The Altmühltal Bike Trip

We have done a summer bike trip for some years now. Each is interesting and/or wonderful in its own way, and I have thought for years that the Danube trip was the best ever.  Rethinking that now.

The Altmühl is a river that goes through a valley in northern Bavaria. It's full of fossils and weird rock formations and green fields and little villages and forests and such lovely vistas.  We'd visited there some years ago and were happy to revist.

Of course we plan ahead and again we used a travel service where hotels are pre-booked and they transport your bags from place to place so all we have to do is cycle. We made our plans thinking we'd take our own bikes, but some four weeks before our trip, the Deutsche Bahn let us know we couldn't take our bikes on our planned trip! Not nice. After looking at the options, we decided to rent bikes. GREAT DECISION. Trains were really full and it would have been a chore to get our bikes on and off the trains.

The trip was from Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Regensburg, about 300K (186 miles), 7 nights, 6 days biking, averaging 50K per day. With e-bikes, a very doable trek.

We'd been biking regularly - sorta - to get ourselves in shape for the trip, and bought new biking pants to cushion our bums.  Both were good ideas.

The train left home at 8:30 and with delays (there are always delays) we arrived in Rothenburg at 4:00. We checked in at the hotel (every one was good or great!)

and then checked out the bikes - which needed adjustments. In fact, mine needed adjustments we couldn't do ourselves (didn't have the right tools) so we planned a first stop to the bike shop in the morning. 

We had dinner in the Biergarten, of course!  It seems you can always find vegan and vegetarian items on the menu, but meat is king here. And Werner, I have to say, is a guy who likes meat on his menu.

The program from the bike tour folks included a tour of the city with the "Night Watchman" at 9:30 (that's late!!) but we found there was an English tour at 8:00 so we ate earlier and got that tour. Lots of fun! The guide was funny and informative and afterward we got organized for the next day's start.

BIKING DAY 1 Rothenburg to Herrieden

After breakfast, we saddled up and found the bike shop and a very tattooed and very competent lady got me adjusted to my bike. After another short look at Rothenburg, off we went!

It took only a few minutes to get out of town and into the countryside, and that is where we would spend the vast majority of our biking time - in the countryside. There were very few stretches on roads, mostly to get over bridges, and most of the places we stayed were villages.  How nice!

There were acres and acres of grains! Wheat, rye, and here, the barley that is essential for all the beer they brew here.

But it's dangerous, too! This sign warns of a fungus on the trees that can make you sick. Yow. Not only wolves in the forest can get to you.

Little villages along the way. Each has its own Maibaum - a May Pole. They challenge each other on who can put up the tallest! This one did not win.

Fields and sky. You'll see more of this type of photo.  The landscape is so lovely.

Golf is an elite sport here.  It takes money, like in the US, but land is harder, and more expensive, to come by. The sign says (sorta) WATCH OUT! You're going through a golf course and you might get whacked by a golf ball, and if you do, you have been warned and it therefore isn't our fault so don't even think about suing! 

But hey, what a view from the green!

I am not entirely sure, but this may be the beginning of the Altmühl, the river we're going to follow for a few days. It starts small, of course.

Like I said, lots of small towns along the way, and many have town gates that date from the middle ages. 

Here, part of the old town wall and the homes built into the wall.

Outside the city gate the fields, here with corn flowers and daisies. So lovely.

Doors.  I really like doors and door handles. This one from a church. The Catholic churches are always open during the day. Hard to find protestant ones open except on Sunday...

The exteriors are rather modest, and the churches rather small, but the interiors are often breathtaking.

Storks! There were lots of storks in this area, nests on the roofs and on the stands that folks set out. We saw lots of storks in the fields, too, looking for goodies to eat or take back to the baby storks.

