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Table of Contents
a. German Laws 1) German Wine 2. Tips 10.Trains C. Tours 1. Fairytale 2. Weser 3. Diemel 4. Fulda 5. Altmühl 8. Eder 9. Lahn 10. Spree 11. Neckar 12. Five Rivers 13. Lake Constance 14. Rhine 15. Werra 16. Main 17. Saar-Mosel 18. Elbe 19. Baltic Coast 20. Insel Ruegen 21. Roman Route 22. Pader 23. Leine 24. Nahe D. Contact Us E. Links 2. Bike Rentals F. About Us G. Legal Stuff H. Feedback
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Thinking of taking a bicycling holiday in Germany? Here is a broad overview of what you may find when you do. Germany is bicycle friendly, more so than other western European nations. You will find information about maps, bicycle theft, and some "just riding down the path" impressions. You can dig deeper by clicking on the links on the left. Personally, I like the German Wine page best and after that the German Food & Drink.Did you miss our Home Page? Did you notice our Table of Contents on the left?
The German Tourism industry and the federal train system (Deutsches Bundesbahn," but just "DB" or Die Bahn) have cooperated in making the entire country “bicycle friendly.” In Germany, individuals, groups, and entire families take bicycling vacations for a week or more. Some camp out in a Campingplatz but others use the local hotels, guesthouses (Gasthaus and Gästehaus), bed and breakfast establishments like Pensions and, our favorite, Zimmer. See "Want to find a hotel below." The country is well suited for this type of recreation for the following reasons: much of Germany is flat, river valleys and canals are plentiful, signed bike routes are well documented, and marked hiking trails are everywhere. It is easy to find your way around in Germany. A friend once told me of his negative experience bicycling in Germany 30 years ago. He complained it was like a “blood sport.” However, he rode on the roads with the cars for two reasons; he did not have a map showing the bike paths and there were few signed bicycle routes back then. We almost never ride on high-traffic roads; most of the time we are on some type of bike path or at least a low-traffic road. Currently, according to ADAC Motorwelt, July 2004 issue, there are over 50,000 km (31,000 miles) of signed bike routes and 150 separate trails. At this revision, August 2008, we have ridden only about 10,000 km of this in 26 separate tours. Obviously, we have a way to go before we run out of material. By the way, if you hike, there are over 190,000 kilometers (118,000 miles) of signed and mapped hiking trails. That is one long hike man. Maps: Every community has established their own signed bike routes. You can frequently obtain free maps from these communities or at many of the hotels. In addition to the plethora of community bike routes, there are the mapped and signed long distance routes. Information on these can be found by contacting the German Bicycle Club, the ADFC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad Club). See the Links page for a direct link. One can buy maps from Amazon.de too. Just type in “cycling maps” in the search window and you will have several links to follow. Most of the time, we use the bikeline series from Esterbauer Verlag. You can contact them directly by email. Cycling maps vary in resolutions from 1:125,000 to 1:25,000 and you can purchase them at almost any bookstore or train station. For my purposes, the most useful scale is the common 1:75,000 but I met some Dutch riders once who had been averaging 250 km per day and they wanted smaller maps that covered much more ground than I like. The beauty of maps is they seem to be an international signal that you might be lost and may need help. It seems that whenever we pull a map out and stare at it, someone will stop and ask us where we want to go. They will then give you advice. Unfortunately, sometimes it is not 100% accurate advice especially if the giver has not ridden a bicycle in years. On the Kocker River, we were told to take a route that involved long steep hills when if we had stuck to our map, we would have avoided the hills. On the other hand while riding down the Lahn, we were offered direction by the driver of a big black Mercedes Benz, he said we should follow him and he led us – driving at our speed – for half a mile to our destination. Most of our experiences in getting directions or help have been positive, even fun. Bicycle Theft in Germany: Germany has a high incidence of bicycle theft. I lock my bike almost every time I leave it. I am sensitive to unlocked bicycles and I see a few, but very few. When in a train station for example, I take my bike inside, right up to the ticket window or just outside the shops. I see a lot of people doing that. If my bike will be out of eyesight even for a minute or two, I quickly lock it up. I have not had any experience with theft in campgrounds but I have a strong suspicion that all bikes are locked, if not to themselves, then to a tree or a post. Any bicycle bags are in the tent, if there is one. I doubt if