First touristic road to show German's highlights
Biking on the oldest tourist road in Germany: the Romantic Road. Starting in Wuerzburg it takes you down to Fuessen at the feet of the Alps an close to the famous castles of Bavaria.
In the Fifties, tourists came in ever-increasing numbers. Initially, of course, the name became known among American soldiers who took their families on vacation here. However, the Augsburg founders wanted more. Their aim was to rehabilitate Germany as a holiday destination following the years of Nazi terror. With the medieval towns along the Romantic Road, they wanted to show not only Americans but also holidaymakers from all over the world a different, lively and multifarious picture of Germany – a country fully integrated into the history of Europe.
Well… they succeeded. On this Road you will find one delight after another, lined up like pearls on a string: historic town centres, medieval city walls ….equally attractive are the wild, romantic river valleys and fishing lakes and at the end the awesome panorama of the Ammergau Alps. The Long-distance Cycle Trail Romantic Road runs parallel to the Romantic Road on little-used side roads, local link roads and tracks through consolidated farmland and forests.
Equally attractive are the wild, romantic river valleys and fishing lakes. Woods offering shade, an age-old meteorite crater and the awesome panorama of the Ammergau Alps are all there to delight you as you cycle gently past, with sufficient time and leisure to take in all the new and fascinating things there are to see.
They knew what they were doing in the Fifties! We will pick the best part of the cycle trail that is clearly sign-posted throughout. Skip the hilly parts, and find our way in 6 days travelling 460 k. Joining the touring car that has a scenic daily trip on this road now and again, we will bike around 155 miles out of 250 miles. Shuttles are available to skip some hills or miles if you feel like it.
This cycling tour in no way requires the trained calves of the professional cyclist, there are no mountains to cross and no worries about long, exhausting climbs. Even the steeper uphill stretches at the end of our tour do not pose any real problems, even to less well-trained cyclists. The tour is meant for leisure cyclists who want to experience and get to know the countryside, the towns and the inhabitants.
Read moreDay-to-day
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Wuerzburg - Bad Mergentheim 31 miles
Before we start our Tour we definitely advise you to spend some time in Wuerzburg, at least a day ahead of our start. The Residenz is a historic highlight, it’s painted ceilings show the whole world through the eyes of an artist in the 18th century. The mirror room is as glitter and glamour as it gets. And walk on the bridge crossing the river Main and have a drink at the cafe’s on it. The place to be at the end of the afternoon.
We will start at around 11.00 am and will leave Wuerzburg to take you to the start of our tour. We first visit a hidden gem and have lunch. Then: your bikes are ready and off we go, following a river to the first hotel in Bad Mergentheim. “Bad” referring to its Spa. Famous also for its Castle of the Teutonic Order. It’s market place is a collection of buildings showing every imaginable period of history.
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Bad Mergentheim - Rothenburg ob der Tauber 31 miles
Through the Tauber Valley we cycle upstream, and pass through charming villages. At the end of our tour the valley gets a bit more narrow and there are some little climbs on our bike path.
The incomparable silhouette of the former Free Imperial City of Rothenburg ob der Tauber rises high above the Tauber Valley. This city is the most visited little town in Germany. But, tourists tend to be day-visitors, so tonight the town is ours. We will have a guided city walk after dinner.
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Rothenburg - Feuchtwangen - Dinkelsbuehl 36 or 17 miles
Early morning and Rothenburg is still quiet. Lovely to be there at that time.
Today we start cycling to Feuchtwangen for a lunch break and continue to Dinkelsbuehl through forests, meadows, and undulating hills. Some little climbs to master here.
Dinkelsbuehl, described as the most closely packed and best-preserved medieval town in Germany, shows her unspoilt townscape dating back more than 400 years.
It’s our beautiful place for tonight.
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Dinkelsbuehl - Noerdlingen 23 miles
We enter the Noerdlinger Ries here. This flat area surrounded by higher grounds was long thought to be the result of volcanic activity in the prehistoric times. But then US scientists found out that the pieces of rock they were analysing must have been part of a meteorite. A very big one that hit the earth 15 million years ago and left a crater of 12 k, due to earth movements and erosion ending up as a 24 k round area of flat, lower grounds.
We enter the inner circle, an elevation which originates from the impact. We will see the Wallersteiner Felsen that is a part of the remaining hills.
Noerdlingen is the only town in Germany with walls and battlements that can be walked all the way round. 2,7 k, passing 11 towers. Maybe we are still energetic enough to do this round? And even climb the “Daniel” only 350 steps in a 90 meter high Tower. The view will be worthwhile.