BIKING DAY 2    Herrieden to Wettelsheim

It's Thursday, Corpus Christi. Not something I ever knew growing up, and not celebrated in northern Germany, but a big deal in the south - and a holiday. We found that there would be a procession and I had expected something like what we'd seen in  Mittenwald - folks in their traditional costumes and more formality, but no. Not here. The had the banners and there was a small band that marched along and played a bit, but the parishioners were in their jeans and t-shirts and whatevers that were less than, IDK, impressive.  

But there were fresh flower decorations outside of some homes - wheat, peonies, daisies - making pictures. 

Next door to the main church was the "Notre Dame" or "Liebfrauenkirche."  It was much older and had painted interiors.  I always think of needlework patterns when I see these.

And the grotesques! Carved on the end of the pews.

This little town was surrounded by a wall and a dry moat and much of it survives. Can you imagine the digging, the diggers, the work that went into building such a fortification? I can't.

 The old stone bridge over the Altmühl leading out of Herrieden.

The day was pleasant and with no particulars to point out. We had wind (as we did every day) and at lunch time had our sandwiches on a bench in the shade of an old church in Gunzenhausen and looked at the umbrellas over the street and the lovely old house across from us.

Later, our beer, it was Wet.

BIKING DAY 3  57K Wettelsheim to Wasserzell/Eichstät 

It was a very windy, wiggly day along the Altmühl - Wettlesheim, Treuchtlingen, Pappenheim, Zimmern, Solnhofen,  Altendorf, Dollstein, Breitenfurt, Schernfeld, Wasserzell and finally Eichstätt.

It's warm today and so no jacket and I HAVE NO POCKETS. What a pain. So we shop for a little purse to hold the cell phone and find one rather easily. Neat. Get some money, buy some fruit and off we go.

First stop, Karlsgraben, the end of the channel that was supposed to have been dug during reign of Charlemagne (Karl der Grosse). Yow. It seems just a muddy dead-end these days, but was quite the marvel of logistics and engineering in the day. Trade by river was much more reliable and safer than overland.

In Pappenheim we paused at the church and ate an apple in the shade and took a peek inside,

and looked up at the castle ruins. We were not tempted to climb.

But there are folks there with a sense of humor - or women, I suspect.  The local public office had little covers on the shutters, knitted, in clever patterns.

We are along the river most of the day, with views of fields and hills beyond.  Lots of campers along the river, kayakers, paddleboarders.  

The landscape is all lovely but today is also something special, the rocks they call The Twelve Apostles. I read it is the most photographed scene in all the the Altmühltal. But if you want to see it, you have to leave your car - there are no roads going by this area in the national park. Bike, walk, paddle, but no driving. 

This pic is from a bit further on and the stones not nearly as big. Really, really impressive.

Though we're staying in Wasserzell, it is a village and we need some provisions so a quick trip into Eichstätt and a few pictures, but we will return tomorrow. 

Wasserzell is very small, but quiet and the restaurant is good - and busy! Tonight we shared a bit of steak.  I know better, but every once in a while I give in. It was OK, but I really should wait to go to the US to have a steak.

BIKING DAY 4  Wasserzell/Eichstätt to  Beilngries  55.5K

After another bad night of not sleeping well, we set out to take in a bit more of Eichstätt.  What a pretty place!

Here's a BIG sun dial!

The way into town is along a waterway with swans and water lillies. 

Lucky us!! It's market day, and the market folks are out there selling flowers and herbs and fruits and veggies and cheese and meat and it's always, always nice to stop by an outdoor market. I never tire of them.

It's a beautiful city and I have to come back sometime. We were there once in 1990 - that is a while.

We pick up a few edibles and head out. But there is construction along the path and we have to ask a random group of bikers who seem to be waiting for their guide where we should go.  And they had the answer! A detour, not the first we would encounter that day. Who cares? Every view is lovely.

Along the first detour, we went through a small village where it seemed there was a festival going on, but it turned out to be a group who like to live like the folks in the middle ages, at least for a week or two in the summer.  Cooking outdoors, no electricity or modern stuff -- except for the portable potties outside their encampment. Reality playing only goes so far.

