Travel report: Cycling tour on the Five Rivers Cycle Route

...who traveled with us on the Five Rivers Cycle Path from Nuremberg at the end of May / beginning of June 2024.

DAY 2, SUNDAY

After a hearty breakfast, we set off on our first stage towards Berching in glorious sunshine. We first had to leave the city of Nuremberg with its well-developed network of cycle paths heading south until we reached the Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal near Worzeldorf.

We cycled along this tranquil old canal with its numerous locks and lovingly restored lock keepers' cottages past Feucht to Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, where we enjoyed a lamb's milk beer at the See-Café on the former state garden show grounds. The highlight of this part of the stage, however, was the "bridge canal" over the Schwarzach, a worthwhile photo spot.

The supposedly strenuous 180-metre difference in altitude between Nuremberg and Neumarkt turned out to be an easy 1 to 3-metre climb just before each lock. From the European watershed near Neumarkt, we continued south along the canal "downhill" to Berching. A great surprise awaited us here with the Hotel Post: a superbly renovated hotel with old and new style elements, a prime example of successful refurbishment. And our luggage was already there. We liked it so much that we had an excellent dinner right there after a refreshing shower. 

The subsequent tour of the town showed us that Berching is a beautifully renovated little town with town walls, churches and very well-designed banks of the Sulz river. After our evening card game, we had a great night's sleep. The bikes were safely stored in a garage with a combination lock, so the hotel didn't have to issue a key. There were lockable lockers with sockets for the batteries. The historic fridge in the hallway, where you could store your own food and buy fresh drinks on an honesty basis, was also remarkable. Everything was perfect!

Kilometres cycled: 73.3
 

DAY 3, MONDAY

The wonderful breakfast buffet left nothing to be desired, so we set off on our next stage towards Kelheim at around 9.30 am, unfortunately in a light drizzle. 

Past the Benedictine abbey of Plankstetten, we followed the Main-Danube Canal to Beilngries, where we then followed the Altmühl to Riedenburg. There we drank our midday bike drink outside at the Gasthaus Post. Thank goodness the rain had stopped. We then continued along the Main-Danube Canal to Kelheim to the Gasthof Weißes Lamm. A time-honored house with clean, simple rooms, where our luggage was already waiting for us. 

We took advantage of the beautiful weather for a short hike up the Michelsberg to the Befreiungshalle. An impressive monument in honor of the victories over Napoleon with allegories of the Germanic tribes. We even managed to climb the 196 steps to the viewing platform. We were rewarded with a magnificent panoramic view of the three-river town of Kelheim, where the Danube, Altmühl and Main-Danube Canal meet.

We had really earned our dinner today. As the Weisse Brauhaus, the oldest wheat beer brewery in Bavaria, was unfortunately closed today, we went to eat burgers at the VOX on the recommendation of a local. After a nightcap in the beer garden of the Weißen Lamm, we played a round of Mau Mau and went to bed.

Kilometres cycled: 61

DAY 4, TUESDAY

As today's stage to Regensburg was comparatively short, we first wanted to take a boat trip to the Weltenburger Enge to see the Danube breakthrough after breakfast. 

This worked out well, despite heavy rain during the night and low clouds in the morning, we were able to pass the spectacular rocks on the passenger ship "Ludwig der Kelheimer" to Weltenburg Monastery and take a one-hour tour of the monastery grounds. However, it was still a little too early for us to sample the world-famous beer. At around 12.00 noon, we set off on our bikes from Kelheim along the Danube towards Regensburg. The weather was now wonderfully sunny again, but the paths to Regensburg were full of puddles and riding too close to the cyclist in front was immediately "rewarded" with a small leg shower.

We stopped for lunch at the Bad Abbach ice cream parlor Paparazzo. In our opinion, this place has long since seen its best days and at best offers something for spa guests and clinic patients. So we moved on relatively quickly towards the capital of the Upper Palatinate.


