German Mittelland Route (D4)

[bohrsatom]

As plans for the summer develop, I'm thinking of riding some, most or perhaps all of the German Mittelland route, aka the D4 (cycle.travel link)

The Mittelland (Midland) Route is an A-Z of Germany… literally. It starts in Aachen, by the Belgian and Dutch borders, and ends at Zittau, by the Czech and Polish borders. This is Germany at its widest point, just over 1000km in all.

Has anyone ridden any sections of the route before?

[Galactic]

I haven't done this route, but have cycled around most of the route in the Eifel (the first bit as far as the Rhein), a bit in Hessen and most of the east German part. All really lovely areas, lots of forest and hills, half-timbered buildings, and at the far end of the route, Umgebindehäuser, a fairly unique architectural style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Lusatian_house.

It looks like a lovely route, well worth doing. A few comments below, but if you have specific questions that always helps:

* Quite a hilly route. Not like Devon or the Pennine Way, but still a fair bit of up and down. It looks like the route deliberately stays on the northern edge of the German Mittelgebirge, while avoiding the worst bits (such as the upper reaches of the Saale river south of Jena and the Erzgebirge, Ore Mountain ridge). I think this is a good compromise, giving you the romantic scenery without overdoing the climbs.

* The route goes near or through some lovely towns. If you're into cycle racing then Meerane is worth looking at, specifically the 'Steile Wand, Steep Wall', a tough (13%), cobbled road that was a popular route in the Peace Rides (Eastern Bloc equivalent of the TdF). https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steile_Wand_(Meerane) - German Wikipedia page.

* Just looking at the towns you're going through, there are so many that deserve a few hours playing tourist. Worth looking up the names beforehand and putting together your own personal guidebook. Highlights for me would be: Aachen, Bonn, Marburg, Eisenach, Weimar, Jena, Dresden.

* if Eurostar hold good on their promise to bring back carriage of cycles this month, then an alternative start would be to take your bike by Eurostar to Brussels, and hop on the hourly Inter-City to Eupen (get an add-on to your Eurostar ticket for 10€). From there you can easily cycle to Aachen (lovely city), or join the Vennbahn old-railway route by Raeren and head up to join the D4 around Korneliusmünster. That saves the conundrum of how to get your bike into Germany.

* If you want to get the train back, you can get local trains from Zittau to Berlin (or if you have time, cycle up the Neisse and Oder rivers), then get the sleeper from Berlin back to Brussels (starts end of May, hopefully). Using day trains, it'll take you 11 or 12 hours and a few changes to get back to Aachen (and then you have to get local train across the border or bike-bag if you want to jump on the fast train), so if it were me I'd be going for the sleeper.

[bohrsatom]

It looks like a lovely route, well worth doing.

Thanks Galactic for your detailed reply. The vague plans in my head don't deserve such a thorough response

My current thinking is to start in Dresden then either follow the D4 all the way to Aachen, or to leave the path somewhere in Hesse and head southwest towards Saarbrucken. I've visited both on previous tours, which is kind of the point of the trip: to link up places I've already been with a brand new route. If I leave the D4 I might go for the Bahnradweg Hessen towards the Rhine then head for France somehow.

I'll definitely check out the sleeper. Until now I've been thinking about taking the Harwich-Hook of Holland ferry, a train from Amsterdam to Berlin and finally a train to Dresden. I think I can get from Hook of Holland to Dresden in a day, but the sleeper might be a more stress free alternative!

[Galactic]

Oh, but vague plans are the best kind! It's part of the fun of the winter, to pore over maps and dream of summer routes.

I like your idea of heading off the D4 in Hessen towards Saarland or Alsace. The Lahn river between Limburg and the Rhein (Koblenz) is lovely, further upstream (between Marburg and Limburg, via Giessen) is a little boring, but not unpleasant. From the Rhein the Mosel is the obvious route, but directly across the Hunsrück hills to Saarbrücken is great if you don't mind the up and down.

If you wanted to follow the Bahnradweg Hessen to the end you could then follow the river Main upstream (eastwards, although here it flows from the south) as far as Miltenberg, then head south-west over the Odenwald hills to the Rhein (Heidelberg) and on into Alsace from there or further up the Rhein. Miltenberg and Heidelberg are worth seeing, and, along with the scenery, they fit into the general theme you'd have had from the D4.

Sorry, I'm just dreaming your tour for you now and telling you things you already know. Hope you enjoy your trip!

PS if you have the time, the cycle ride from Berlin to Dresden isn't too shabby, and being fairly flat is a good warm up for a tour.

[foxyrider]

Oh, but vague plans are the best kind! It's part of the fun of the winter, to pore over maps and dream of summer routes.

