julies

I just found fantastic fares MSP to Germany for around $400 in end of May. We've done a lot of European travel before and have done self-guided cycling trips along the Loire and in the Muensterland area of Germany. We'd like to cycle for about a week in a mostly flat area that is interesting and picturesque, with nice places and quaint towns to stop along the way. We are middle-aged and more interested in ambience than just racking up lots of cycling miles. Off the beaten path is fine with us. On our past trips we've done a ton of the typical tourist places so we don't feel that we necessarily need to visit places that are the typical "biggies".

I've got some great websites that list lots of different tours--way too many is the problem! Does anyone have any suggestions for especially nice areas to visit so I can make a decision as to which city to fly in and out of? I am thinking of cycling in northern Italy, eastern France, Austria or anywhere in Germany because I don't want to spend a ton on transportation to get from our arrival airport to the area where we bike. Ideally I'd like to then follow up our biking week by finding another interesting area within several hundred kilometers where we could rent a house or apartment for a week and do lots of day trips, and perhaps some hiking, with a car.

Last night I booked tickets to Frankfurt but can cancel them until tonight. I could also choose Munich or Berlin as alternatives. Thanks much! I was so excited to find these cheap tickets that I quickly booked and am now doing my research and wondering if I should re-book into a different airport.

Palenque

The Mosel Valley near Frankfurt is one of Europe's primo biking venues = bike paths all along the fantastic valley - to me the prettiest in Europe - i actually conducted bike tours for over a decade that covered the Mosel and everyone practically loved it - they loved the flat paths and they loved not ever possibly getting lost - if you take the wrong up soon you are going up the steep slopes of the gorge-like Mosel - from Luxembourg to Koblenz is a great week or so route - at Trier the prettiest part of the Mosel begins as the river snakes in huge loops down in a gorge with sides of several hundred feet. Vineyards clad all parts of the gorge facing the sun - the northernmost major vineyards in Europe - the dark slate of the slopes helps retain heat and the gorge shelters the vines in winter.

There are many cute wine towns every few miles - like Bielstein where lies the Haus Lippmann, a small hotel that dozens and dozens of Fodorites have raved about. It would make a good base for cycling each way thru the valley.

Burg Eltz is a few miles uphill from the Mosel at Moselkern - one of Europe's most famous castles - it used to grace the back of Germany's 500 mark banknote it's so famous.

Cochem, Zell, Bernkastel are very cute larger towns.

I would suggest starting in Luxembourg and cycling to Koblenz (at the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers) because the valley can be a wind tunnel and winds often blow down the valley. A strong headwind can be like doing a steep climb you know.

Trier itself is one of the oldest towns in Europe - Charlemagne and others made it the capital of the Western Roman Empire - the immense blocks of the Porta Negra or door to the Eastern Empire still stands intact and to me is the finest Roman relic north of the Alps - there is also a restored Roman arena and a 3rd century Basilica that was once a Roman temple. Karl Marx was born here and his house is now a museum and education center to Marxist thought.

swandav2000

Ahhhh. . . small point, I think. Charlemagne's "capital" was at Aachen. I think Trier was a center before and after him.

s

lincasanova

I was also going to suggest the Mosel/Rhein. I am not a cyclist but all the B+B's boast of their cycling holiday stopovers. It really is an ideal area. I have been there a few times and can't imagine anywhere with as much to see in such a smallish area!

julies

Thanks much. I knew I could get some great suggestions here! Actually we drove through a bit of the Moselle Vally about ten years ago, including a visit to Berg Eltz, and I was wondering if this might be a good bike trip. That trip was rather jam-packed and we didn't have time to make it to Trier. Plus, as we all know, slowing down and seeing things on a bike is much different than from the seat of a car. I remember we looked at the cyclists then and thought it looked fun. The suggestion about which direction to bike is much appreciated because I know what it is like to pedal into a headwind.

Michael

Perhaps less picturesque but flatter would be cycling in northern Germany. When I went to a wedding near Berlin, I learned that there are separate bicycle paths going from Berlin to the Baltic, and noticed a velotel in one of the nearby small towns.

