On the bike! The most beautiful bike tours in Germany – from Flensburg to the Alps

From Flensburg to the Alps: Get out of the house, get on your bike: the most beautiful bike tours in Germany

The holidays have started and not everyone can go to Malle. FOCUS has put together the most beautiful tours across the country. With us you will rediscover your home, experience adventure or romance on your doorstep. What are you waiting for?

After all, it is finally getting warm. And at least exercise in the fresh air is still allowed. How nice. In times like these, holidays are ultimately also a question of definition. And if vacation is escapism, then there is probably no healthier vehicle for escaping lockdown than cycling.

Together with the experts from Komoot, we have put together some of the most beautiful routes in Germany, which promise a nice change of perspective not only for the Easter holidays: rediscover your home, make the most of the, well, days off. Another question of definition.

50 free tours on Komoot.de

Komoot started a little more than ten years ago and is a social network, route planner and navigation in one app. With 17 million users, the Berlin start-up has become the most popular platform for cycling and hiking tours. Users upload their routes, share experiences and get inspired.

Using the data from this virtual community, we have curated trips for every level and region. Under komoot.de Our readers can use the code “FOCUS2021” to activate a region for free, provided they are new Komoot customers. In the FOCUSCollection on Komoot you will find a total of 50 great tours.

1. Flensburg coast trip

It starts at the historic port in Flensburg. The Baltic Sea Cycle Route leads over smooth tar along the coast and offers a wonderful view of the water and the fjord. The way back runs on bike paths next to dead straight roads to a small, clear lake to cool off.

  • Start finish: Flensburg harbor
  • Route: 79.1 km
  • Duration: approx. 3.5 hours

2. Elbe dike circuit in Hamburg

Smoothly paved, car-free dike paths – a paradise for every racing cyclist (and of course for other cyclists). The round tour leads over the Moorwerder main dike and the Elbe dike. In Hoopte, take the ferry to the Zollenspieker main dike. Back on land, you pick up speed again and virtually fly back to the starting point.

  • Start finish: Moorwerder main dike
  • Route: 58.8 km
  • Duration: approx. 2.5 hours

3. On the Aller cycle path through Wolfsburg

No, you don’t just drive a car here. The route is surrounded by vast meadows and idyllic wetlands. Ideal for a bike tour. The section through Wolfsburg is urban, but never boring. The tour ends in tranquil Oebisfelde.

  • Start finish: Schloßsee Gifhorn – Marktplatz Oebisfelde
  • Route: 48 km
  • Duration: approx. 3.5 hours

4. Spreewälder Gurkenradweg

At the port in Lübben there is the opportunity to try a juicy Spreewald cucumber. The wonderfully developed bike paths then lead along the rustic, green banks of the Spree through pure nature. There are intermediate stops at the lock at the Dubkowmühle and the Stradower ponds.

  • Start finish: Lübben – Cottbus Pushkinpark station
  • Route: 61.8 km
  • Duration: approx. 4 hours

5. Trails in the Grunewald

Now forget about your racing bike for a moment. Sure, we’re in Berlin, in the middle of the asphalt jungle. Each of the major arterial roads is suitable for a final sprint like on the Champs Élysées. But we’re in Berlin. And that means we have forest. Lots of forest! Pretty much exactly 29,000 hectares of trees, close together. In between there are paths, paths and slopes, ideal for forgetting about the big city for a few hours on a mountain bike.

The tour begins at the Grunewald S-Bahn station in the southwest of the city. It first leads past the Teufelsberg with the imposing listening system used by the Americans from the Cold War era. If you want to challenge yourself at the beginning, turn off the actual route at kilometer 3 and drive up to the 99 meter high Drachenberg, the view over the city is unique!

Past the Teufelssee and the Ökowerk nature conservation center on the shore, you then go deep into the mixed forest. The cyclists initially share the paths with riders, later again and again with dog owners. You can now feel why Theodor Fontane described the Mark Brandenburg as a “sand can”. It goes lively up and down, helmet is compulsory. About the middle of the route you can take a bathing break on the Havel beach, just don’t forget a towel!

