You can find these 8 weekend MTB tours here:
(Click to go to the individual rating)
Ore Mountains: from Seifen to Dresden
The Ore Mountains in the south of Saxony are already worth every weekend trip. But bikers who have local knowledge and like to fill their free time with wild trail experiences prefer to head over the Czech border. There, where the Ore Mountains are called "Krušné Hory" and drop into the Bohemian Basin with an impressive escarpment. In inversion weather conditions, particularly photogenic seas of clouds break against this steep slope. But the real highlight for bikers: the trails on this side of the mountain are longer (up to 700 metres in depth) and therefore more challenging.
Enough route material for three days, and this trip from Seiffen to Dresden is just as long, with plenty of highlights: the high moor on the Jezerka mountain, the birch forests of Mikulov, the ridge trail at the Mückentürmchen, the trail park of Adolfov, the rock town of the Tyssa walls, the sandstone gorges on the Schneeberg and at the end the Elbhang trail to Dresden. The perfect weekend for trail and nature lovers!
Tour information Erzgebirge
A total of 201 km / 3720 m elevation gain / 3 stages
- Stage 1: Seiffen - Mikulov 58.5 km / 1730 m elevation gain
- Stage 2: Mikulov - Telnice 32.9 km / 880 m elevation gain
- Stage 3: Telnice - Dresden 82.5 km / 1110 m elevation gain
- Difficulty: difficult
Fichtelgebirge: three days MTB around the Schneeberg
Ochsenkopf and Schneeberg are the protagonists of this extended mountain bike weekend tour in north-east Bavaria. At 1051 and 1024 metres, they are not only the highest peaks in the Fichtelgebirge, but also the ones with the most trails. But if you take a closer look at the low mountain waves between Marktredwitz and Kirchenlamitz and ask a few dedicated locals, you will discover many more kilometres of trails between the conifers, seas of boulders and bizarre rock towers.
Combined, these additional fun routes from Hohe Matze, Kösseine and Hoher Kornberg form a veritable gold chain of MTB tours around the entire Fichtelgebirge. Of course with a detour to the celebrated bike park on the Ochsenkopf. Here you can even use the chairlift to shorten 450 metres in altitude from the overall quite challenging tour.
Tour information Fichtelgebirge
The ideal starting point for the tour is Marktredwitz in the south of the Fichtelgebirge. From there, a long clockwise loop via Bischofsgrün, Kirchenlamitz and Hohenberg back to Marktredwitz
The stages
- Day 1: Marktredwitz - Fleckl 47.3 km / 1370 m elevation gain
- Day 2: Fleckl - Kirchenlamitz 51.7 km / 1440 m elevation gain
- Day 3: Kirchenlamitz - Marktredwitz 63.2 km / 1015 m elevation gain
Stefan Loibl, tour author:
The Püttner Trail: This is the Cube crew's favourite trail after work. At the striking granite towers at the summit of the Kösseine (939 m), the trail starts off bumpy and blocked, but then picks up speed with a few steep chutes and wide bends. The root carpets soon become easier to negotiate. And this is just one of many downhill options on the Kösseine.
Heumödern trails: trail park with family courses
In the Upper Palatinate Altmühltal, six trails now wind their way through the Treuchtlingen forest. One is 2.5 kilometres long and flows over easy to moderately difficult obstacles, while the other is 600 metres long and packs in everything that requires suspension travel, body control and steady braking fingers: Stone field, road gap, root passages. There are also two practice trails and day-long trail tours around the park. The Happy Trails riding technique school offers courses here, especially for families with different ideas of biking fun (children aged 4 and over). The tricks and techniques learnt should ensure more fun and safety on future family outings.
Tour information Heumödern trails
2.5-day course from 395 euros
All further information about the Heumödern trails at: heumoederntrails.com
Trans-Bavarian Alps: four days from the Allgäu to Schliersee
Allgäu, Ammergau Alps, Wetterstein, Karwendel, Tegernsee mountains - bikers from the south of Munich have no shortage of touring spots on their doorstep. It's just that the motorways to get there are usually jammed at the weekend. That's why it's a good idea to tackle the Bavarian Alps as a west-east crossing: Each day leads through a different mountain range and ends at a crystal-clear bathing lake, which you have almost to yourself in the evening.