The next detour took us along a path where the foresters were thinning the trees. TIMBERRRRR!

We reach Beilngries after, I don't know, 13 or 14 times crossing the river. 

Everyone seems to be celebrating. Love it!

We're still full from breakfast and our sandwich at lunchtime by the river, so Leberknödelsuppe (soup with a liver dumpling) and Spätzle with cheese and fried onions on top.  Pretty good!  And the hotel was super, too.

Here, my feet on the floor of the entrance where the stones were laid in the 15th c. Geeze.

After walk we figured an ice cream was in order. I got fig-walnut and Werner got chocolate-caramel.  Nice end to the day.

BIKING DAY 5 - Beilngries to Kelheim

This is the day Werner decides to experiment with the biking pants. Do they really make a difference?  Shortly after our start, he decides the pants are really nice. Sadly, they are not with us.

Before leaving town, we greeted this cutie fishing from the old bridge.

And we have more prettiness to look at. Poppies are always eye-candy.

And here, blooming linseed - great for oil and for Müsli.

It's windy, again!!  And again there are a few detours. We take the first one but decide after seeing bikers coming from the way we were supposed to go around, just powered through. Good, not good. It was shorter, for sure, but we had to push the bikes through some heavy gravel where they were reworking the roadbed. OK. It worked. 

Today, we lost the Altmühl, little by little. It showed up in patches, but was basically subsumed by the Canal and the Danube.  A sad ending, I think.  When rivers converge, it is a lot more natural than this. Oh well....

There are several fortresses along the way, castles way up on rocks overlooking the whole countryside and the river so the other guys won't surprise you.  

We had a choice of two routes to the goal for the day and took the shorter one thinking we'd get there in time to take the boat tour to an island where there's a brewery, the oldest monastery brewery in Germany. That's saying something!  But we were too late for the to and from, so we just checked in and relaxed. It was a taxing day.

Our hotel, there at the medieval town gate (one of four!).

Our hotel restaurant is closed for the day, so we walked around, took in the sights. There are four medieval gates into the town still standing; our room is right next to one of them.  With cobblestones. And traffic.  

Lovely.

BIKING DAY / LAST  Beilngries to Regensburg

Another pretty day! We buy a couple of bananas and some snacks and head out. A little bout of discomfort with my inner parts decided that we would NOT visit the (grotesque) memorial on the hill.  Maybe next time, maybe not.

Over the pedestrian bridge and on our way.  It is a really short day of biking.  We run into a group of Americans that we've seen before - they seem to come from different places and met up here, some on regular bikes, some on e-bikes, so they have to make stops now and again to get the group back together. I'm sure that's a fun way to do a trip in Europe if you're on your own, but it reminds me what I like about our trips alone - we stop when we want, for pictures, for a rest, for a sip of water, for more pictures, for a look at the beauty of it all (or for Werner to blow his nose). Above all, it's not a race!

Along the Danube.

Our lunch was at a quirky little Biergarten that seemed more Italian than German but was fun and different.

Regensburg!

 It's bigger than any town we've been in and the old city is a warren of streets and the hotel is hard to find!! But when we do, it is great - 4 stars, a lovely old place and a quiet room on the inner courtyard. Yay!

They have no restaurant, but there are so many to choose from.  We're done in, though, and opt for an Italian place because it's easy. And it was good, too. A stroll around the old city afterwards makes me want to plan another trip to Regensburg - it is really lovely.

So, done with the trip.  

DAY LAST

Our train leaves at 9:15 so we are up early for our amazing breakfast in an elegant and spacious room where the server greets us by name. Wow.

Getting home was a chore and we were once again really, really, really glad we didn't bring our own bikes!! Trains were all full, some were delayed and we even had an unintended detour when a false signal sent us in the wrong direction and we had to backtrack. Only a 2 1/2 hour delay getting home!  

But home we got. Slept in our own bed.  Slept.  

Assessment:  Great! Five stars!  Wonderful tour, hotels, food, sights, and as ever, wonderful company.