  • Start finish: Grunewald S-Bahn station
  • Route: 30.4 km
  • Duration: approx. 2 hours 40 minutes

6. Along the Dresden Windbergbahn

Full steam ahead – the round trip runs along the former route of the Windbergbahn. Often through beautiful nature in the shade of an avenue. The flat path is lined with tracks, renovated station buildings and interesting relics of mining.

  • Start finish: Faculty of Transport Science TU Dresden
  • Route: 35.1 km
  • Duration: approx. 2.5 hours

7. In the Saxon Switzerland National Park

This wild route is particularly suitable for gravel or mountain bikes. It leads across the Saxon Switzerland National Park with its impressive rock formations. Attention: Only paths with the sign “Cycle route in the national park” may be used.

  • Start finish: Bad Schandau spa gardens
  • Route: 50.9 km
  • Duration: approx. 4.5 hours

Read about it: Cover story – I want to go back to the streets!

8. Excursion to the Eifel

The trip through the expanses of the Eifel starts in Kall. The view on the Urft bank is fantastic. A stop at the Kermeter tunnel at Urftstausee is worthwhile before it goes on fine gravel along the Rurtalsperre to Heimbach.

  • Start finish: Kall station – Heimbach station
  • Route: 34.9 km
  • Duration: approx. 3 hours

9. From Nuremberg to Amberg

From Nuremberg the trail leads past Lake Wöhrder, a natural swimming pool with a great view. Then it goes on through the beautiful Pegnitz valley to the next body of water: the Happurg quarry pond. A quick detour to the late Gothic town hall in Sulzbach-Rosenberg before reaching Amberg.

  • Start finish: Nuremberg – Amberg center train station
  • Route: 75.6 km
  • Duration: approx. 5 hours

10. Franconian waterway

This trip starts in the idyllic town of Roth on the northern edge of the Franconian Lake District. It then runs along the Roth to the Rothstausee. After cooling off a little, the path leads over wide fields past the medieval Seligenporten monastery in the direction of Neumarkt / Upper Palatinate. The old town and the castle district are particularly worth seeing.

  • Start finish: Roth – Neumarkt / Upper Palatinate railway station, market square
  • route: 54.1 km
  • Duration: approx. 4 hours

11. Spaetzle Cross to Tuttlingen

The Spätzle Cross crosses the Swabian Alb from Balingen to Tuttlingen. The finale: the ascent to Lemberg, the highest mountain near Gosheim. As a reward, there is a spaetzle stop at an altitude of 1015 meters, before the route partly takes the old route of the Heubergbahn to the “world capital of medical technology” Tuttlingen.

  • Start finish: Balingen station – Tuttlingen station
  • Route: 62.1 km
  • Duration: approx. 6 hours

12. Around the Walchensee

Circumnavigating the Walchensee is almost too good to be true. No matter which direction you look, the view is a Bavarian dream. Rustic forest taverns invite you to take a refreshment break. Due to the few vertical meters and the relatively short distance, the tour is also great for children. The start and end point Walchensee can be reached by bus.

  • Start finish: St. Jakob Church at Walchensee
  • Route: 25.7 km
  • Duration: approx. 2 hours

13. On the beautiful hop loop

Along the Maisach it goes into the Dachau hinterland. On a clear day the view extends as far as Munich and the mountain peaks of the Alps. The tour leads through gently rolling land along wide fields, lush meadows and idyllic villages. Many breweries and inns for cozy breaks.

  • Start finish: Bergkirchen, Am Kalterbach – Aichach, town square
  • Route: 44.9 km
  • Duration: approx. 3 hours

The article is an excerpt from the cover story of FOCUS magazine | No. 13 (2021)

Text by J. Brand, C. Elflein, M. Götting, M. Hurek, S. Laurin, S. Schellschmidt, T. Schuhbauer and U. Wittstock

Here you save a lot of money: This is behind the cheap perfumes from Aldi, Lidl and Co.

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