The Joy of Biking (Stripes Europe)
We easily walked onto the regional train with loaded bikes, backpacks and our dog. My kids spotted the bike logo on the side of the correct train car as it pulled into the Kaiserslautern Hauptbahnhof and we walked down the platform to meet it.
About an hour later, we rolled off at the Bingen Hauptbahnhof and walked the overpass to the Rhein River. For the couple of days we pedaled northward on the flat, paved Rhine Cycle Route taking in the views of barges and vineyards. We pedaled through scenic half-timbered towns, stopped for pommes (French fries) and beer during breaks and fought a nasty headwind. In Boppard, we stopped for an overnight in a hotel, enjoying a wander around the Roman ruins before hot showers and dinner. Our 62km ride ended the next day in Koblenz where we again rolled our bikes onto a train home.
Europe’s extensive radweg (bike way) trail system is unparalleled elsewhere in the world. I highly recommend taking advantage of it via bike while you are stationed in Germany.
On high-speed trains like the ICE, IC or EC you always need to reserve a ticket ahead of time.
On local and regional trains like an S, RE or RB, the answer is: maybe. Because the Deutsche Bahn is a network of local associations, each state has unique rules about bike ticketing. If you are transiting between German states, you’ll need to buy a 6.50 Euro ticket for your bike. If you stay inside a state, it may be free. Details for regional rail travel in each state are on the Deutsche Bahn website.
The River Trails in Bavaria (Kat Nickola)
Some of the easiest trails follow river and canal courses. These mostly flat routes are perfect for beginners and families, in addition to being great ‘connectors’ to the wider trail networks.
My family has cycled along the Rhine River and the Mosel River. Our preference is for the Mosel cycle route: it is less touristed than the Rhine route and just as scenic. Plus, the Mosel has way more campgrounds right along the river with easy drop-in availability for cyclists using tents. While the campgrounds primarily advertise to RVs on their websites, all are happy to find some space in the field for cyclists in a tent overnight.
For those stationed in Bavaria, the Danube River and its tributaries have some of the most scenic cycle routes along their banks.
Woman riding a bicycle on the country road under blossom trees. (Soloviova - Adobe Stock)
There are currently 17 official EuroVelo long-distance cycling routes that crisscross Europe. This international network of routes connects paved, hard-packed dirt and, occasionally, road-side bike lanes. There are plenty of resources for cyclists along the routes, so you can easily find hotels, campgrounds, restaurants, bike repair shops and other necessities along the way.
Germany has the most EuroVelo (EV) routes crossing its borders, so its possible for you to bike all the way from your home to the furthest reaches of the continent via bike!
EV2 – Capitals Route | Connects some of the largest European cities in an east-west route going through northern Germany, including Berlin.
EV 3 – Pilgrims Route | Ending at the famous Santiago de Compostela, this route has been a pilgrimage since the 9th century.
EV 4 – Central Europe Route | Passing through Wiesbaden, this route crosses the continent’s varied geography from east to west.
EV 5 – Via Romea Francigena | Following a thousand-year-old pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome, this EV dips into Germany about an hour from the KMC at Saarbrucken.
EV 6 – Atlantic to Black Sea Route | Access south of Ansbach gives you the chance to traverse the continent from east to west along some beautiful rivers.
EV 7 – Sun Route | From the Arctic to the Mediterranean, this route dips into Germany’s far north.
EV 10 – Baltic Sea Cycle Route | This route loops the shoreline of the Baltic Sea, taking in the far north of Germany.
EV 12 – North Sea Cycle Route | This route loops the shores of the North Sea, sampling part of Germany’s northern coast.
EV13 – Iron Curtain Trail | With segments within roughly an hour of those stationed at Vilseck or Grafenwöhr, this is the longest EV at 10,550 kilometers, traversing from the Arctic to the Black Sea.
EV 15 – Rhine Cycle Route | Passing within an hour of the KMC and Stuttgart and going directly through Wiesbaden, this route follows the famous river from its source in Switzerland to its mouth on the coast of the Netherlands.
Bicycling local in Germany (Montri Thipsorn - Adobe Stock)
You don’t need to go far to enjoy biking in Germany. A daily ride or nice weekend outing is also a great way to spend time outdoors and take advantage of the amazing trail system.
GPS route planners like Komoot or Outdoor Active can be useful, but simply hopping on your bike and heading to your nearest trail is also really fun. You can realistically choose a nearby destination and simply follow trail signs there and back without pre-planning or requiring a device for turn-by-turn navigation.
Throughout Germany, trails connect villages, follow rivers and traverse farm fields. When reading a trail sign, the bike logo indicates that bicycles (of any kind) are permitted on the trail. These routes may be paved or hard packed with dirt and stone. When necessary, they may share roads with cars for short periods. Numbers beside town names indicate the distance in kilometers via the trail.
Note that many times when a trail enters a town it will join back up with the local roads, so you may feel like it dumped you out onto a busy street. In this case, look around for the signs with bike logos; arrows will help lead you along the safest route through the village and back onto a trail.
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Mountain Biking in Pfalerwald, Germany (U. J. Alexander - Adobe Stock)
In the forests near you, mountain biking on the dirt trails may be permitted. Each state has different laws regarding biking in the forests.
In the Rhineland-Pfalz (KMC, Baumholder, Ramstein) mountain biking is permitted on forest trails. You must yield to pedestrians. The Pfälzerwald (Palatinate Forest) is one of Germany’s largest, and least restrictive places to mountain bike.
In Hessen (Wiesbaden) mountain biking in the forest is only permitted on designated single-track mountain bike trails or dirt roads.
In Bavaria (Vilseck, Grafenwöhr, Ansbach) cycling of any kind is only allowed on paved roads, cycle paths and or designated dirt roads in the forest, not on single-track trails. For this reason, mountain bike parks are popular in Bavaria.
In Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart) you can only bike on trails wider than two meters, so you can’t mountain bike on single-track forest trails.
As I finish writing, my husband pulls into our house from a long mountain bike ride. We are lucky to live adjacent to the Pfälzerwald where he goes for daily rides all year long. And, like almost everyone living in Germany, we are not far from an amazing set of signed bike trails that are perfect for a casual afternoon ride on our comfort bikes for ice cream in the next town over.
Take advantage of your own local bike trails and consider how they connect to the wider world. Who knows, maybe you’ll just keep pedaling across the continent.
