Day 34 - Straubing to Neßlbach

65.6 km - Total so far 1,895.60 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day:  Europe Day 34 (Video uploaded May 01st)

We are safe and secure in a very nice campground at Neßlbach. This will be our last night in Germany. 

We left the hotel at 8:34 AM heading to our first campground at Neßlbach some 62 kms away. Hélène had planned the route the night before and it was going to be an easy from A to B, put up tent and have a beer. So we thought!

There was a lot of reconstruction on the dyke and we had to reroute. The signs for the detour were few and far between so Hélène had to plan out many of our detour routes.

As a result, we did not get to experience as much of the Danube as we did yesterday. The detour took us to a small village that to our surprise had a basilica and not just a church.

As we got to Neßlbach, we were quite happy to see the road signs for ‘campground’. Because this is Germany, the vending machine sells cold beer in a 1/2 litre glass bottle. We got to have our first ’bière sale / dirty beer’ of the trip. Bière sale refers to that beer you have after cycling all day and have not yet showered.

Hélène just got back from the grocery store 300 meters away that according to Google was open from 2 PM till 6 PM. To our great surprise, the store closes at noon daily. Looks like beer and cookies for supper!

The bakery near us opens at 6:30 AM

Day 33 - Bad Abbach to Straubing

  71.8 km - Total so far 1,830.00 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 33 (Video uploaded May 01st)

We left Bad Abbach at 9:13 AM heading to Straubing 72 kms away.

It was a great ride today with only 41 meter of ascent.  It would have been pretty difficult to have a bad start since the path for EuroVelo 6 was just at our front door. 

We quickly got on a gravel path right next to the Danube which we followed for a good number of kms. See ReLive.

We then went inland and followed a dyke. In no time we were in Regensburg where we saw a few river cruise boats. We even had a chat with a couple of American river cruiser from Redondo Beach, California. 

We had a quick stop in a small village with two churches right next to each other. I was surprised too also a wayside cross right in the churches parking lot. We saw two bikes with panniers and two people sitting on a bench. One of them, Andreas, came over to chat. Turns out he was on a practice ride for his up coming bigger ride, EuropaTour_2025. From the tiny map on the back of his business card, he leaves his home near Dresden(Germany), crossing through France to Marseille and then follows the coast back to Germany at Bremerhaven. Andreas and Martina will be cycling for 6 months.

We got to the hotel too early and had to amuse ourselves for 90 minutes. We went for the old standby, ice cream. It was more challenging than last time (when we secured bikes in the garage before going) because you need a solid surface to lean the bikes against and merchants don’t appreciate when you use their glass storefront for your bike. We got two bowls of spaghetti ice cream with whipped cream and strawberry sauce… sorry no picture.

Tonight we are in a so so hotel, where the staff speak neither German or English but Greek and Google translate is just not cutting it. It could be worse, we could be in a hotel without hot water. Wait a minute, we don’t have hot water!

Tomorrow we are going to a campsite with hot water but no Wifi.  No video tomorrow. 

Interesting links:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regensburg

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walhalla_(memorial)

Day 32 - Ingolstadt to Bad Abbach

 71.8 km - Total so far 1,758.20 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day:  Europe Day 32

We are safe and secure in Bad Abbach, Germany 

Not many pictures or videos today as we were focused on meeting up with a river boat 49 km away for the 12:40 sailing. This being the off-season the next sail was at 14:40. We made it in time and enjoyed a 25 minute cruise in the Danube River gorge.

While waiting for boarding, we were joined by a German bike touring couple that we first encountered yesterday when they passed us going uphill. We saw them later that day at at railway crossing. We had been waiting for quite a while waiting for the train to pass and were getting impatient. Turns out there is a yellow communication box at the crossing and you can ask for an update on when to expect the train. We doubt that we will see them again as they were riding another 22 km beyond Bad Abbach. We gave them a blog business card. Passen Sie auf sich Auf und gute Fahrt. Danke für die Hilfe am Bahnübergang (Be safe and have a good ride.  Thanks for the help at the railway crossing, from Google Translate) 

In order to take a picture I have to stop, whereas Hélène can do videos while riding so check out her video of the day. There were a lot of workers out in the fields and we saw a bus full of them heading to join the gang.

