This map shows the attractions along the Main from Würzburg to Hanau, mainly the Spessart, a mountainous forest north of the Main. The Main is a great choice for long bike rides, as there is minimal elevation gain and few major roads near the river. At the same time, there are few truly top highlights.
baden-wurttemberg
Romantic road. Dinkelsbühl and Feuchtwangen
Despite its popularity, the Romantic Road is not my favorite route. In my opinion, the attractions rate per kilometer is not very high. Often, from the description, you cannot decide in advance which city is really worth visiting on the road between the two touristic super monsters Rothenburg and Füssen.
It was all the more pleasant and unexpected to come across such an untouched and authentic city as Dinkelsbühl after the nice, but quite average Bad Mergentheim, Ellwangen or Feuchtwangen.
“Mountain road” Bergstrasse. From Darmstadt to Heidelberg
The region from Heidelberg to Frankfurt is usually overlooked by tourists. However, touristic route Bergstrasse has its own character and a fair number of quite decent attractions. It is not suitable for a full-fledged vacation, but for a pleasant few days, a day trip or a stop along a long route – quite excellent. You can get around by car, train or bike. The best time is spring and autumn.
Odenwald sightseeing
Odenwald is a forested and mountainous region between Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Heilbronn. The mountains are quite high in places. Every time we passed through Odenwald, it was a trip without confidence that we would get where we needed to go on time. The road stretched into infinity and led to completely unexpected places. In my opinion, ghosts from neighboring Spessart have long since moved to this enchanted place, namely to the village of Mudau, which, after two hits, we decided to avoid by any means.
Donautal: Danube source, Danube Valley, Sigmaringen
The Danube Valley from Sigmaringen to Tuttlingen is not so widely known and is not as popular as the nearby Black Forest. But these stunning views are worth spending a day biking, hiking, or even just taking the train along. In this topic we will look at the Danube source and the Danube Valley (with maps) and get to Sigmaringen.
Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen
Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen lie on the “short” road from Stuttgart to Nuremberg. Here the Swabian Alb ends, passing into the hilly Swabia, with deep winding valleys in which tributaries of the Neckar flow – three tributaries begin near Aalen. Previous generations fully appreciated the landscape: the Romans and medieval Swabians left in the region the remains of ancient Roman fortresses and a chain of half-timbered towns with city walls.
The region is suitable for excursions from Stuttgart or Ulm or for short holidays.
Romantic Franconia
This map includes a significant part of the Northern Romantic Road route, the Romantic Franconia region, as well as the Franconian Lakes.
High Black Forest map
The High Black Forest is the southern part of the mountain range around the Feldberg mountain. This part is named high for a simple reason – here is the highest point of the Black Forest. The set includes narrow mountain roads, high, albeit thin, waterfalls and gorges.
After the Triberg waterfall, Lake Titisee and Feldberg are the second point of attraction for the largest number of tourists, which is facilitated by the only convenient federal road from east to west in the Black Forest, passing from Freiburg past Titisee, and a greater amount of snow on the mountain in winter.
Schwäbisch Hall. Pie and Spring Festival
The first part was about Schwäbisch Hall picturesque old town. Not only buildings here are old, but also the traditions. Pie and Spring Festival (Kuchen- und Brunnenfest) dates from 1316.
Already the Celts discovered a source of salt in these places and founded the first saltworks. Thanks to this source, the city flourished in the Middle Ages.
Local public transport in Germany
The Deutsche Bahn website, of course, shows a lot, but still not everything. It does not show local public transport tariffs, and local tickets will also have to be bought from regional transport associations.
Federal railway fares apply if you are traveling to another region. Therefore, it may turn out that traveling with the family for 10 minutes to a neighboring city will take as much money as 40 minutes to a neighboring region, because Deutsche Bahn included children in an adult ticket, but local public transport system requires ticket for them.