Cycling UK Forum

Any thoughts on the best parts for cycle touring in Germany for up to x2 weeks trip, making our own way there by train from the UK?

Graham

We cycled the Rhine by crossing to Le Havre, car hire to Mulhouse, cycle to Basel, trains to Andermatt. Return via Hook of Holland to Harwich.
Mostly free of motorised transport. Downhill and then flat. Lots of countries. Amazing history.

Our possible tour this year is the Elbe. Train to Harwich. Cycle Hook of Holland to The Hague. Sleeper to just north of Prague. Return probably some trains from Germany or the Netherlands to Hook of Holland.

Are either of these interesting? Happy to share thoughts on logistics.

We've also cycled the Danube east from Passau. Nowhere near so interesting unless you're into Baroquery.

Jonathan

I don't know much of it but the Rhine Gorge lived up to expectations when I passed through 2 years ago. If I went again I'd have a day off in Bacharach for a vineyard tour.

Deutsche Bahn have an English language phone line which I find very useful for booking train tickets with bike reservations. In a 10 minute call I had a 4 train full day trip from Zurich - Amsterdam booked with reservations for the bike where required. It was so much easier than trying to piece info together online.

avoid the Rhein - its busy, expensive and largely boring, there are much nicer places to go. Once you've got yourselves to the German rail network the whole country is your oyster. I've covered most of the country to some extent and each region has its own attractions. Do you want mountains, seascapes, gentle riding, a themed trip or mix things up a bit - i've done them all.

The Baltic coast is nice, no major climbing, plenty of campsites/accomodation and a wide variety of attractions, start from Hamburg/Luebeck and head east to Rugen or get the train to Sassnitz and ride back. Another great trip was starting from Kassel and following the rivers east before looping to the headwaters of the Main and following that back to Frankfurt. Otherwise pick an area eg the Eifel Mountains and just explore - there are bike routes and stuff to do aplenty, this works well in hillier terrain as you could stay in one spot and do day rides unemcumbered by luggage.

Rhein Gorge around Bacharach is lovely. The Youth Hostel is a must stay.

The Thuringia Chain of Towns cycle route is fantastic and I would strongly recommend riding it: https://www.thueringer-staedtekette.de/en/

I posted some info on it here - viewtopic.php?p=1783754#p1783754 and some pics are on the second page of the thread.

Romantic way?

Via Claudia Augusta? (Starts in Germany)

Elbe.

These are from my ideas folder- I haven’t done them yet.

Think about places you want to see in Germany and look in cycle travel for cycle routes running through there?

We drove to Luxembourg, trained to Strasbourg then went down the Rhine and up the Mosel. Really enjoyed it.

Thanks everyone much appreciated + lots to think about.

Graham

EV15 down the Rhine in Germany last year (2023) camping was a bit of a nightmare in some sections. Some campsites changed to only contractors and residents (ie ling term stays). Even worse at one place where I arrived 14:00 got setup then thrown out at 17:00.

Previous time I cycled the route (pre-Covid) it was OK but last year camping very difficult in some sections.

Ian

I've collaborated with Munich University for a long time so I've spent a lot of time cycling the area and there are some great routes in the area either just staying in Munich itself for a few days and doing day trips or Munich is easy to get to by train and head off from there. I've often just pottered around following no specific path but there are a lot of classical German towns, castles, lakes, monasteries and breweries to visit. Few minor lumps if you head south from Munich, but heading north there's the Isar river heading to the Danube

CliveyT wrote: ↑2 May 2024, 10:43am I've collaborated with Munich University for a long time so I've spent a lot of time cycling the area and there are some great routes in the area either just staying in Munich itself for a few days and doing day trips or Munich is easy to get to by train and head off from there. I've often just pottered around following no specific path but there are a lot of classical German towns, castles, lakes, monasteries and breweries to visit. Few minor lumps if you head south from Munich, but heading north there's the Isar river heading to the Danube

Wonderful city for wandering about. I've enjoyed every visit for work and pleasure, including the Olympics. Don't miss the Deutsches Museum.

Jonathan

We like nature and that's probably the reason we really enjoyed riding in the Eifel. We eventually joined the Mosel, then Trier, a very interesting town to visit.
Possible to them go to Echetenach, bordering Germany but in Luxemburg. Nice.
I haven't cycled elsewhere so not suggesting any ranking. Just sharing our experience about a less known part of the country, at least here in France.
I don't know about you but river banks are fine with me but in small doses at a time.3 days seem just about right.

I've done a lot in Germany.
Berlin to Copenhagen. Easy, pretty flat. Old East German lake districts nice. Denmark very nice to cycle in.
Trier to Koblenz... have done this several times. Lovely. Some fabulous small towns. Burg Eltz Castle etc.
Have done Rhine from Cologne (Koln) to Mannheim. A lot of it's great. Have gone on Neckar via Heidelberg to Stuttgart. Heidelberg is VERY disappointing. Nothing there.
Romantische Strasse to Munich via Newschwanstein. Have done this twice. Very nice towns. Newschwannstein very disappointing up close. Munich lovely.
Lahntal. Tributary to Rhein. This is great. Fabulous towns. Marburg the pick of them, but Nassau, Limburg, Wetzlar etc lovely.
Did a tour from Munich into Austria and along to Bodensee and a bit around it and back in a boat and along German Austrian border to Konigsee. Boattrip on that in silent electic boat ultramemorable. Then train to Wurzburg and back along Romantische Strasse to Munich.

I cannot agree that the Rhine is dull. We had a really excellent week's family tour from Worms to Koblenz. Clearly different strokes for different folks. It's a nice gentle lazy sort of tour, stopping for coffee and cakes, nice lunches and then schnitzel up in the evening.

I'm amazed that nobody has mentioned the Danube though. Donaueschingen (the official source) then down via Ulm and Regensberg to Passau. Munich is an easy detour. It's a superb route.