Main: winery tour

Main wine tour

If you want to get to know the Main Bike Trail and the Franconia wine you are right on this trip. From Schweinfurt to Aschaffenburg you discover the most beautiful section of the Main cycle path. In the Franconian wine country wine characterizes not only the landscape but also the lifestyle of the people. At the start and at the end of your trip you stay in good middle class hotels. During the tour you stay in selected wineries and wine hotels. Of course you create your own image about the skill of the winemaker on site, as this trip includes 3 wine samples. Enjoy Franconian hospitality, fine wines and traveling a very well-signposted flat bike path.

1. day Schweinfurt Arrival

We recommend to arrive early, then you have enough time to visit the remarkable "Kleine Museum". Marvel at more than 100 works by the Austrian artist Hundertwasser, because this unique private collection is supplemented by loans from galleries from Germany and New York.

2. day Schweinfurt - Sommerach 40 km

Today you start your first tour. After 18 km the first vineyards appear at Wipfeld. A beautiful bike course takes you through small wine villages in the heart of the Franconian wine country through the Volkacher Main loop, the largest contiguous vineyard region of Franconia. Enjoy the picturesque village Sommerach with its baroque houses and half-timbered wineries. In the afternoon we recommend a guided wine tour. You will learn about the Sommeracher vineyards, about hundred years of history of the wine cellars and the craftsmanship of the winery (every Friday, Saturday, Sunday at 3pm ).

3. day Sommerach - Sommerhausen 42 km

Quickly you arrive in the old town of Dettelbach. You will be fascinated by the almost completely preserved city walls, many small towers, cobbled roads and picturesque rows of half-timbered houses from the late Gothic and Renaissance. Shortly afterwards you reach Kitzingen, the largest wine trading city on the Main. Marvel at the historic market square dominated by the Franconian half-timbered houses, impressive town houses and the Renaissance town hall. Cycle on to Ochsenfurt. Admire the new town hall from 1515 with lance turrets and elaborate figure- and moon clock before you continue to cycle to Sommerhausen. Look forward to the old town with townhouses and wine-growing houses surrounded idyllic by a well preserved defensive wall.

4. day Sommerhausen - Karlstadt 40 km

Cycle through the romantic village Eibelstadt, whose historic city wall surrounds many attractions. Shortly before Würzburg you cycle through the picturesque wine village Randersacker, where wine grows since 779 AD. Here the first wine school in Franconia had its origin (in Randersackerer Mönchshof). You cycle the bike trail to the beautiful city of Würzburg. Here you marvel at the market square, the town hall, the old Main bridge, the imposing fortress and the Lady Chapel with its sandstone figures by Tilman Riemenschneider. The highlight is the former bishop's residence, which was built 1720 - 1744 according to plans by Balthasar Neumann. In its unity it is regarded as one of the most beautiful palace buildings of South German Baroque. Through Himmelstadt with small organic wine trail you cycle to the worth-seeing Karlstadt. Go on an expedition in the old town surrounded by ancient walls, towers and gates.

5. day Karlstadt - Homburg 28 km/ 42 km or 58 km

Now the landscape is changing and the characteristic viticulture disappears and shady forests mark the bike path. In only 10 minutes (Karstadt - Gemünden) or 25 minutes (Karlstadt-Lohr) by train, you can shorten the stage of today. No matter how you decide, Lohr will welcome you with the charm of its fairytale old town. The bike path runs directly along the banks through the beautiful town of Marktheidenfeld with its venerable parish church and Franck-house (1745 built by wealthy wine merchant Franz Valentin Franck). Enjoy the romantic wine village Homburg and the vineyards, which now again enrich the landscape.

6. day Homburg - Bürgstadt 46 km

Today the wooded hills come close together, through which the Main winds. Passing Wertheim with a graceful half-timbered houses and a narrow old town you cycle mostly right on the shore and enjoy pure nature. In Bürgstadt you rediscover vineyards, where mostly red wine grapes grow. It is a pretty jolly wine village and offers small delicacies in the "Häckerwirtschaften". Look forward to the Red Wine Hiking Trail and the Martin Chapel with unique interior decor.

7. day Bürgstadt - Aschaffenburg 46 km

Only a few kilometres away you reach Miltenberg, which proudly presents itself with half-timbered houses! Marvel at the magnificent market square - better known as "Schnatterloch". Parallel to the Red Wine Hiking Trail you cycle to Großheubach. Wine determines the life in the village since 1254. On flat roads you quickly cycle through Klingenberg, where also excellent red wines are grown, to the sandstone Castle Johannesburg in Aschaffenburg.

8. day Aschaffenburg Departure

Today your beautiful wine tour ends after breakfast in Aschaffenburg. Return by train is possible. If you want to go back to the first hotel (Hotel Schweinfurt), we recommend our quick back transfer service (Departure every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 9am, it takes about 2 hours).

Worth knowing about your Main vintner´s tour

Please find more information about the Main vintner´s tour bike trip below. If you have any further questions feel free to contact us by phone: 0049 - (0) 6421 - 886890.