I like your idea of heading off the D4 in Hessen towards Saarland or Alsace. The Lahn river between Limburg and the Rhein (Koblenz) is lovely, further upstream (between Marburg and Limburg, via Giessen) is a little boring, but not unpleasant. From the Rhein the Mosel is the obvious route, but directly across the Hunsrück hills to Saarbrücken is great if you don't mind the up and down.

If you wanted to follow the Bahnradweg Hessen to the end you could then follow the river Main upstream (eastwards, although here it flows from the south) as far as Miltenberg, then head south-west over the Odenwald hills to the Rhein (Heidelberg) and on into Alsace from there or further up the Rhein. Miltenberg and Heidelberg are worth seeing, and, along with the scenery, they fit into the general theme you'd have had from the D4.

Sorry, I'm just dreaming your tour for you now and telling you things you already know. Hope you enjoy your trip!

PS if you have the time, the cycle ride from Berlin to Dresden isn't too shabby, and being fairly flat is a good warm up for a tour.

Just a point, Heidelburg isn't on the Rhein its on the Neckar which does join the Rhein at Mannheim although you might be better heading straight across to Speyer with its huge cathedral and technical museum.

[bohrsatom]

Travel now booked. Dresden is still the likely start point, although that leg of the journey is amendable so there could be a last minute adjustment to start in Zittau. The journey there is a little involved but more relaxed than flying and so can ease us gently into the trip.

Day 0: Overnight ferry Harwich to Hook of Holland
Day 1: Hook of Holland to Berlin (train to Amsterdam, time for lunch in Amsterdam then the direct Amsterdam->Berlin train)
Day 2: Early morning train from Berlin to Dresden

I think Dresden is just about reachable in one day by catching an earlier train from Amsterdam but I'd rather take things more leisurely.

I've bought the Bikeline Mittelradweg guidebook which I'm slowly digesting with the help of Google Translate, as no English version is available. We will definitely ride as far as Eisenach, the very end of the Thuringia Chain of Towns bike trail (Thüringer Städtekette), then from there will either head NW to Holland, continue west to Aachen or SW towards France. I can spend the next few months making up my mind.

[Galactic]

Sounds great - hope you have a lovely time.

Dresden is still the likely start point, although that leg of the journey is amendable so there could be a last minute adjustment to start in Zittau.

The stretch between Dresden and Zittau is rather lovely, worth considering if you have the extra few days. And another day to divert to Saxon Switzerland (also the Bohemian version on the Czech side of the border) is very worthwhile - sandstone pillar formations thrusting out of the forest. More hiking country than cycling but also good for mix'n'matching, particularly to get away from the touristy areas directly adjacent to the Elbe valley.

PS The area between Chemnitz and Zittau, and also Saxon Switzerland, has an extremely high density of xenophobes and nazis (I use that term mindfully, I'm not exaggerating), so if you or anyone in your cycling group is a person of colour then that is something to bear in mind.

[foxyrider]

I've bought the Bikeline Mittelradweg guidebook which I'm slowly digesting with the help of Google Translate, as no English version is available. We will definitely ride as far as Eisenach, the very end of the Thuringia Chain of Towns bike trail (Thüringer Städtekette)

Given that most of the text in the Bikeline guides is of the turn left, bear right variety, i've never found the lack of an English version an issue as i'll be following the map anyhow.

Try to give yourselves time in Eisenach, The motor museum is well worth a visit and just a short way out of town is the impressive Wartburg Castle. I actually did a loop around Thuringia when i was that way, there's a lot to see from Buchenwald near Weimar to a great model railway at Weihe in the Unstrut valley which is also home to some very pretty towns and archaeological sites.

I'm sort of jealous of your trip but if thinga pan out i'll be in the Eifel/Rhein area myself late summer, I have my new Bikeline Vennbahn guide and enough maps of the rest to sink, well maybe a Rjhein barge!

[bohrsatom]

Given that most of the text in the Bikeline guides is of the turn left, bear right variety, i've never found the lack of an English version an issue as i'll be following the map anyhow.

I bought the guide less for navigation (we'll be using our Garmins) and more for tourist info about the places we're riding through.

When I rode the Elberadweg a few years back I found parts of it really boring - hour after hour of riding alongside floor defences - and after reflecting on the day's riding with some Germans at the campsite I was shocked to hear about the adventures they'd had, visiting castles and quaint villages slightly off the main track. It was as if they were riding a completely different Elberadweg to the one I was cycling but it turned out they just had the blue guidebook in their bar bag

(Thanks for the tip about Eisenach)

[st599_uk]

I found similar on the Rhein radweg - there were boring stretches, but if you deviated by 400m you were in quaint medieval villages sitting having Kaffee und Küchen and chatting with the locals.

The Bikeline guides are better than the Cicerone but you may need to spend some time on Duolingo. If you don't speak German, then if you download Google lens, you can point your phone at the page and get an instant translation.

[plancashire]

I have cycled all over Germany, mostly along rivers, but not on any of the route you are thinking of, so far as I know. I live in Düsseldorf. If you need specific advice about biking in Germany I could help.