 

In Regensburg, we stayed at the ACHAT Hotel Regensburg im Park, which is unfortunately located relatively far away from the old town in an industrial area. The advantages of the Achat Hotel, however, are the absolutely quiet location and the many parking spaces directly at the hotel (which is particularly advantageous if you start the tour in Regensburg).

After our arrival and the obligatory shower, we cycled back to Regensburg's old town and took a short tour of the city on our bikes. We had dinner in the Spitalgarten beer garden - with a view of the stone bridge (the oldest preserved bridge in Germany dating back to 1135) and the calmly flowing Danube.

Afterwards, we returned to the hotel and played cards at the hotel bar. The very nice receptionist managed to prepare some delicious Aperol Spritz (as she said "for the first time").

Kilometres cycled: 44.7

DAY 5, WEDNESDAY

As the next stage to Kallmünz was the shortest stage of the whole tour, we stayed in Regensburg in the morning to see the city. After visiting the cathedral, we decided to take a city tour on the mini-train and listened to an organ service in the cathedral at lunchtime. After a quick refreshment at the Regensburger Weissbräuhaus - for which we had received a discount voucher on the mini train - we set off on today's stage.

First, we headed back upstream along the Danube to the mouth of the Naab just before Regensburg. We crossed the Danube on a narrow path at the Großprüfening railroad bridge, where we had to push our bikes.

On the other side of the river, we then descended a short, steep section to the pilgrimage church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Maria Ort at the Naab bridge. From there, the route followed the Naab upstream, past Pielenhofen Monastery via Duggendorf to Kallmünz. There we stayed at the Pension Im Malerwinkel, which is located steeply above the village in a residential area.

Kallmünz is a former artists' village where Kandinsky and Münter also met, a large castle ruin and the stone bridge are picturesque corners and Kallmünz offers truly inspiring scenic motifs for painters. Our dinner in the tiny inn Zum Bürstenbinder, which according to the beer mat is only closed "at high tide!", was rustic and very special. Specialty: homemade Bauchstecherla. After playing cards in the courtyard of the guesthouse, the nightly rain set in and unfortunately didn't stop the next morning either.

Kilometres cycled: 31.5

DAY 6, THURSDAY

The Vils flows into the Naab in Kallmünz. In the morning, we set off along the Vils towards Amberg in the pouring rain.

Rather soaked, we stopped for lunch at the inviting Corpus Christi sausage festival in Schmidtmühlen at Hammerschloss. There we dried off a little and arrived in Amberg almost dry again after a comparatively short stage. Due to the annual Amberg festival "Summer in the City" in the former state horticultural show grounds, however, the thoroughfare was closed, so we had to drive around the grounds and didn't find our hotel straight away. We were also caught in a heavy downpour, so we arrived at the wonderful Hotel Vienna House completely dirty and soaked. After a cleansing shower, we set off on a tour of Amberg in the now wonderful sunshine. 

Past the so-called "Stadtbrille", a water gate building over the Vils dating back to 1454, we stopped for an iced coffee at the Bootshaus before continuing our tour. We really enjoyed Amberg, especially the fact that the sun was shining again.

For dinner, we stopped off at the Schloderer Bierbrauhaus, from where we returned to the hotel dry after another thunder shower. With our active support, the receptionist managed to switch on at least some of the lights in the foyer and we rounded off the evening with a nightcap and a game of cards. On our departure the next day, we made a suggestion to the hotel in the feedback form to install external sockets in the bike box so that the bikes' batteries could be charged directly instead of having to do this in the room. The latter is increasingly prohibited in hotel rooms. On our return home, we received grateful feedback and that the hotel's technical department would take this into account.

Kilometres cycled: 43.2

DAY 8, SATURDAY, DEPARTURE

After breakfast today, we loaded our car with luggage and bikes and picked up some delicious bread at the Hofpfisterei in the now pouring rain. After a short stopover in my home town of Randersacker at the Schmachtenberger winery, we arrived back home at around 1.00 pm.