Germany by bike, hitting Thuringia
ROADTRIPPING GERMANY….!!
I love taking the odd roadtrip every now and then and going from the Baltic sea to Thuringia is about 5-6 hours.. a good chance for a proper roadtrip in Germany. And road trips is all about exploring, taking in the sights, talking, talking some more and Music… loud music!
We set off in the early morning. Having an appointment in the afternoon we have to make, there is no time to linger in bed, unfortunately. Breakfast is given to us in advance hanging on the door so at least we have some snack. We stop for coffee alone and then we are off to the A1 with speeds of 150 km/h. Our Destination is the city of Eisenach.
The temperature drops even more as we head down Germany and we just know that this is going to be a cold few days. There has even been reports of snow, hail and thunder showers on the way.. Yaaaay. What is up with that? Just my luck. Again it is a good thing I packed those wool undergarments.
6 hours later and we make it hungry to the hotel, Kaiserhof. Our base for the next 2 days. Smack into city center is a perfect location. We are again starving… Never been good at the hole pack your snack thing!, I really need to start learning soon. We run out for some food.
Our appointment to collect our bikes for the next day starts off tricky, not finding the right place and finally being pick up and driven to a completely different location than our contact information. The Thüringa Forest has a great route for mountain biking called the Rennsteig. Our initial plan was to bike some of this trail, a good 70 km. But Germany´s weather got to us first. (sorry – I know it is not your fault Germany) Reports of snowfall made us think off different routes to take. We were lucky to have Dirk from Thüringer Bike Abenteuer to show us some of the many great forest trail just minutes outside city center of Eisenach. This would be mountain bike heaven for many driven bikers. And Dirk himself go here as often as he can. If you need any skilled help, Dirk is the man. And he speaks very good english, in these parts of Germany that is a very good pluss.
After a few hours in the woods we went to warm up before heading out for a late dinner and a drink at the Hotel.
Last day in Thüringen does not start up good. Windy, rainy, partly snowing…. We cancel the Rennsteig path and do a city center bike instead. Eisenach is a small city with a cute city center. We bike the city for a while and go to heat up with a coffee break. While the wind is picking up. Then we decide to hit the town of Scmalkalden, an hour away instead of doing it in a full day bike ride we use our rental Car. The old town center of half timbered framed houses are so pretty.
Lunch here is a great idea, and gives us the chance to explore more of the Thuringia and German scenery along the way back.
Last evening in Thuringia and we have dinner plans at the Potato house. That was some culinary experience. I love the decor of this place and it is somewhat hidden outside the city center. Had we not been giving this invitation I don´t think I would have discovered it. Super good and a lovely Atmosphere. I would definitely come back here. Pluss for having the menu in English.
This post #EnjoyGermanNature is in collaboration with the German National Tourist Office and NordicTB Pictures, text and opinions are as always my own.
