A lap of Germany

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I'm off to Germany with two friends next month, to ride what will (very nearly) be a lap of its edges. I have done the same thing in France a few times (always in an anti-clockwise direction, I have no idea why) but Germany will be a first.... and it's clockwise!

The first two days will be a straight motorway bash from Calais to near Hamburg, via Arnhem. We had thought about taking the overnight ferry from Harwich and then doing the Hook of Holland to Hamburg in one bash but decided on the Chunnel and breaking it into two. The reason being that the Hook to Hamburg direct is a longish bash and my friend's wife smashed her hip earlier in the year, leading to a full replacement. Dividing the journey from Calais to Hamburg into two suits her best. From Hamburg it's just a short hop up to Lubeck and the start of lap proper.

From Lubeck, we then take a days ride, along the German Baltic coast to Stralsund for a two night stop. The next day it's a ride around Germany's largest island, Rugen. I had never thought of Germany having islands.... I guess they would have had England had things been a bit different!

From Stralsund, it's a day's ride down to Berlin for three nights. Two full days off the bikes, out and about exploring the city.

From Berlin, a shortish day down to Dresden for two nights, with a full day off the bikes again to have a look about.

From Dresden, it's south, skirting the Czech border to Passau for one night, heading towards the German Alps.

From Passau it's a day's ride to Mittenwald (between Bad Tolz and Garmisch-Partenkirchen) for three nights / two full days doing whatever we like.... I think the mountains will call!

From Mittenwald it's time to swing north again past Munich in a day's ride to Ansbach, for one night.

From Ansbach, it's time to leave Germany and head westwards to France in a day's ride to Meisenthal, for one night. The alternative was to keep heading north past Frankfurt, Hannover and back to Hamburg to complete the full circle. We decided not to, only because we'd be left with a one or two day motorway only bach back to Calais; not a great way to end a holiday!

From Meisenthal, it's another easy'ish day's ride to Ste Menehould near Verdun, for one night.

From Ste Menehould, it's a one day cross-country ride to Wimeraux, on the Channel coast, just north of Boulogne for one night. Again, it's reasonably easy to ride from Verdun to Calais across country and then to home in London in one day but we decided to end the whole jaunt in two.

From Wimeraux, it's an easy run up the coast road to Calais and then to home.


For anyone who might want to do the same thing or similar, I have attached a link to the Garmin file, hosted on DropBox.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rf5rdcc05amyypl/Final - Lap of Germany.GPX?dl=0

The file is a .gpx version so it should open straight up in BaseCamp or Mapsource (other software is available, as they say). It started life on a Mac which DropBox sometimes does odd things to. If it opens as a load of text, check that the file extension ends in .gpx NOT .gpx.txt If it ends in .txt just change its name to end .gpx and all should be well.

For planning the roads to take, I used a variety of German websites and touring books, paricularly the Louis site. They were all in German (of which i speak not one word) but I muddled through in the end.

The hotels I reserved and booked on-line via the excellent Booking.com app and by dipping into TripAdvisor - See list below. Inevitably the hotels in Berlin are expensive but the overall cost I kept reasonably under control by inter-mixing more expensive hotels with cheaper ones. Can anyone do it cheaper, most definitely but I'm now past slumming it. Similarly, can it be done by missing out all / any motorways? Yes, of course it can but that's not the point of this jaunt. It's just a lap of Germany joining up some (not all) of the 'Must do, must see' sites including parts in the north that not so many bods get to.

For maps, I am taking the usual Michelin maps, including the small scale regional Germany maps 541 thro' 546 and Michelin's larger scale map of Germany 719 that usefully takes in parts of Benelux, Poland and the Czech Republic. I'll also have my satnav and may load the OSM maps of Germany too, though all the roads I want to take (even the very small ones) are shown in the Garmin maps already.

Hotel list:

Ibis, St Omer http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-0723-ibis-saint-omer-centre/index.shtml

Trix hotel, Arnhem http://www.hoteltrix.nl

Kino-Hotel Meyer, Haresfeld, near Hamburg http://hotel-meyer.de/en/

Baltic hotel, Lubeck http://www.baltic-hotel.de

Hafenresidenz, Stralsund http://hotel-hafenresidenz.de

Artim hotel, Berlin http://artimhotel.com/en/

Kim hotel, Dresden http://www.kim-hotel.de/en/kim-hotel-dresden.html

Residenz hotel, Passau https://www.residenz-passau.de/index.php/en/

Alpenrose hotel, Mittenwald http://www.hotel-alpenrose-mittenwald.de/english/index.html

