Slide show is automatic or click on the first image below slide show and you can scroll through them all.
Click on the first image and you can scroll through them all. (2 images were taken from others as they were more than I could do: Nordlingen from air and and Neuschwanstein castle )
Romantische Strasse Germany Bicycle Ride. It is hard to describe how good this was other than to say it was a bicycle trip of a lifetime!! My enthusiasm for this adventure and Bavaria is so unbridled that sometimes I feel as though it is a dream. Rather than describe it in micro detail which may be boring for some, I'll do my best to hit some highlights even though there were too many to describe. The bicycle ride was about 350km from the river Main down to the Alps. (only about 300 miles). We did the ride totally on our own with maps, a guidebook and my trusty compass. We figured, how lost could we get? (well, a few times, very lost off the beaten track in farm villages where I had to use my very rudimentary German and the great kindness of the people at every turn - the Germans were absolutely great - everywhere) We started the trip in our only pre-made hotel reservation (at the Gastehaus Zur Sonne in Triefenstein, http://www.gasthaus-sonne.de) northwest of a town called Wurzburg. The Gastehaus is family run by the Jessberger family - some of the nicest people we have met. From there we navigated our way onto the Romantic Road bike trail. One village and town was prettier than the previous one; there were beautiful displays of flowers all along the route and in each town. It seemed as though our path was meant to be strewn with flowers.
Each night we stayed either in Bed & Breakfasts or small pension type hotels. Our strategy was to begin to look for a place to stay at about 15:30 each afternoon or when we came to what appeared to be a promising location. In many locations the ubiquitious tourist INFO offices were both indespensible and friendly. We only had a challenge finding accomodation once where we had to ride about 20km to another town. I had a nice head over handlebars crash leaving the town of Wallerstein (without my helmet on of course). As a result however we met the wonderful Seeberger family who we have become more and more acquainted with over the years and hope to visit soon. Having a couple of cracked ribs and looking like I did a few rounds with Mike Tyson I decided to gut it out and get back on the bike after a rest day in the beautiful town of Nordlingen. Literally the bruises disappeared within a couple of days I suspect as a result of moving the blood by biking, the ribs took a bit longer. All in all it only slowed us down for a day.
In a village called Sulzer (named the same as my maternal Grandparents) there was a mobile bakery selling by the roadside - (picture below) we did a lot of carb loading when we encountered that.
Rather than go on and on, suffice it to say that riding the Romantische Strasse in Bavaria is a trip I would heartily recommend to anyone who is in decent physical shape and is looking for a trip they will remember for the rest of their lives. We plan to do it again and I keep threatening my wife that I want to move there. I may get my way. Here is a link: www.romantischestrasse.de
Towns we were in include: the following. I added them all as each and every one had it's unique charm and memories. My favorites are in red. Google some.
Würzburg - Tauberbischofsheim - Lauda-Königshofen - Bad Mergentheim - Wikersheim - Röttingen - Creglingen - Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Schillingsfürst - Feuchtwangen - Dinkelsbühl - Wallerstein - Nördlingen - Harburg - Donauwörth - Augsburg - Friedberg - Kaufering - Landsberg am Lech - Hohenfurch - Schongau - Peiting - Rottenbuch - Wildsteig - Steingaden and Wieskirche - Halblech - Schwangau - Neuschwanstein - Sohenschwangau - Füssen
If you want any information about this contact us - we are happy to chat about the trip and what is needed to make it on your own.