Most of the fields we saw were set up to grow hops (couldn't not remember this morning the English word for 'houblon'). It came to me while having supper at a nice Italian restaurant tonight. 

Turns out we are in Holledau, an area in Bavaria listed as the largest continuous hop-planting area in the world. Germany produces roughly one third of the world's hops and over 80% is grown in the Holledau.

We went for a stroll after supper before heading back to finish work on the blog. Town is practically deserted where we are and the Oompah band is gone.

So many colours

Today we covered almost 72 km of which 5 km was on the boat.   Tomorrow we are heading to Straubing.

So lucky with the forecast

Day 31 -Donauwörth to Ingolstadt

65.6 km - Total so far 1,686.40 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day:  Europe Day 31

We are safe and secure in Ingolstdat, Bavaria, Germany. 

We left around 9:00 AM after a lovely stay at Hotel Donau. The beds were comfortable, the room was well appointed, we each our own sitting chairs and they serve a very breakfast. We are a little disappointed with Donauwörth as there was practically nothing open and there was not much to see. Maybe things get better when tourist season is in full swing.

We had grey skies and about 10 degrees and a good head wind. We had some nice hills in the first 15 or so kilometers so that warmed us up. Below is a picture of the RideWithGPS application that clearly shows the features we had to climb. I can't keep up with Hélène going up but I am showing improvement. 

We were inland for the next 15 kms, going through fields and lovely Bavarian villages. We still do not see that many people. We spent some time on a dyke next to the Danube, cycling into a nice headwind. We found a nice spot to picnic right next to a man-made grotten (grotto in german).

Things started to get more exciting as we neared Neuburg. From a good distance we could see a castle and it got bigger as we neared the Danube. About 6 kms from Neuburg, we came across a number of re-enactors (people who dress in period clothing) heading to another castle built in 1555.

At kilometer 62, we were entering the City of Ingolstadt through the Kreuztor gate built in 1385. Our route took us directly through the old and very touristy part of town. There are many interesting museums but unfortunately Ingolstadt is only a quick stop over with no time to visit.

We got to our overnight accommodations at a very reasonable 3:50 PM. It's a comfortable and well organized hostel like facility. We have access to a large kitchen and nice common areas. See pictures below.

Tomorrow we are heading to the town of Bad Abbach. On that ride, we will benefit from sailing about 5 kms down the Danube on a river boat.

One of our avid followers wanted to know how we organize our time once we get to the daily destination. Specially, he wanted to know how much time is set aside to produce the blog, ReLive, edit videos and plan the days ahead. These items will be addressed in future daily blogs. 

How much time left to visit at end of day. There isn't much time left to 'visit' per say at the end of the day. We do our 'visiting' while we pedal and often have stopped to examine something that stood out. Problem is that often, what we find is off the official tourist route and explanations are in German only. As an example, when we stopped at an information stand in the middle of nowhere next to a small Danube and using Google Translate, discovered that the Danube splits and ends up in two different seas. Again today, we stopped at a small building, where we could see computer work stations and next to flood gates.

Today, as seen in ReLive, we stopped at a flood control dam called the Riedensheim Flutpolder (flood polder). I picked up a pamphlet in German only. 

We do plan visits but these are few and far between and we must include weather in our decisions. We had planned to see the Cathedral in Cologne, the Cathedral in Strasbourg and got a chance to explore the surrounding areas. We got a chance to do a good walkabout in Neuf-Brisach because on that day we had favorable winds and got there earlier than planned. Our next planned visit is the Mauthausen Memorial and the one after that Vienna but they are also weather dependent.

Day 30 -Donauwörth

Total so far 1,620.80 km 

We are still in Donauwörth, Germany.

