Family Cycling tour in Germany Anyone done it ?

[Andy in Sig]

Andy I have come across the The Romantische Strasse which sounds good and may appeal to the wife due to the name How does this compare to the River Weser route My kids are reasonably healthy!

The Romantische Strasse route is also excellent, starting (or finishing) at the foot of the Alps at Neuschwanstein Castle (the fairy tale castle) and going on through some wonderful medaeval towns.

Both routes are fairly well provided with campsites. Probably the simplest and most efficient way to make your mind up about this would be to order the two Bikeline guides as campsite locations are marked on the mapping and hotels etc are listed by town at the back of the books. The guides are in German but that should not be a problem as all the info that you essentially need is visual or comes in the form of place names and telephone numbers.

Then you can get further details on anything you want by going to individual towns/establishments on the internet.

It would be difficult to choose between the two but I would say that if the children are very small then the Weser is probably the better option but the Romantische Strasse offers far more variety and beautiful sights and should be absolutely fine if the kids are halfway fit.

 

[HJ]

I think Cathryn suggestion of Bodensee (Lake Constance) is a good one, start and finish at Friedrichshafen (direct flights from Prestwick). Not too hilly


or Andy suggestion of Romantische Straße is also a good one but a wee bit more hilly in places, but then it depends on which way round you do it, you could make down hill most of the way...

 

[Andy in Sig]

If you go from Füssen i.e. the Alps end, it is as HJ's profiles show, an essentially downhill route and the very few "up" bits are not as dramatic as they seem in those profiles.

 

[007fair]

wow Andy / HJ.. you guys have outdone yourselves Graphs and everything! (HJ I wondered if Hirsute may mean perfectionist/helpful or some other character trait.. so I looked it up. WellI suppose you could those things as well as hairy!)

Wonderful response to my OP Many thanks

I believe the romantic road is the one we will go for

 

[HJ]

I can't take the credit for the graphics, I got them off the Verlag Esterbauer web site, they publish some excellent guides for cycle touring in Europe (and beyond). Although most are in German, there are some in English, but not many.

 

[TrevorM]

I cycled the Danube Cycle Path from Passau (Germany) to Vienna in summer 2008 with 3 of my children then aged 11, 14 and 16. It was a wonderful family holiday and I would recommend it as a first trip. It is almost completely flat, most of the path is traffic free, scenery is superb. Cycling 25-35 miles a day. It can get a little busy with cyclists in August. We went early July. We did the pre-booked thing where accommodation was organised and luggage was transported between hotels. But we also arranged to stay several nights in some places.

 

[Andy in Sig]

The Passau-Vienna stretch seems to be far the most popular bit which I find a little hard to understand as the Donaueschingen - Passau bit has far more spectacular scenery.

 

[007fair]

I cycled the Danube Cycle Path from Passau (Germany) to Vienna in summer 2008 with 3 of my children then aged 11, 14 and 16. It was a wonderful family holiday and I would recommend it as a first trip. It is almost completely flat, most of the path is traffic free, scenery is superb. Cycling 25-35 miles a day. It can get a little busy with cyclists in August. We went early July. We did the pre-booked thing where accommodation was organised and luggage was transported between hotels. But we also arranged to stay several nights in some places.

Hi Trevor, Thanks for the post. Can I ask how you got your bikes across there or did you hire them? I was mulling over whether it was worth gearing every bike up with racks and paniers or doing as you did and get the luggage transported.
Who did you book through and was the accommodation good? My wife and older daughter are a bit fussy .. Hostels are OK but need to be 4*!

 

[HJ]

If you are thinking of doing the Danube Radweg then I recommend get the Esterbauer guides (Vol 1 Donaueschingen to Passau and Vol 2 Passau to Vienna) these are available in English, have good maps, accommodation guides, local tourist information, baggage transfer info etc.

A lot the information is available on the web site, but only in German, all of this and more is in the hard copy in English.

 

[TrevorM]

Hi Trevor, Thanks for the post. Can I ask how you got your bikes across there or did you hire them? I was mulling over whether it was worth gearing every bike up with racks and paniers or doing as you did and get the luggage transported.
Who did you book through and was the accommodation good? My wife and older daughter are a bit fussy .. Hostels are OK but need to be 4*!

I hired the bikes as part of the package - 5 speed hub gears - more than enough (never used all 5 :-). All were equipped with rear racks/panniers enough to carry the daily necessities. I booked with Russell Hafter Holidays (http://www.cycling-in-germany.co.uk/) who were very good. They managed to get me a family room in all the hotels and can be flexible on dates, e.g. we stayed extra nights in some places as the kids were not keen on cycling every day. Accommodation was fine - food in Austria is not great. They do cycling holidays in other areas too. If you want to take your own bikes they can help you with that I think. You might like to read Edward Enfield's Dawdling by the Danube which describes his cycle trip along exactly this part of the path in 2006.

 

[Telemark]

Accommodation was fine - food in Austria is not great.

hmmm ... you must have been rather unlucky then ...
Austrian food is normally rather good

T

 

[yoyo]

I also agree that Austrian food is good.

My daughter and I cycled from Passau to Vienna in 2007, using hired bikes with panniers. It was a lovely holiday and the cycling was safe and easy - not challenging at all. In hindsight we should have done the trip in three days rather than six as neither of us felt as though we had exercised at all after distances of between 28 and 40 miles. I would highly recommend the route as a first cycling holiday with children.

 

[willem]

The easiest way to get there is probably to take the train. Take the Harwich Hook ferry, and trains from there into Germany. German trains are excellent with great facilities for bikes, and dead cheap if you book them in advance. Also, you could camp rather than stay in hotels. What you save in one holiday is probably enough to buy some really high class camping gear. In my experience kids much prefer a tent to a boring hotel, until they reach the age of spoiled brats who want to stay in the opulent business hotels that daddy does not want to stay in because it is his holiday too.
Let me give you an example for a two week trip with a family of four. I think you will not get much change from 200 euro a day for hotels and restaurant meals. Camping and cooking your own meals would be some 50 euro a day. So it would be some 2000 euro extra for two weeks hotels and restaurants rather than camping. 2000 euro would buy you four decent mats and sleeping bags (4x250 euro) a larger tent for 600 euro and one smaller tent for 400 euro. So one year is enough to earn back the original investment, and this is with quality kit. On a three week trip you could save 3000 euro, enough to invest in the very best camping kit money can buy.
Willem

 

[HJ]

I agree with Telemark, Austrian food is normally really good

 

[007fair]

I hired the bikes as part of the package - 5 speed hub gears - more than enough (never used all 5 :-). All were equipped with rear racks/panniers enough to carry the daily necessities. I booked with Russell Hafter Holidays (http://www.cycling-in-germany.co.uk/) who were very good. They managed to get me a family room in all the hotels and can be flexible on dates, e.g. we stayed extra nights in some places as the kids were not keen on cycling every day. Accommodation was fine - food in Austria is not great. They do cycling holidays in other areas too. If you want to take your own bikes they can help you with that I think. You might like to read Edward Enfield's Dawdling by the Danube which describes his cycle trip along exactly this part of the path in 2006.

Thanks Trevor