Arrival by train

Schweinfurt is easily accessible from all major cities in Germany by train. We recommend to take a taxi from the station to get to our partner hotels in Bamberg. Current schedule information and price information can be found at: www.bahn.de.

train schedule

Parkfacilities at the hotel

Our partner hotels always provide parking possibilities. Sometimes even free of charge, for the entire duration of your bike trip. There are always plenty of parking spots available, pre-reservation is not always necessary. Detailed information on parking at your hotel, you will receive together with the travel documents two weeks prior to departure.

Condition of cycle paths

The quality of the bike tail is very good. There are practical no unpaved or poorly developed path. The route runs almost exclusively on paved roads and is very well signposted. The volume of traffic varies, but between Schweinfurt and Aschaffenburg there is almost always a seperate bike trail on the right or left shore side, off the main road. Detailed information about which shore side is best to cycle on, you will receive together with the detailed travel documents two weeks prior to departure. 

Available rental bikes

If you choose to rent a bike for the tour, we bring it to your start hotel. You can choose between woman’s and men's bicycles either with 7-speed gear shift and backpedal brake, 21-speed gear shift and freewheel or electric bikes. All ladies' bikes have a low opening and the bikes are suitable for all ladies from 150 cm in height. The men's bikes are available in various frame sizes for all gentlemen from 165 cm in height. Velociped rental bikes

Transfer back to the starting point of the journey

Every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday there is the possibility to return to Schweinfurt by transfer by minibus (with bike transport trailer) (departure approx. 09:00, duration approx. 1,5 hours later). The driver comes to your hotel and has room for you, your luggage and for your personal bike. The return transfer by bus will bring you back to your start hotel without any circumstances and efforts.

Extra costs which are not included in the tour price

A possibly applicable tourism tax is not included in the tour price and has to be paid locally.

7 day hotline service

Just in case the bike chain breaks, flooding makes it impossible to continue your tour or any other nasty surprise: You can reach us seven days a week and we will do anything to help you as fast as possible.

Passport and visa requirements

For EU citizens, there are no special passport or visa requirements and no health formalities to be considered for this trip.

Travel insurance

The tour price already includes the statutory insolvency insurance. In addition, we recommend that you take out travel cancellation insurance upon receipt of your travel confirmation in order to protect yourself against financial disadvantages in the event of travel cancellation, interruption of travel, illness or accident.

Schweinfurt

Schweinfurt - Industry and Art: With this motorway sign visitors have been welcomed for quite a few years to a city which was known for many decades in Germany and far beyond as the Ball Bearing City. Schweinfurt is still an industrially characterized city. Yet since the beginning of the 1990s the former Free Imperial City has eminently changed, and has long since rediscovered points of its history which were somewhat forgotten over a longer period. Today Schweinfurt is no longer merely an industrial city, but rather a city in which art, culture, remarkable architecture, science and tradition can be experienced.

Schweinfurt

Museum Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt

The Georg Schäfer Museum houses the most important private collection of 19th century German art. Spanning the period from early 18th century to the beginning of the 20th , the collection encompasses the different art movements of the age - from late rococo, classicism and romanticism to impressionism and secessionism. One of the earliest paintings in the collection is Januarius Zick's 'Bäuerliches Idyll' (Peasant Idyll, c. 1760 ), one of the latest Max Lieberman's 'Frau Martha Liebermann' (c. 1930 ).

Museum Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt

Volkach

The small, historic city on the Main is an important wine and tourist resort in the Franconian wine-growing region. Volkach and the Mainschleife is unique in Germany because only here the Main has formed this loop. The Mainschleife is also the wine, fruit and asparagus region in the Franconian wine country. Winemakers and wine festivals invite wine tasting everywhere. In autumn, the grape harvest is on. From a culinary point of view, there is a distinctive cuisine. Typical Franconian dishes or exclusive asparagus and fish dishes with the matching wines are on the menu.

Volkach

Sommerach

Sommerach, a historically grown wine village with about 1,400 inhabitants, is located on the southern Mainschleife on the romantic wine island.

Sommerach

Kitzingen

In the middle of the Franconian wine country lies Kitzingen, the historic wine trading town on the Main. Accommodations with a bourgeois atmosphere, historical sights, numerous recreational and recreational opportunities and the idyllic location on the Main offer rest and enjoyment. The center of the historic old town is the market square, framed by Franconian half-timbered houses, imposing town houses and the Renaissance town hall. Architectural highlights are the city church of Petrini with its mighty portal of the Franconian Baroque, the late Gothic church of St. John with its impressive exterior sculptures and the famous cross chapel of Balthasar Neumann. Kitzingen is not only a wine-trading town, but also carnival-friendly. So it is not surprising that the German Carnival Museum, the official museum of the Federal German Carnival, can be found in Kitzingen. While strolling through the picturesque old town, there is more to discover. In any case, you should also allow time for a walk along the Main Promenade.

