a bag, but then it's a hassle doing it on a plane as well. Do you think 4 panniers are necessary for a springtime tour?

Regarding places being open, I don't think that will be a problem. We were in Germany May 2010 and all the camp sites were open. We never booked and didn't find anywhere full. Not sure about hostels.

Hope this helps.

[psmiffy]

Camp sites in May will not be a problem - The Germans love their camping and get out at he first opportunity - If in doubt buy the ADAC camping book - a bit of a brick - but doesnt take to long too transfer campsites onto a map - can find campsites on the ADAC website but I find it is easier to use the book

As to an area - along the Rhine south of Koln - Moselle or really anywhere south - Northern Germany is a bit flat for my tastes - and the towns and cities a bit mono chromatic

[edwin]

Hi Mythical,

May is definitivly a good time for Germany. In 2011 there are pentacost holidays in June, so no problem. But don't extent your tour to June because, 2nd June is Christi Himmelfahrt, a public holiday that is celebrated as father's day in west Germany and mens day in east Germany. Expect lots of very drunk cyclists and walkers on that day. Most germans will take the 3rd June off and so we have 4 days of holiday in a row and every place to sleep will be booked.
To suggest a tour, I need your details

• How much km/miles per day?
• Interesting landscape or cultural sights?
• How much climbing per day?

I guess Dora is your bike,not your posslq, so you'd need a single room. Except for big cities in wealthy areas you should get along with 30-40 Euros minimum per night in a single room in Pensionen(B&Bs) or Gasthäuser (inns). Youth hostel beds are much cheaper.
Cycle paths with a reasonable density of camp sites are Bodenseeradweg (Lake Constanze), Nordseeradweg (north sea cycle path) or Ostseeradweg (Baltic Sea). May is for the Bodensee perfect, but the baltic sea area can be still quite cold.
Anyway, rain can happen in all areas in May and even frosty nights in May occur in the colder parts of Germany.

Don't hesitate to ask for details

Cheers

Edwin

[Mythical]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. On advice from here and elsewhere, I'm thinking the south, perhaps around Munich, but transport there and back may not allow that in the time I have. I think as I haven't toured on mainland europe before, and my German is shaky to laughable, I might be best sticking to the more obvious tourist areas, though I don't really want to end up in Berlin. I picked Germany to ride my bike and practice my German so it's not particularly important where I end up.

I tried booking flights today. It's not easy getting a bike out of the country by plane is it? I don't really fancy Eurostar either, as that appears to have all the hassle of flying, but four times the journey time and none of the view. How difficult would it be to get on a Ferry, then perhaps onto a train overland - Is it likely I'd still have to disassemble and be parted from my bike?

[edwin]

I think as I haven't toured on mainland europe before, and my German is shaky to laughable, I might be best sticking to the more obvious tourist areas, though I don't really want to end up in Berlin. I picked Germany to ride my bike and practice my German so it's not particularly important where I end up.

Don't care about your German, except for the old east, where people older than 35-40 often were not allowed to learn english at school, it will be no problem to find someone to translate. Even in the trains the announcements are repeated in German. "Sank you for travellink vis Deutsche Bahn" has become a running gag.
At the long distant cycle paths there is nearly everywhere a decent touristic infrastructure. In the remote areas you will be more of an attraction and more people will help you train your German.
Munich is the role model for "big city in wealthy area", so regular accomodation will be expensive.

Some suggestions:

• Mainradweg Fly to Frankfurt-Ride the Main to the source- Railway back to Frankfurt. Or even better from source to Frankfurt. Nice towns, nice scenery, bustling Frankfurt, nice Würzburg, beautiful Bamberg. Crossing famous cider, wine and beer areas
• Mainradweg to Wertheim, Tauberradweg to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Altmühlradweg to the Danube, Danube to Regensburg Starting in Frankfurt; at the end the railway back to Frankfurt. Or fly back from Nuremberg.
• Bodensee-Königsee-Radweg Beautiful alpine scenery, though tough climbs every day.
  