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Noerdlingen - Donauwoerth 24 miles
On we go, heading for Harburg, towering above this town is the Harburg, one of Germans best-preserved castles, open for visits. Let’s see if we can bike or walk our bikes up there! And then we continue to Donauwoerth at the confluence of the Woernitz and the Danube (Donau in German). again a Free Imperial Town, originally a fishing settlement on the island in the river. It has an impressive street between the Town Hall and the “Fuggerhaus”.
Our day is not done yet, we are taking a train that brings us to Landsberg am Lech, passing Augsburg and many other stops. We enjoy the scenery and skip quite some miles here
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Landsberg am Lech - Schongau
Along the Lech, yes, again, a river and through the countryside with its acres and woods and grazing cows and little villages we find our way. Nice little villages where time stood still. At the Roman Basilika St. Michael, dated before the 12th century this is the only well kept Roman church, not “spoiled” by the Baroque architects with their overkill of goldplated and exuberant detailling.
We now are clearly heading to the Alps, it’s glorious peaks are nearby and it’s a great panorama we see while we ride. -
Wildsteig - Schwangau (Fuessen) 18 or 31 miles
The foothills of the Alps are great to ride along, some steep hills to cover,we have coffee at the idyllic village of Wildsteig, visit the Madonna(!) and ride to Schwangau. We are in the Alpine countryside, with cows and bells, and the Wieskirche. This very baroque to the max church is a highly visited place in the middle of nowhere. As Schwangau is the place to be for tourists we can prepare for your choice the next day.
Schwangau offers a lot you could do: Visit the castles, starting with the Neuschwanstein castle right out of Disney’s picture books…or should we say very well copied in Disney pictures?
Or join the guide for another loop around the lake or around the “Dreilaender Punkt” (3 country point). Let’s see what we are in for when we get there.
At the end of this day we will enjoy our farewell diner.
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Schwangau
After breakfasts your guided tour ends. Time to say goodbye to the tourleaders. The day is yours to go explore the area!
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Schwangau Time to leave!
After breakfast, it’s time to leave!
How about the best post-trip ever: visit the Oberammergau Passion Play, let us help to arrange this.
This is only happening every 10 years, 2022 is the year replacing the 2020 performances.
Photos
Accommodations
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our cosy "Gasthof" and Hotel on the tour
We will stay in local hotels and “Gasthofe”, as we are far away from big cities and in the middle of the countryside. We will select them on the basis of their customer reviews, offered level of service, available rooms and location. Our aim is to give you the best available options and we will inform you about this when you send us a booking request.
The picture is just a possible hotel, in this case hotel Sonne in Noerdlingen.
Your room will offer a private shower and toilet and comfortable beds. Breakfast will be great and is included. We choose small hotels in the midst of the historic parts of the villages. Costumer reviews at least on the level of 8 out of 10 points.
We prefer historic buildings, offering a modest number of rooms over big (chain) hotels. This tour will give you the real experience of the German hospitality.
Services in detail:
Your tour has been prepared into the finest of details!
Our rates are based on one person, double occupancy of rooms.
Single supplement = € 300,-
- 8 nights in hotels in Bad Mergtenheim, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbuehl, Noerdlingen, Landsberg am Lech, Schongau and Schwangau (2x), including breakfast
- luggage service by Van
- dinners in Bad Mergentheim, Dinkelsbuehl, Schongau and Fuessen (1x)
- (picnic) lunches on most tour days (4x)
- Two bike tour leaders or one bike tour leader and one van driver/tour manager
- guided city walk in Rothenburg
- all transfers during the tour by van or coach
- helmet, pannier and waterbottle
What is not included on this tour:
- Bike rental: Our nice Giant Liv bike is available for 100 euro (2023)
- E-bike rental: on preorder only: 210 euro (2023)
- Excursions, Exhibitions, Dinners/Lunches not mentioned in the day-to-day program
- Drinks during lunches and diners included in the program
- Gratuities for your tourguides/vandriver. Advise: spend 100 euro per person on this
- Travelling to and from your tour
Optional:
Extra night(s)* in Wuerzburg can be arranged on demand
Extra night(s)* in Schwangau or elsewhere can be arranged on demand
*on availability
Considering hiring an E-bike?
Even though this tour is considered easy, the uphill part of the ride does require some leg and lung effort. If you do not like the word “hill”, please look at our other easy bike tours OR: hire an E-bike!
E-bikes are a great way to do this tour without worrying about the effort it might take. E-bikes are trendy in Europe! They make biking as easy as you like it to be, still giving you the exercise and experience you are looking for: the type of e-bikes we use, support you a bit, or more, or a lot. You choose and you still pedalling! It stops when you stop! Save and easy.