Today was a day of rest and relaxation. Improvements have been made to the page "The Route - Pedalled", it is now easier to see our progress of the route pedalled.  Hélène got caught up in her video editing. They are listed below with links.

Video of the day: Europe Day 26 (Tuttlingen to Sigmaringen)
Video of the day: Europe Day 27 (Sigmaringen to Ehingen)
Video of the day: Europe Day 28 (Ehingen to Günzburg)
Video of the day: Europe Day 29 (Günzburg to Donauwörth)

We decided to rearrange how we carry all of our equipment so we can more easily send our camping gear back to Canada.  All of our camping gear less the cooking equipment is now carried in our front panniers.

When we did our research, we discovered that as we get deeper into Eastern Europe campgrounds are fewer and accommodations are much cheaper. So there is no incentive to camp. Since it's been too cold at night, we are looking at sending the kit back to Canada sooner. 

But here is the rub, there are UPS and DHL facilities in Donauwörth, but they don't have boxes. Hopefully, we can find boxes when we get to bigger cities. We have had difficulties before in Canada when we showed up at a UPS store only to find out they have no boxes.

We had a quick walkabout in Donauwörth only to discover that all restaurants but one was open and it was a donair shop. Even the pizzaria was closed on a Friday afternoon! We took a few pictures and headed back to Rewe the grocer for a few things for supper. Eating out will be for another day.

Fugger House (District Office)

     

Coke 2.70 per liter //// Beer 2.50 per litre

Tomorrow we are to off to Ingolstadt, still in Germany.

Day 29 -Günzburg to Donauwörth

61.9 km - Total so far 1,620.80 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day:  Europe Day 29

We are safe and secure in Donauwörth, Germany 

We slept soundly and the thunderstorms did not bother us at all. We left around 8:30 under grey skies for our 62 km ride.

To avoid having to ride down that 18% grade to get back on EuroVelo 6, Hélène found us a slightly longer route that took us to another gate and down a less steep incline. Within about 1.5 km, we were back on a 10 km gravel path along the Danube. It is quite interesting seeing the Danube getting wider, seeing more current and a bigger flow of water.

There was more gravel, asphalt and stone pavers as we rolled east. We pedalled from one village/town to another pretty much the rest of the day. Some villages appeared fairly recent while some towns with the clock towers and gates wen't way back to circa 1230.

Always nice to pedal through a street like this (except for the pavers)

The gate portion circa 1230

Once in a while, we had to climb a bit to get over a bridge connection but today most of the grade was either flat or -1%. That enabled us to get here at 2:12 pm which is quite an accomplishment for us. I think we could have easily gone another 10-15 km but we had already booked 2 nights in Donauwörth. Finding accommodations for Friday's and Saturday's is what drives the distance thing, as it's not easy booking a room for one night on those days.

We looked at the weather forecast for the next five days and guesstimated that tomorrow was the best day to stay inside. It rained as we got back from getting groceries.

Tomorrow is going to be all about sleeping in, rest and catching up on things. Hélène is going to work on producing videos that covers the last three days.

Easy to open cans are so handy, wish we had them in Canada

Day 28 -Ehingen to Günzburg

 62.5 km - Total so far 1,558.90 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 28

We are safe and secure in Günzburg, Germany.

The hotel we stayed in last night was built by linking 4 buildings together. The entrance was in building one but our room was almost at the end of building 4 which made it quite a hike to get to our room from the elevator and back. Hélène  came up with a cunning plan that involved using the stairs at the end of building 4 to get downstairs with the luggage and walking the bikes to that spot from building 1. Suffice to say much effort was saved.

Getting back on EuroVelo was pretty straight forward. We made good progress and enjoyed some very nice descents right at the start. The rest of the ride was mostly flat.

You can see from ReLive, that we spent much time away from the Danube. It was pretty much come here come here and then go away go away all day. After the nice views in the beginning, nothing stood out. We stopped at Hélène's favorite grocery store, Edeka, to stock up. That was pretty much the highlight of the day's ride.

