We have been waiting for this trip for a long time, but now we can finally set off for Franconia and the Upper Palatinate. My father and I wanted to take this trip back in 2020, but unfortunately it was cancelled. Now, five years later, we are making a new attempt and taking my son Valentino with us on our trip to North Holland last year.
Unfortunately, we had a lot of bad luck on the way here and didn't arrive in Nuremberg until yesterday evening. As the first stage is very long at around 70 km and we are still feeling the effects of the journey, we are shortening the route and taking the train to Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate. Here we take a look around the old town and stop for our first ice cream in Markstraße in front of the town hall.
Then we finally get on our bikes and cycle along the Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal to Berching. The 20 km are quickly covered and we set off to explore the over 1000-year-old town of Berching with its well-preserved city walls.
The day begins with rainy weather. So we leave Berching wrapped up warm in our rain gear and cycle along the Main-Danube Canal to Beilngries. We take a short break here, but then continue on fairly quickly to Dietfurt. Fortunately, it stops raining and, after a snack, we can stow our rain trousers in our panniers and explore the town, looking for the dragon fountain. We continue cycling along picturesque paths through the Altmühltal Nature Park to Riedenburg. Here we sit right by the Altmühl in the now bright sunshine and enjoy our well-deserved ice cream. We decide to view the castle ruins high above the town from below.
At the end of the day, we cycle on to Essing. At the wooden bridge in Essing, we are almost there, but we visit the Blautopf spring before heading into town. We enjoy dinner on the terrace of our hotel restaurant.
Today's stage is 3 kilometres shorter than yesterday's, so I can tell Valentino: today we don't have to go as far as yesterday. After all, Regensburg with its cathedral and stone bridge awaits us, so we pedal cheerfully and ride swiftly to Kelheim. Shortly after Kelheim, the Altmühl flows into the Danube, and so we get to know the second river on our journey. We take a break in Bad Abbach and walk up to the Heinrichsturm tower. From here, there is a wonderful view over the Danube valley. Now we cycle along the Danube to Regensburg. Our hotel is located in the middle of the old town, so we have the opportunity to explore all the sights on foot and take a city tour on a tourist train. We are very taken with the legend of how the devil bent the stone bridge upwards.
We have a short stage ahead of us today and use the morning to explore Regensburg a little more. In the late morning, we cycle back along the Danube for a while before switching to the Naab. The cycle path runs idyllically along the river almost the entire way, so the time to Pielenhofen flies by. In Pielenhofen, we discover a small boat rental with a snack bar. We stop here and sit right by the river, enjoying the warm April sun. We cover the rest of the stage at a leisurely pace and arrive in Kallmünz in the early afternoon. We have enough time to hike up to the castle ruins and take a break at the playground. In the evening, we enjoy the local speciality Bauchstecherl and home-brewed beer in the ‘smallest inn’ in the Upper Palatinate.
Today's motto is: ‘Find the glasses’. So we cheerfully get on our bikes and ride along the Vils Cycle Route to Amberg. The cycle path leads gently up and down, always close to the river, so we reach Amberg quickly. Right at the entrance to the town, we find the ‘glasses’, a town fortification above the Vils, which looks like a pair of glasses when reflected in the water. In Amberg, we spend the night in a former prison. Accordingly, the rooms are housed in the old cells. We leave our bikes at the hotel and first walk to the market square. Of course, we can't go without ice cream today either. We explore the picturesque old town with the town hall and St. Martin's Basilica and stroll along the old city wall and the Vils. In the evening, we stop at a tavern and end the day in a cosy atmosphere.
Unfortunately, the April weather takes a turn for the worse, so we decide to cover the last leg to Nuremberg by train in the rain and temperatures below 10 degrees. At midday, we arrive back at the Hotel Prinzregent in Nuremberg, which we remember fondly from the beginning of our trip. We park our bikes and set off on foot for the old town. We visit the museum in the Imperial Castle, the city's landmark, and enjoy a fantastic view of the surrounding countryside from the Sinwell Tower. We can almost see the enemy troops, about whom we learned so much in the museum, taking up positions on the hills around the city in front of us. Afterwards, we stroll through the alleys of the old town and meet our copywriter Judith for a glass of wine.
We had a wonderful trip and saw and experienced many new things. The cycle paths are varied and the exciting history and legends make the trip a successful holiday for young and old alike.
Sign up now for our newsletter and receive offers, tips and unique benefits directly in your inbox!