[Gearoidmuar]

.... Just re-read your question... Regarding travelling by train (if you go down that route), you'll need a bike bag..

Where was this??

I've cycled in Germany about 7 times and have never needed a bag on trains. All German non-intercity trains have bike carriages. Maybe you're talking about inter-city expresses??

[eileithyia]

+1 for the Black Forest having visited it twice, it is wonderful. I did not camp but never had a problem getting into hostels even where they were fairly busy. They are not cheap.

Do not forget you can put bikes on buses in many European countries and this was certainly true in Germany last time I was there, so could be used to get to your start point.

[willem jongman]

The Harwich Hook ferry is great and very cheap if it suits you on the UK end. There are propbably still ferry tickets that include a train ticket to any station in the Netherlands. If so, take a local train from there to Rotterdam and an intercity to Venlo in the Dutch far south east, and cycle into Germany from there. Dead easy, and you will not need a reservation on the train.
Willem

[b1ke]

I've cycled in Germany about 7 times and have never needed a bag on trains.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. You need the bikebag for Eurostar and the connecting train from Brussels, not in Germany itself.

[ericonabike]

+1 for the Main Radweg. We went from Frankfurt to Bamberg then got the train back to Frankfurt - absolutely no probs with bikes on internal trains, only on the ICE expresses would you need to bag them. No accommodation booked, just went to the first hotel we came to after about three o-clock - this was in June.

Have you thought about hiring a bike rather than taking your own? We did, sight unseen, from a shop in Frankfurt that I'd found on internet. My guess that there'd be no problem getting a decent 'trekking' bike was spot-on. Otherwise if you fly with bike box you'e need to get an hotel to store it for you, but again, shouldn't be a problem. In the end, just do it! Nothing you've mentioned is as big a problem as it first seems.

[Mythical]

Thanks, Eric.
I had thought about taking my bike, but I'm awkward, and I want MY bike in my holiday snaps. :p (plus I know for certain it's comfy)

Thanks everyone else for the great help and ideas. I'm now pretty certain that I'll be able to get by in Germany, in May, with no bookings, just the way I like it. And I've got a million ideas for future tours too! So far I think I like the idea of flying to Frankfurt and back from Strasbourg (or the other way round) with plenty detours along the way. I think it's was someone on the thread's CrazyGuy blog I was reading and I decided I like the idea. Anyway, i gave myself a deadline of January 9th (my birthday) to decide where I'm going and book it, so I guess there's no more changing my mind cause I have to book the flights tomorrow morning.

I don't really have anything to say on the subject now other than stuff that's already been gone over a million times, so I think I'll go dust off my blog to post all my rambling there and get back to lurking here.

Tschüss!

[tressell69]

Germany in May is an excellent time to go, with weather usually good.
Fly to Munich, then train to Passau and continue towards Vienna with the Danube by your side.
German Austrian Youth hostels excellent 25 euro per night with excellent conti. breakfast.
Private pensions 20-25 euro a night a very high standard.
Check with tourist info on arrival and they ll hook you up with some.
I stayed Passau, Au, Grien, Linz, Krems and Bratislava (Slovakia) with a mixture of Hostel, Campsite, Pension and hotel.
The Danube cyle way is mile after mile of traffic free paths, with excellent towns and scenery
I took the bike wrapped in a big see through bag from Wiggle and I folded it into front pannier for journey home.
Bike was visible and treated with care by airport staff
4 Ortlieb and a tent were transported using a Para bag bought on EBay for 9.99

[petzl]

[quote="Mythical"]I've been talking about going to germany with my bike for months,

As the topic is on-going I will add to the thread.
We (tandem) plan to depart Hull in May arrive Hamburg/Bremahaven and then make our way South camping on route to exit Germany via Bavaria, then head for a Channel Port. We expect to be on the road for 8 -10 weeks, any suggested routes will be welcome. We cycled from The Hook of Holland to attend the Tandem Rally in Osnabruck some years ago. If Edwin reads this, can I contact you via a PM if I think I need any particular information.
Thanks.