Once at the hotel, we got to secure our bicycles in a garage, skipped the self-check in and went looking for eiscreme (ice cream). We did good !

Left is for Hélène, right is for Daniel

We followed up the ice cream with a quick walk about in the old town center of Günzburg. The town was founded in 70 BC by the Roman's.

Always pleasant to walk streets with those houses

Impressive interior for what seems like an ordinary church

As I write this I can hear the ramblings of a thunderstorm.

Just read about the 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Istanbul.

Day 27 -Sigmaringen to Ehingen

 73.8 km - Total so far 1,496.40 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 27

We are safe and secure in Ehingen, Germany.

We were woken up early by noise outside before the alarm went off. With a long day of 70+ km ahead of us we wanted to get an early breakfast and head out ASAP. Everything was going as planned until we turned the corner behind the hotel.

That early noise we heard were the street vendors setting up. They offered quite a selection from clothing, houseware, pots and pans, etc, etc. What really caught our attention was the smell of popcorn early in the morning. 

The ride today was great. No residue of the tiredness we felt yesterday and we were able to maintain a much better average speed. A lot of the ride was on flat terrain with a couple of really long and fast descents.

We got to see part of the walls of an old home under renovation. The structure is timber frame (much like an older barn) and the space between timber is filled with whatever they had on hand. See picture below.

Since we were covering distances at a good speed, we decided to make a coffee and pastry stop. We saw a gasthaus with many e-bikes parked and we decided to stop. Once seated, we realized that the patio was located over a small canal. You can clearly see the canal behind Hélène in the picture below. This place also brews its own beer and a patron told me their beer is very much appreciated all over Germany. Their desserts are very nice as well. I picked up a bottle of their unfiltered pilsner beer (beer is cloudy and delicious).

Google translate said it was apple fritters with ice cream 

About 10 minutes after leaving the gasthaus, we were surprised. We had hit a few climbs before but this baby was a monster. Those of you from Ottawa might be familiar with the 18 % grade of the road leading to Mont Cascades. Well this baby was by inspection at least 18% and looked like a short descent at a ski hill. The trail to the start of the climb was pretty flat so precious little momentum to help. I had seen this climb on a video and it did not look this intimidating. The only way up for us was pushing the bikes! 

Photo taken 1/3 of the way up

Once we got to the top, its was possible to sit at a picnic table under a roof and get an ice cream from the vending machine. We did none of that. We took a quick breath or two (well maybe more than two) and headed off.

Vending machine has ice cream

We continued to enjoy lots of scenery and finally made it to our self check-in hotel.

Day 26 -Tuttlingen to Sigmaringen

56.2 km - Total so far 1,422.6 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 26

We are safe and secure in Sigmaringen.

We left the hotel around 8 a.m. because we wanted to get to our destination around 3 p.m. We only had 56 km but we had quite a bit of climbs. We discovered that we had not fully recovered from yesterday's adventure. Oh well, not much you can do but pedal on.

The Danube originates about 30 km away from Tuttlingen, so we ended up following a widening creek through a narrow valley with high gorges. There was a lot more scenery today then there was yesterday's.

While on the trail, we were surprised to find an information kiosk. The kiosk was there to inform that the Danube disappears underground right after its source and splits and flows into (world) seas. What flows above ground eventually flows into the Black Sea. What disappears and flows underground reappears after two or 3 days, flows into Lake Constance and the Rhine, and with the Rhine into the North Sea. 

Learning about the Danube river

The ride was pretty scenic right to Sigmaringen. We have a small and comfortable room in a building that dates to 1722. 

We got to do a little walkabout in Sigmaringen and made it to the castle but not in time for visiting hours. We visited the old stables that house an impressive collection of old buggies and sleighs.We also took a peek in the church. See picture below. 

Sigmaringen Castle

Entrance to Castle

Tomorrow we are off to Ehingen, Germany.

Our room is where the 2 red arrows point

Day 25 -Radolfzell to Tuttlingen

38.4 km - Total so far 1,366.4 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 25

We are safe, secure and pooped in Tuttlingen, Germany.