there is much theft except for the opportunists who are looking for an easy mark and an unlocked bike is an easy mark. In over 10 years, we have never had anyone steal anything or even notice anyone paying attention to bikes except when we are standing with them, like on a train platform. Our bags are inexpensive to begin with and well broken-in (read this as shabby and worn-out). The fancy bags, like the ubiquitous Ortleib bags, may attract more attention from thieves but not for the contents rather for the bags themselves. Ortleib has an undeserved elevated status among German cyclists. When I bought my new bike in 2007, I choose a common brand with common equipment and accessories so it would blend in a little. Nevertheless on the seat post, I did away with the quick disconnect in favor of a nut and bolt because the seat post shock absorber costs over €100 by itself. With a quick disconnect, a ne'er do well can upgrade his own bicycle in 0,0 seconds. When we stop at a church or a museum, we might leave most of the bags on the bikes and lock them together while we go inside. However, since we were warned several times in Strasbourg about theft, we became a little more religious. Nowadays, one of us remains with the bikes while the other goes inside. At a museum though, I just bring the most valuable stuff (electronics, wallet, passport, etc) inside with me and take the chance with the rest of it. I would actually enjoy the opportunity to purchase all new clothes and bags as mine are all old and worn. I would get a little sour about having to buy a new bike while on a tour somewhere away from our home base in Kassel. We live in Kassel, Germany for three months each year and have friends and family here. Everyone has a story about stolen bikes either their own or someone they know. The common thread is the stolen bikes are unlocked at the time of theft. However, we both ride nice bikes and would not want them stolen. So if we do lock them up, I try to leave them in a very public place. To cut or break a bike lock, even the cheapest lock, takes a few seconds at the most. I think most thefts are done by amatures who spot an unlocked bike. The professional with bolt cutters or liquid nitrogen (spray it on metal for a few seconds and the metal is so brittle it breaks when you hit it with a hammer) will get your bike no matter what you do. There are not many of these Profis, thankfully. Bicycling is ingrained in the German culture. According to the Grosser Fahrrad-Atlas Deutschland by Mair Geographischer Verlag, Karl von Drais invented bicycling over 175 years ago. (Of course, the first bicycle did not have pedals or a chain: you had to push it along with your feet like a scooter except that you sat on it so one could use both feet to push.) It is rare to find an adult German who did not grow up riding a bike and whose children, parents, and even grandparents probably still ride bikes. This fact makes drivers and pedestrians understanding and accommodating to bicycle riders (unlike here in the US). The only drawbacks about bicycling in Germany are a slight shortage of campgrounds in some areas and some of the castles are on top of steep hills (darn it). You can solve the campground problem by getting a good guidebook listing them. Sorry, we cannot solve the castles-on-the-hilltops problem. On a typical tour, we ride most of the time on asphalt (tarmac for the UK folks). However, during a typical day, a rider may encounter many different surfaces including pavement, gravel, cobblestone, and even dirt footpaths. Until I discovered deep sand, I used to think that cobblestone was the worst of all road conditions. Cobblestone roads are dangerously slippery when they are wet. Narrow tires (1 1/4 inch or narrower) make all but the best paved surfaces more dangerous. Routes may take riders though small villages and larger population centers. In these centers, you may cross railroad or streetcar tracks that can be dangerous, especially for narrow tires. When riding on cobblestone, the gap between one row of stones and the transition to the sidewalk or a streetcar lane could be wide enough to grab a tire. Only recently has Germany passed laws similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that mandates curb cuts and other accommodations for the physically challenged segment of the society. If you ride on the sidewalk, be prepared to go off the curb at the end of the block. Even when there are curb cuts they can be bumpy. The marked bike paths may take riders to what seems like the wrong side of the road at times but that is normal. One solution to some of the problems endemic in large towns and cities is to take public transportation like a bus or streetcar through town. You can bring your bike right into the bus or streetcar if there are no bike racks in the conveyance. Normally the bikes ride free but you have to buy a ticket for yourself. Just do not try to do it during the rush hour; during rush hour, bikes may be prohibited on busses and streetcars. Bicycles usually go into the spot where baby carriages