Platengarten hotel, Ansbach http://www.hotel-platengarten.com

Auberge des Measnges, Meisenthal http://www.aubergedesmesanges.fr

Le Cheval Rouge, Ste Menehould http://www.lechevalrouge.com

St Jean, Wimereux http://www.hotel-saint-jean.fr/en/

Other 'stuff'... There is a wealth of information out there. All the tourist office sites are good, particularly on how to get about by public transport in Berlin and Dresden. For everything else, the usual Rough Guide To.... and Lonely Planet type books are good, along with the Michelin Green Guide. I flicked through them in Waterstones and decided which one I liked best. There are some great German biking websites, too. Surf away, you can't beat it, would be my advice.
 
I take it the track part that takes you through the Harz region is an alternate route, or maybe just part of a route that you have used to trace over and not deleted.
Peenemünde one of the places i would love to visit, along with many more you passing close to.
 
You are quite right about the track.

It goes up through the Harz but we didn't want to go all the way back up to Hamburg. Nothing against the Harz, of course. It just didn't fit this time around.
 
If you are going near Lubeck worth diverting north to Laboe to the Maritime memorial and U995.
When you go onto Ruegen over the bridge take a right and the road around the east coast around by Sellin takes you through some really interesting traditional hamlets and villages . Don't miss Prora and it is worth visiting Peenemunde whilst in the area
Really nice run down from Straslund via Neustrelitz and Ravensbruck , mainly through lakes and forests once you get past Neubrandenburg.
If you haven't done Berlin before remember most of the museums, bunkers etc apart from the Checkpoint Charlie are shut on a Monday.
If you are in Dresden woth while travelling a little bit east and take in Bastei Bridge
 
How long a trip, is it 21 nights? just asking as its something i may look at doing in the near future.
 
Thanks for the tips, Neil. I am totally unfamiliar with the north and eastern side of Germany on a bike, so doing the lap was a good way of seeing what's what.

We check-in for our first night in Berlin on Monday evening, having the Tuesday and Wednesday off.

I thought about U995 as a bit of an excursion and may yet do it. The only thing I hesitated about is that it'll be my friend's wife's first long jaunt on her bike since breaking her hip and having it replaced. I purposley dropped in some short days just to break it up. Hamburg up to Lubeck is no distance, so we'll see how things go. I'd like to look around Lubeck and have plans for a jaunt around the German peninsula another time.

Good tip about Bastei, that's something I completely missed. I think it might have to wait for another day. When doing a lap, it's really easy to get distracted and, with the days off, we were already up to 19 nights away. We have vague plans for the Czech and Slovak Republics at some point, so I'll be sure to cut it in then. Had it been me on my own, I'd have bashed about in all directions; this time it's a bit more of a holiday.

Sellin, we'll do. Prora, too.

Cheers,

Richard


PS Probably the next big one will be Italy. Right down from top to bottom, coming back via Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica..... Somewhwhat worryingly, I have mapped it out.
 
How long a trip, is it 21 nights? just asking as its something i may look at doing in the near future.

19 nights, I make it. You could do it in less, for sure and / or change the emphasis. For example, we have two full days in Berlin and two full days in the German Alps near Garmisch. We also have the full day in Dresden. Equally, there are loads of small roads up near the Baltic coast and all the other little islands, of which we'll only see some. Lapping countries is fun, as everyday is different to the last.... And we are missing the Harz!
 
Have fun, it sounds like a great trip. I think I've come close to doing a lap of Germany if I added all the bits together but never in one trip so I might file the idea away for future use.

I rode north along the German - Czech Rep. border on my summer jolly this year taking my time using smaller roads and it was great fun. Very reminiscent of the Black Forest but with a lot less traffic so if you're making good time as you head for Passau it's worth a look.
 
When you get to Prora go into the main car park ,but do not park the bike there, you can ride around to the left and onto the landward side access road and ride the full east side of the complex and park outside the museum or the cafes
 
Richard if you have time i can highly recomend Terazin for a visit, google it. your route at its closest is 36 mile away, i know its not possible to do it all due to time constaints, but if you are into that type of thing its well worth a visit.
 
Thanks everyone and thanks for the tips.

I have started a Czech file, so they'll come in handy when the time comes.
 
Richard hotel Trix in Arnhem is good, excellent food and service , sizeable rooms with aircon, just stayed there Thursday night.:beerjug:
 
Between Berlin and Dresden is Meissen, lovely place, but for God's sake, keep out of the china/glass shops. The museum is worth a tour.
 


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