We had a great breakfast at the hotel K99 8th floor dining room and viewing site. We got to record a quick Easter video and I showed everyone that I am still having a hard time figuring out what country I am in.

The cookie mostly survived the day, we ate it in Tuttlingen

What difference a day makes. Yesterday we had a fun and relaxing ride and today was pretty difficult. So glad we decided to do 80 km over 2 days and not 1. There was no coffee on a sunny platz today. We saw many villages but just went around most of them.

When we left this morning, it was sunny and 10 Celsius and by noon it was 21. Then everything changed. The clouds came in, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped to 8 Celsius. We had to peel clothing off when we climbed and put it all back on when we stopped or went downhill. 

I did not stop for another picture at 8C

I realized today I am no longer the guy who in 2017, pedaled a fully loaded touring bike and trailer through Charlevoix and unto P.E.I. (see our Canada Part 2 blog, May, Days 08 to 11). Today, I did a lot more pushing the bike uphill than I had expected. This is hard on Hélène as she has to put clothing back on as she waits for me at the end of a climb in order not to get chilled!

We are settled in a nice new hotel in Tuttlingen and have already planned the route down to Sigmaringen. You will note that we have left the parts of Germany where most villages end with '...heim' or '...stein' and are now in '...ingen' territory.

Today's 40 km was a lot harder than the 90 km we did with a headwind a few weeks backs. Today is going to be one of those "...remember when days". 

Still enjoying and having fun on this epic trip

Day 24 - Schaffhausen to Radolfzell

44.1 km - Total so far 1,328.00 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 24

We are safe and secure in Radolfzell, Germany.

Today was planned as a shorter, stop for coffee in a nice platz and relax bike ride. We pretty much accomplished what we set out to do except that of knowing which country we were in at any moment. Between our start point in Schaffhausen and Radolfzell, we crossed the Swiss/German borders 5 times. Turns out there is a small German island, Büsingen, inside Switzerland. See map below.

The white space on the map is Germany

To visit the town of Stein am Rhein, we had to walk our bicycles. We stopped at the River Bike & Cycling café and settled down for cappuccino and apple cake.

One of the other patrons at the café, heard us speak French and came over to chat. Turns out Julien and Cyrille both from France are on a quick cycling vacation and sleep in a tent. I purposely used 'quick' and not 'short' because they cycle 100+ km @ day and wild camp. They are young so sleeping in a tent is not a big deal!

What a fortuitous encounter. They are both well traveled cyclists and identified for us many must see sites in Eastern Europe. There were many but the one that readily comes to mind is the "Buzludzha Monument", a large saucer like monument in Bulgaria. We wish them safe travels and warmer evenings for wild camping.

In the comments a few days ago, an anonymous reader wanted to know how we find places to stay. For a stay during the week, we book a day ahead, for Friday's and Saturday's 2 days in advance.

Before leaving Canada, we had identified the following resources:

• Friends On Bikes (FOB). Dutch resource that has members in Netherlands, France and Germany. If you are on foot/cycle, for 25 Euros per person, you get a bed and breakfast. On occasions, we have asked to include supper. All our stays have been very positive. 
• Welcome to My Garden. You get to setup your tent in someone's yard for free with access to washroom and other services. We have not used as too cold to camp for us.
• For resources above, you can open a free account to get an understanding of how things work, what to expect, your responsibilities and where providers are located. With membership you get more information and the ability to communicate directly with provider.

When FOB resources do not correspond well with our route, we use Bookings.com to look for accommodations that are closer to our route. We have been very happy with the service they provide. Easy to use app on the phone and often discounts are offered vice what is asked for on hotel website. Stays can be in commercial or private accommodations both of which can be delivered with self-check-in service. Self-check-in means you get the code to a lock box or electronic lock on front and room doors.  Only had finger problems once at the first self-check-in but issue resolved quickly.  Bookings.com publishes honest reviews so choosing a place is made easier. They have the "Genius Levels".   After a number of bookings, you graduate to the next level and get better discounts, automatic upgrades and breakfast when available. We benefited from auto upgrades on a few occasions.