Kitzingen

Sommerhausen

Sommerhausen has been an important municipality on the Main since the Middle Ages. It did not belong to the prince-bishop of Würzburg; The inhabitants acknowledged the Reformation, so that Sommerhausen is now a Protestant enclave in the predominantly Catholic Mainfranken. As part of the rule mediated by Bavaria, Speckfeld, the heirs of the Counts of Limpurg, Sommerhausen belonged to the Frankish Reichskreis from 1500 onwards. In 1810, the district of Würzburg, with which it fell back to Bavaria in 1814, came to settle in the area. In the course of the administrative reforms in Bavaria, the municipal council of 1818 created the present municipality.

The place, embedded in the Valley of the Main among vineyards, has been the hanger for Frankish romanticism for decades. The medieval city wall has been preserved. All buildings in the town center in the narrow, winding streets look back on several hundred years of history. The town hall dates from the 16th century.

Sommerhausen

Karlstadt

Embark on an exciting journey of discovery through Karlstadt. In the old town surrounded by old walls, towers and gates, there are many traces to discover. At every turn you will find testimonies of history and impressive art treasures.

Karlstadt

Lohr

In Lohr locals will tell you references of the Snow White tale. The “Gate of Spessart” which is thought to have been the opening to the escape route for Snow White as she vanished “on seven hills”, the Mountain Trail (Wieser Strabe). The journey through the seven Spessart Mountains from Lohr would have taken her to the kingdom of the Seven Dwarfs.

Lohr - Town of Snow White

Homburg

Over more than 1,200 years of history, the charming village of Franconia can look back, its vineyards and buildings since that time look down on the lovely Main Valley all the way to the foothills of the Spessartwald.

Homburg

Miltenberg

Documented for the first time in 1237, the city looks back on a lively past. Viniculture, wine trade, river traffic and fishery, as well as wood and stone industries were the most important growth engines of trade and craft. The favourable location at the old trading artery Nuremberg – Frankfurt and the staple right very early led Miltenberg into economic flowering periods. During the early 19th century the city suffered the loss of being the top quality location of the Electoral State of Mainz and as a result found itself unfortunately situated on the brink of the Kingdom of Bavaria. The major phases of urban development were history and hence the medieval townscape was preserved to this day.

Miltenberg

Aschaffenburg

Whatever the season Aschaffenburg is always worth a visit, whether for the magnolia blossom in spring, for Pompeiianum Palace in summer, for Bavaria's oldest English landscaped park in autumn, or for the works of Cranach, Grünewald, Kirchner and Schad in winter. And with Aschaffenburg being a compact town, you can discover its many sights on foot.

The route from Johannisburg Palace to the town hall is a labyrinth of narrow alleys, where traditional bars and quaint restaurants occupy pretty little half-timbered buildings.

The Johannisburg  palace, made of red sandstone, is one of the most significant and beautiful Renaissance buildings in Germany. Its unique features include the chapel (complete with Renaissance altar, pulpit and portal sculptures by Hans Juncker), the royal living quarters, the world's largest collection of architectural models made from cork, the state gallery with paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Palace Museum of Aschaffenburg that houses works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Christian Schad.

Aschaffenburg

Pompejanum Aschaffenburg

This replica of a Roman villa was built at the behest of King Ludwig I, who was inspired by the excavations in Pompeii, and it is the only one of its kind in the world. Architect Friedrich von Gärtner did not overlook a single detail in his design of the atrium and interior. The exquisite frescoes and floor mosaics, for example, give art lovers an ideal replica from which to broaden their understanding of classical culture. The Pompeiianum was badly damaged during the Second World War but reopened in 1994 following several phases of restoration. Since then it has been used to exhibit original Roman works of art from the holdings of the State Antiquities Collections and the Glyptothek in Munich.

Pompejanum Aschaffenburg

Schloss Johannisburg Aschaffenburg

Schloss Johannisburg, bis 1803 die zweite Residenz der Mainzer Kurerzbischöfe, liegt im Zentrum Aschaffenburgs am Ufer des Mains. Die gewaltige Vierflügelanlage, 1605 bis 1614 unter Kurerzbischof Johann Schweikard von Kronberg errichtet, gehört zu den bedeutendsten Schlossbauten der deutschen Renaissance. Nach den schweren Zerstörungen im Zweiten Weltkrieg musste zunächst das Äußere des Schlosses wiederhergestellt werden, bevor 1964 die ersten Schauräume und Sammlungen mit den geretteten Ausstattungsstücken neu eröffnet werden konnten. Zu besichtigen sind eine Gemäldegalerie mit Werken von Lucas Cranach d. Ä. (Zweigmuseum der Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlungen), die Schlosskapelle mit Renaissancealtar, Kanzel und Portalskulpturen von Hans Juncker, die Paramentenkammer mit Ornaten aus dem ehemaligen Mainzer Domschatz und vieles Mehr.

Schloss Johannisburg Aschaffeburg