Palenque

Luxembourg itself makes a wonderful Duchy to bike around - the countryside is so bucolic and there are neat castles and small villages everywhere

Robespierre

As far as getting from an airport to the heart of the Lower Rhine - you can fly in and out of Köln/Bonn or Frankfurt and access the entire Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland states with a Deutsche Bahn Land-Ticket (27€ for 5 people). Here's the network map:

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/pv/pla...st_01_2007.pdf

Here's the dope on the Länder-Tickets:

http://www.bahn.de/international/vie..._tickets.shtml

Schedules are at

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

<I>Gute Fahrt!

hardwater

While the Mosel/Rhine is outstanding, I am going to give you perhaps the most overlooked area in Germany full of bike and hike trails and so close to FRA, the Odenwald, from Darmstadt south. Google it and you will see why it should be your bike destination. Living nearby, I too saw the fantastic deals out of MPLS for April and May. Wish I was retired too.

Palenque

Another cool biking venue is the Neckar River Valley from Heidelberg over to near Rothenberg and the Romantik Road.

julies

Palenque--great suggestions! I'll be checking out the Neckar too. And, we spent 2 days in Luxembourg about 10 years and absolutely loved the country. So, it is another possibility. But, I seem to remember lots of hills.

Hardwater--We aren't retired, just wish we were. But, we were able to be flexible and have two weeks that we could fit in when these tickets were available. I'll do a bit of googling. Since you also live in the Mpls area, can you tell me if the area you are suggesting is full of quaint little places, or is it more totally outdoorsy? Frankly, we feel we can get enough of totally nature-oriented areas here in Minnesota, so we go to Europe for all those cute villages in proximity to one another.

Robspierre--thanks for the great train info. I never would have known that there was something like this available.

I'm curious that all of the suggestions have been for Germany. I also see some intriguing looking areas in northern Italy in the Veneto and around Lake Garda and Bolzano along some rivers. Anyone familiar with these areas? Thanks again.

Coquelicot

A few years back I ran across an article by an English family who used Cycling for Softies through the Mayenne. It sounded great, though we decided not to bike. I see by their website they have biking tours in different areas of France. They mention a German loop from Alsace if you're leaning that way.

http://www.cycling-for-softies.co.uk/

It sounds like you'd want to check that the villages on their routes were picturesque and not far apart.

bigtyke

Basing at Koblenz, you can ride the Mosel, Lahn and Rhine rivers without the hassle of taking your luggage with you each day.

THe Romantic Road has bike paths most of the way. The Danube is a popular ride.

Some websites

bikely.com
radatlas.de
rad-reise-service.de
fahrrad-tour.de

julies

Great links! Thanks. Bikely is really nice to have on hand for other uses in other locales.

Images2

Robespierre,

Thanks for the German rail information. From the map you linked it looks like Metz is included. Can you travel from Trier to Metz on the Länder-Ticket?

Thanks so much.

Palenque

Can you travel from Trier to Metz on the Länder-Ticket?>

No Metz is in France.

Images2

Yes, I know it's in France but look at http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/pv/pla...st_01_2007.pdf

It shows Metz, and looks to be the phamplet for the Lander-Ticket. There is also an updated version, showing the same. What am I missing?

julies

An update: I am now bookmarking all these ideas and setting them aside for future plans. We ended up exchanging our plane tickets to Germany for tickets to Greece. Although the $400 roundtrip to Germany from Minneapolis was super cheap, when we discovered that we could get to Athens for $150 more we decided for that option because we frequently see reasonably priced tickets to Germany but never to Greece. Thanks so much for the help. And, I definitely will be using these suggestions for another trip some other time. While we'd love to bike in Greece, I don't know if it is the best place for a bike trip, and our active endeavors will more likely be hiking.

Robespierre

I wouldn't assume it's valid, even though the map shows train lines going there. To be safe, ask DB. I don't know their email, but try things like inquiries@ or [email protected]

I do know that the German Rail Pass is valid into Salzburg and Basel, so Metz does seem possible, anyway. Let us know what you find out.

Robespierre

Oh. Greece. Never mind.