This is pretty much it for the blog today. Catch Hélène's video to experience some of our day. It was a mini-vacation.  

Tomorrow is also a shorter day, approximately 38 km with about 20 km of climbing and a number of punchy climbs.  On the video when you hear Hélène speaking French she is speaking to me on personal intercoms that are attached to our helmets. In urban settings they facilitate navigation and help with safety.

Day 23 - Albbruck to Schaffhausen

 71.4 km - Total so far 1,283.90 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 23

We are safe and secure in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

Last night we had a nice meal at the hotel restaurant and a very restful sleep. We were not at all bothered by the sound and the building shaking from the high speed trains.

We got an early start (8 a.m) because we had 72 km ride into the foothills of Switzerland. Not big mountains but a lot more climbing than we experienced to date.

Our moving time on the bikes was 5 hours 25 minutes.  After an easy start from Albbruck, it was a whole day of up the hill, down the hill, pass through a village on the hill side, go down to one in the valley, pass by the Rhine and repeat till we got to Schaffhausen.

For the first time, we had to stop at a depanneur to get groceries. Today is Good Friday and everything is closed except for gas bars/depanneurs. Tomorrow Saturday, we have to shop and carry food for Sunday (stores closed every week) and Easter Monday (all stores closed).

We were hoping to see the Rhinefalls but could not. The EuroVelo 15 path leads you right to the falls. Once there, all you can see as a cyclist is 'No bicycles'. Most outdoor attractions let you push the bike around but not at the falls. It is a no bike zone. Hélène did a walk about and informed me that there are line ups everywhere and it is not free. Since we have seen the falls in Niagara, we decided to give these a pass.

It was easy to find out way the Backpacker Federnhut hotel (something like a hostel). We have a nice room, no fancy, but nice after a hard day of cycling.

Our next destination is Tuttlingen 80 kms away. It's uphill all the way and after today's experience, we decided to get there by doing 2 x 40 km vice 1 x 80 km. We will give up a full day break to make up the kms. As you check the map of  EuroVelo 6 from Tuttlingen, you see it's downhill all the way to Vienna. 

Day 22 - Huningue (Near Basel) to Albbruck

 66.4 km - Total so far 1,212.50 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 22

We are safe and secure in Albbruck, Germany 

After a superb breakfast and a short kitchen chat with our hosts, Cristina and Axel we were off.

It was a busy 20 minutes. In less than 2 kilometer, we had crossed the Rhine on Passerelle des Trois Pays, riding from France into Germany and over the border with Switzerland. We made good speed through Basel until we hit a nasty little climb into one of the older neighborhoods. See the daily video.

We then headed inland from about kilometer 12 to about kilometer 30, connecting successive villages. While it barely rained while we were riding, stone pavers in the villages were still pretty wet from the nights rain. Normally, we have no issues with stone pavers but when wet they are pretty slippery.

After a quick picnic on the Rhine, we headed towards our final destination. Yesterday in Alsace, most communes looked fairly recent with very few older building. Now in Switzerland and Germany we are back in older villages, with stone pavers, town squares, remnants of walls and wall gates. We also came upon our second wooden bridge, Säckingerbrücke (Swiss name), a bridge over the Rhine.

As we got to Albbruck, we hit another very steep climb. Hélène handled it without difficulty but I had to walk. Although you still eventually make it to the top, pushing yourself vice pushing your bike just does not deliver the same satisfaction.

Last hill of the day

We have a nice room in an older building next to the railway tracks. You can really feel those high speed non stop trains as they shake the whole building.

The weather forecast for today was again not very pleasant but it turned out to be better than expected. 

Home for the night

View from our window

Tomorrow we head to Schaffehousen.

PS: Today on the bike path, we saw for the first time Wien (Vienna) 1089 km on road sign.