Germany!!!!

Advice:
1. Don't try and go through the Black Forest at weekends - it's STUFFED with traffic !!

2. Go north to the Eiffel Mountains - riding heaven.

 

I went on a business trip recently and drove from Stuttgart to Frieburg, there's a stretch around a place called Hinterzarten that was just incredible, you'll see where I mean if you google map it, then I went onto a place called Schonach - famous for cuckoo clocks! The roads leading up there were utterly brilliant, even enjoyable in a 1.5 Golf.....but i/m sure theres miles of awesome road all around there.

 

You'll love it - the Germans appreciate bikers and you will always be welcome at cafes and restaurants.
The roads are maintained to a standard we can only dream of! Ridden through the Eiffel and around the Mosel valley - superb. No filtering though! You will be tutted at!

 

The basic rule of thumb for Germany is to avoid the industrial areas of the Ruhr and Rhine and understand that North of the Teutoburg Ridge it is as flat as a pancake......it rolls a bit more North of Hanover.
The Black Forest is best avoided at weekends but that is true of most tourist destinations. If you have no fixed itinerary then Google Earth etc. highlights the ‘dark green bits’ which are generally afforestated and higher ground. The agricultural triangle South of the Mosel to the Rhine (the Hunsruck) is great terrain as is the north bank. Just expect the main valley routes to be busy at excursion time.
The Eiffel area straddling the Dutch, Belgian and German borders should not be driven past. Sample Maastricht nightlife. Centre on Monschau and pootle round bits of the Spa Francorchamps circuit. South East of the Ruhr the Winterburg area is a skiing and summer activity centre (&known to us for the Dambuster raid). All great biking terrain subject to plus zero weather! In the deep South, the Allgau is beautiful but likely still thick with snow up to the Austrian border.
If you are straying that far, then the Czech border is lovely too and places like Cesky Krumlov well worth a visit.

 

On my first trip to Germany i kept following the sign for the town of ausfahrt but never found it :-(

 

Lot of towns called that!

 

'Look on every ausfahrt as being an entrance somewhere else.'

 

We did just the same!!! Kept seeing signs for ausfahrt for miles and miles, but could we find it on a map ??? "It must be a really big place so why isn't it on the map?"

ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY of a couple of naive English lads (heads covered with hankies) leaving Britain by road, for the first time.

 

Just be grateful you didn’t come across my Auspuff!

 

I think there’s a few stopping in the 2018 GMU bunkhouse that will need their Auspuff de-coked before they arrive

 

Make sure you have a map. Sat Nav signal in Black Forest is shite at best. Also ensure when you put town / destination in, it is the correct one. There are many duplicated towns in Germany but in different regions. Enjoy. B48 brill

 

Take plenty of cash! Germany does not like our debit cards - the machines assume that they are credit cards and won't accept them. Even Aldi and Lidl only take cash.

 

its a wonderful country, I lived there for 3 years, stop at every schnell imbiss.
always be polite, Germans sound angry but they are not.Its seems an aggressive language. The food is superb. so is the beer.

 

Try to take in the 267 down the Ahr valley from Colgne/Bonn and work your way over to the Nürburgring......Scenery through the surrounding vineyards which somehow hang on the hills (yes, Germany does produce good wines), is amazing at that time of year - Quite often have a cheeky Sunday "fahrt" there myself