Greetings from Amsterdam.
I’m a New Yorker who loves to spend the summer cycle touring in Europe. I’m traveling with my friend Kate, who is also from New York but has been living in India for the last year.
Our plan for July is to travel from Basel to Munich in 20 days at a very leisurely pace, with plenty of time for sightseeing and detours.
We'd be very grateful for any recommendations about roads and routes, beautiful landscapes and towns and favorite camping spots. I've been to Basel before, but don't know much about the Black Forest or Bavaria.
We’d like to see the best of the Black Forest over five or six days, and then head towards Munich on a scenic route with minimal car traffic. As Kate is a beginner cycle tourist, we’re also looking to avoid heroic climbs.
I'm looking over the maps and would like to know if swinging north at Lake Konstanz to follow the D6 and then swooping south to Munich is the best plan, or if it is more enjoyable to take the smaller roads straight east from Lake Konstanz and approach Munich from the south?
Which are the most beautiful areas surrounding Munich?
Any wisdom would be appreciated, and yes, we're looking for hosts along the way. Departing Basel on July 7th, and hoping to arrive in Munich around the 24th.
Thank you!
Kevin & Kate
Hi Kevin.
I hate to be the bearing of bad news, but the Black Forest is loaded with heroic climbs for new cyclists, especially if you're starting in Basel. But it's so pretty. Take a look at the terrain view in Google Maps. That said, if you can follow rivers, it won't be so bad. Check out the Southern Black Forest Cycle Route.
http://www.naturpark-suedschwarzwald.de/en/southern-black-forest-cycle-route
In the southern Black Forest, the Wutachslucht is a beautiful little gorge (I think it's on that route).
From Basel, you could also follow the Rhein east. It's very flat. If you go that way, the town of Stein am Rhein is nice for a rest.
If you go north, you could follow the Danube through Sigmaringen, Ulm, and many valleys and villages. (Is that the D6 you mean?) The Danube between the Black Forest and Sigmaringen is especially nice. From Ulm you could cut over to Augsburg, and then it's on the Munich (Maybe by train to bypass all the mustard and hops fields. The plains around Munich can be very windy.)
The straight-east route may have less traffic, if you keep south enough. But then you are in foothills. Prettier, but more work.
Unless your heart (or airfare) is set on Munich, have you considered riding to Stuttgart instead? I like the scale of Stuttgart better, and there is really quite a lot to see and do there. It's not usually on the American tourist route, though it gets lots of European visitors. You can ride almost all the way there along rivers. Most of the more heavily traveled roads also tend to go along rivers, but there is almost always a farm road or bike path you can take instead.
Bavaria has a pretty in-depth web portal (even an app!) for bike routes.
http://www.bayerninfo.de/bike
Have a wonderful trip. -- Kate