and wheel chairs go. If you see someone with one of those, you have to yield your spot; even if it means getting off the bus. Another tip, do not use buses or street cars with more that two riders - you will overwhelm the capacity to handle bikes and the driver will refuse to let some on board. Fortunately, the routes in the guidebooks are designed to keep cyclists off heavy traffic highways and arterials. Most of the riding for our tours are on bike paths where there is light or no automobile traffic. Route guidebooks are available in large bookstores and some bicycle shops. You may even find a couple bike guidebooks in English, like the German and Austrian Danube routes. These English additions are rare I will warn you. But the guidebooks in German are useful even if you do not speak a word of Deutsch. A map is simply a picture so language is unimportant. In the back, a list of overnight accommodations and bike stores is also pretty much self explanatory. Guidebooks list the name, address, and phone number. Sometimes there is an always inaccurate listing of price category too. In the countryside, the routes are likely to use paths that designed for farm vehicles and/or hikers. You can expect a variety of surfaces as described above. In addition, mopeds and low power motorcycles (such as are sold in most bicycle stores) may be able to use some of the bicycle paths. Hills are common on many routes but the steep ones are marked on most good bicycle maps and guidebooks. Pushing your bike up hill is not an embarrassment – it may be a necessity. If, like us, you belong to the Over-Fifty-with-Bad-Knees Club, you will push up a few hills. One will rarely encounter stairs or steps (except in train stations where steps are common – but sometimes there are elevators too). There is an interesting cross section of the society on any given weekend on the bike paths. There are many young people doing exercise rides in tight spandex. I have observed that good tight spandex suit is quite interesting but darn hard to keep up with. There are also a few long distance riders. You can spot the long distance riders easily because their bikes are loaded with panniers, tents, sleeping bags, etc. (We carry a few bike clothes, cash and a credit card.) I sometimes think the largest population on the bike paths is the over 60 crowd. Bicycle clubs with people (of all ages) wearing some type of uniform are also a common sight. Adults will frequently combine a bike ride with a social outing. Getting together with friends and riding a few kilometers to a restaurant for Kaffee und Kuchen is a frequent form of socialization. You will see sixty-something and seventy-something women wearing dresses and sporting earrings and bracelets riding happily along at 7 mph. Chances are the seventy or eighty-something men just behind them are trying to think of opening lines to use to meet these young chicks. We have met several seventy-something people with fully loaded bikes on bike tour vacations as well. There may be a limit to physical ability but there is no age limit. And just how friendly is bike riding in Germany? In parts of the US, red necks driving pick-up trucks try to force bikers off the road. (I hate them for their arrogance and ignorance.) In Germany by contrast, nearly every vehicle will cross the centerline to give bikers a wide berth. I cannot count the times cars and trucks have slowed to my speed for a block or more when passing me would have crowded me to the side of a street or road. This is because the streets are narrow and drivers are used to sharing the road with bikers, parked cars, pedestrians, or people on in-line skates. Yes, you will have to ride on some streets in Germany – but it is much safer than riding on streets in the States. Getting around Germany by rent-a-car is easy too. If you brought your own bike and plan to rent a car, you will have to solve the problem of how to carry the bike on or in the car. There I cannot help you much except to say that very few rental agencies, if any, rent bike racks. I believe the laws concerning bike racks in Germany require the tail lights to be clearly visible. Thus, most bike racks are car top racks. Those racks that do hang off the back of the car have a second set of lights outboard from the bikes. These need a trailer hitch to mount on and can cost about €450 or more. Getting to the start of the trail is very simple but what do you do with the car while you are on the road? I suggest you work out an arrangement with your first overnight accommodation. You may be able to leave it in the hotel parking lot or on the street in an appropriately signed area – but check first. Another option is long term parking at the train station. Again, you will have to confirm this option before leaving your car. The last option (which I do not recommend) is to take it to the place to which the police will have it towed when you park inappropriately. At least you will know where to find in when you return.
Revised: June 26, 2009
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