Bavaria cycle route planner bike app: Easy travelling on Bavaria's 54,000 km of cycle paths

Bavaria is beautiful - not only its inhabitants say so, but also millions of tourists. That's why there is now a platform for route planning and navigation for the Free State. But because Thuringia and Lower Saxony are also beautiful, the cycle route planner for Bavaria is part of the superordinate cycle route planner for Germany, which is available at cycle-route-planner-germany.com connects the platforms of the individual countries.

The new Bavarian cycle route planner maps all of the state's cycle routes and provides a practical planning aid for leisure cyclists, cycle travellers and everyday cyclists. In contrast to trails or small paths off the beaten track, which are marked but not taken into account when planning routes, the app offers a comprehensive overview of cycle routes.

This new app from the Bavarian state government replaces the Bayern-Rad app published in 2020. Above all, the new cycle route planner app now offers several options to choose from, using different (cycle) route networks:

1st cycle network: With around 54,000 kilometres of routes, it is ideal for leisure cyclists who want to plan day trips. The routes are marked by the familiar green and white cycle signposts.

2nd Bavarian network for cyclists (BfR): A total of 9,000 km of routes for leisure and holiday cyclists, suitable for day or multi-day tours. Consistent logo labelling, themed routes and safe routes on roads with little traffic and independent cycle paths ensure a relaxed ride.

3. direct route: For short connections on paved paths and designated cycle lanes as well as roads with low speed limits (e.g. 30 km/h zones). Ideal for everyday cyclists, as paved paths are favoured when calculating the route.

4. asphalt/concrete: Exclusively paved paths and roads - ideal for cyclists with narrow tyres or a lot of luggage and in bad weather.

Customised planning

The app allows you to enter an average speed to see the expected journey time in advance. You can also avoid stairs, inclines or ferries when planning your journey. Destinations can be entered using the search function or simply marked on the map with your finger.

We have planned a sample route from Feldafing (where the editor lives) to Munich, Sendling (where the editorial office is based):

• Cycle network: 2:23 hours // 35.8 km // 228 m elevation gain // 334 tm
• BfR: 3:35 hrs // 53.8 km // 308 m elevation gain // 414 tm
• Direct: 1:59 hrs // 29.8 km // 157 m elevation gain // 264 tm
• Concrete: 1:58 hrs // 29.7 km // 155 m elevation gain // 262 tm

Bavaria cycle route planner: route information and additional functions

The Bavarian Cycle Route Planner app provides information along the route about places to eat and drink, such as beer gardens, places of interest and even offers a "Around the bike" function that lists bike shops, garages, inner tube machines and pump-up stations. Free offline maps can be downloaded as usual from Google or other providers: simply select a section and save it. This allows you to navigate with the sat nav app even without data consumption or a mobile phone network.

The extensive search function makes it possible to search for catering, bike support and overnight accommodation. Certified bed & bike inns can be accessed directly and public water dispensers are also listed. All of this can also be displayed on the map with small, self-explanatory symbols while you are navigating using your smartphone.

Saving and sharing routes

Planned or selected routes can be saved in three formats:

• RRP format
• GPX format
• KML format

If you don't want to search for or even create a route on your mobile phone, you can also do this on your PC. Via the website radlland-bayern.de/radkarte routes can also be planned and then loaded into the cycle route planner app using a QR code. This QR code can be scanned in the app under the menu item "QR" or with the smartphone camera, whereupon the route can be displayed under "Routing" and saved offline.

The cycle route planner also offers a large number of themed routes. From A for "Abens-Radweg" to Z for "Zusam-Radweg" (no, both are not misspellings). Results can be filtered using a free search, for example using search terms such as "open-air museum" or specific locations such as "Starnberg". The search radius can be limited from 1 to 35 kilometres. The routes found can then be saved so that they are available offline or you can download the corresponding data package (e.g. GPX format) or share it with others via a link.

One small drawback: QR codes can be generated, but not downloaded as an image file.

Conclusion on the Bavaria cycle route planner

The Bavarian cycle route planner works smoothly and is intuitive to use. You don't need to register or log in. It is therefore unlikely that the data will still be available after reinstalling the app. Navigation on the smartphone is easy to read and the route is displayed as a thick, coloured line. The map details are clear and precise. Linking using a GPS file, for example with a Garmin sat nav, also works without any problems. The app deliberately focusses on designated cycle paths and roads for route planning. If you are looking for adventures off the beaten track, you are in the wrong place with the cycle route planner. The increasingly popular tracking functions for speed, distance or body data are also deliberately omitted. You could say that this app and the website planning tool can't do much compared to GPS sat navs. But what it does provide is good and helpful. The fact that the app only refers to "cyclists" and not to female cyclists is probably due to the Bavarian state government's policy of not using the opposite gender.