There is a wikipedia page in German: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelland-Route_(D4) . It says that because of the topography there are a few sporting challenges.

The Bikeline books are good if you can read German. They come with a downloadable GPX track. I use those on my Teasi bike navigator device. You will turn pages often. Do stop and look at the sights. Some of the hotels, guest houses and cafes will have succumbed to the corona closures, so check before you go. For accommodation I recommend Bett+Bike. You can get a GPX file of waypoints (POIs) if that is any use to you. It works excellently with my Teasi. Link: https://www.bettundbike.de/en/ . OpenStreetMap is excellent in Germany for cycling and much else. In most places the official mappers have made their data public, so all the house numbers are in - compare privatised Britain.

If you want to use trains it is usually easy on local trains (Nahverkehr) but the tickets and rules vary by the region and transport company. Local trains are S, RE and RB - and other R* variants. The ICE expresses mostly do not carry bikes but the IC and EC do if you reserve a place. In the local trains you will have to buy an extra ticket for the bike, sometimes called a Fahrradticket or a Zusatzticket (extra ticket). You can almost always take your bike on a bus in the middle part where there is space for pushchairs, mobility scooters, rollators and wheelchairs. Sorry to be vague, but Germany is a federal country for local transport.

Others have mentioned sights. I agree about the Wartburg, where Luther translated the Bible into contemporary German and had a profound effect on both the German language and the history of Europe. It is said you can see the inkstain on the wall... In Dresden you must visit the Frauenkirche and attend the short service. Look at the present from the people of Coventry. In Bonn the museum of German history has a fascinating collection of household items from 1945 to the present day on a helical ramp.

Ich wünsche Dir vie Spaß!

[bohrsatom]

Months pass, summer arrives and here we are in Germany

We are following the D4 all the way from Dresden to Aachen. The Saxony section of the route has been very challenging. There are lots of ups and downs: we have apparently crossed seven river valleys between the Elbe and Thuringia. It has been a bit disheartening to be pushing the bike up a 12% gradient then get overtaken by two septuagenarians on e-bikes, but you do eventually get used to it! With the hills have been some amazing views and really quite varied scenery. At one point we were looking out across miles of Saxon Switzerland whilst eating ripe cherries from a tree.

The quality of the paths has been poor - often we have been unable to benefit from a descent as the surface has been too uneven - and the signage mostly non-existent so following a GPS is a must.

Dresden is an amazing city, there is a grand castle in Augustusburg and Chemnitz is memorable if not a place to return to.

I feel we are riding this route in the wrong direction as there has been a strong headwind every day so far which makes the unsheltered section a bit of a challenge! Surprisingly enough no other touring cyclists have been spotted in Saxony, but I think this will change as we get through the pretty towns of Thuringia.

[MrsHJ]

Wishing you tailwinds and modest gradients (or at least no pushing) for he rest. Do post some photos when you have a chance and some more ride reports. X

Ps thanks for all those offering train advice- I liked galatic’s ideas- it’s nice to see a clear suggestion about how to get across an area I haven’t visited- gives me ideas.

[plancashire]

To bohrsatom: You will be doing part of the Lahntal-Radweg I see from the map. My wife and I did this but downstream starting from Bad Laasphe. It was enjoyable, with good surfaces. The Bikeline books usually show the surfaces but the colours can be hard to interpret. I suspect they may get better as you leave the Neue Bundesländer (old DDR). Likewise the signposting.

You will pass by some of the towns devastated by the floods about two years ago, mainly in the Ahrtal but also hitting towns in the valleys north of the Eifel and some much further away near rivers. Spend some money there; they need it.

As Bohr's atom, you might be interested in this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Sommerfeld#Aachen.

[bohrsatom]

After Saxony comes Thuringia. The D4 pretty much follows the Thuringia Stadtekette (chain of towns) cycle route from one side of the state to the other. It takes you through a series of interesting and noteworthy places, each one worthy of a day of exploration. Highlights for us were the student town of Jena, home to Carl Zeiss and plenty of bikes, Weimar, one of the most historic sites in the whole country, Erfurt with a lively centre and lots of pretty buildings, Gotha’s imposing town castle and finally Eisenach with the Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther made history.

In between the towns the riding was fantastic. Between Gera and Jena we rode alongside the River Rauda in an area known as the Muhltal where perhaps a dozen old water mills have been converted into restaurants and beer gardens. The road winds through the forest and is idyllic cycling. After Erfurt is the ‘Drei Gleichen’ with three ruined castles visible for miles around.

Biergartens abound and you’re never far from a stall selling an Original Thuringia Bratwurst

All in all Thuringia has not disappointed and I’m starting to think we should have spent all two weeks here!

Pics will follow when I get home - the forum software gets the rotation wrong and I can’t be bothered to sort it out