Tour information Trans-Bavarian Alps
A total of 191 km / 5830 m elevation gain / 4 stages
- Stage 1 Halblech - Eibsee 44 km / 1300 m altitude difference
- Stage 2 Eibsee - Lautersee 38 km / 1530 m altitude difference
- Stage 3 Lautersee - Fall 49 km / 1240 m altitude difference
- Stage 4 Fall - Schliersee 60 km / 1760 m altitude difference
Bavarian Forest: eight thousand metres in one weekend
For a bit of Himalayan flair in everyday life: you can manage this summit tour starting in St. Englmar in one day. However, the roots, which are always in the way, take up a lot of time and energy. It is therefore best to take two days, so that you can celebrate the individual summit experiences much better. Pack some provisions! The only overnight accommodation and refreshment stops are in Gotteszell at the southern turning point of the tour.
Tour information Bavarian Forest
In total, the loop is 50.8 kilometres and has an elevation gain of 1630 metres.
The route: from St. Englmar via the peaks Pröller (1048 m), Predigtstuhl (1024 m), Knogl (1056 m), Kälberbuckel (1054 m), Hirschenstein (1095 m), Klausenstein (1050 m), Rauher Kulm (1020 m) and Vogelsang (1022 m). The tour in two days:
- Stage 1: 33.1 km / 980 m altitude difference
- Stage 2: 17.8 km / 650 m altitude difference
Summits on the Kaiserstuhl: Summit tours in the Rhine valley plain
Its peaks once spewed fire and lava; today, vines, almond trees and emerald lizards bask in the sun on its sloping terraces. The small low mountain range of Kaiserstuhl rises 16 kilometres north of Freiburg from the Rhenish Plain. Wedged between the wild Vosges mountains to the west and the vast Black Forest to the east, this gem seems somewhat inconspicuous, but there are of course reasons why a bike tour organiser like Beitune offers weekend excursions in the Kaiserstuhl.
Covering an area of just 15 by 12.5 kilometres, there are twelve peaks in the form of green, gentle meadow humps that can be explored one after the other via panoramic trails, ridge trails and very flowing hollow paths. Down in the valleys, pretty wine villages have taken up residence that are ideal for a stop-off and overnight stay. And the climate is almost Mediterranean. It all sounds very cosy, but there are probably also a few dark chapters in the past. There is no other explanation for some of the names such as Böselsberg, Totenkopfstraße and Raubrittergraben.
Tour information Kaiserstuhl
Beitune.de offers weekends with day tours in Achkarren. Dates: May and October. Price 229 euros
Bergisches Land: Green hills and valleys - with luggage transport
From Witzhelden via Wipperfürth to Wiehl - across the Bergisches Land region in two days. Although this region to the east of Cologne does not yet make as many waves as the Sauerland region behind it, the constant ups and downs here also build up to the altitude metres of a Transalp stage. Of course, there are no prominent peaks in this green sea of hills to make this possible, but rather the typical notch valleys (Siepen) that you crank into and out of.
Often even on fun forest trails, which can turn out to be surprisingly challenging, because: The Bergisches Land has no Vosges shield like the Kaiserstuhl in the south. Here, the Atlantic lows blow in almost unchecked and accumulate on the slopes of the Hochsauerland. In other words, St Peter himself makes sure that the paths, roots and, of course, the trail bikers' clothes don't get too dusty in this area. But as soon as the sun peaks out, castles and fortresses provide photo breaks, reservoirs for swimming breaks and breweries for refreshments.
Tour information Bergisches Land
The tour has a total distance of 130 km, 2600 m elevation gain and includes easy trails. Price incl. overnight stay in Wipperfürth, luggage transport and return transfer on request.
Further information can be found at rockmytrail.de
Vosges Trail: two days through the Odenwald
Between Darmstadt and Heidelberg, the Vosges Trail winds along the western edge of the Odenwald. A long-distance hiking trail that changes its surface and width as frequently as its ups and downs. Sometimes it is a gravel path through dense beech forests, sometimes it climbs as a two-lane meadow path through the vineyards and lets your gaze wander far over the Rhine plain. In between, it is a real thrill with rooty, sometimes stepped trail passages. Further entertainment is provided by old watchtowers from Roman times, castle ruins, burial mounds, a sea of rocks and Heppenheim's old town from the Middle Ages.
The highest point is marked by the 514 metre high Felsberg. Despite this, almost 2,500 metres of elevation gain accumulate over the two day-long stages before the city of Heidelberg finally spreads out at your feet at a vantage point and you just follow the zigzagging forest path down to the finish. Perfect for the start of the season!
Tour information Vosges Trail
Total 104 km / 2460 m elevation gain / 2 stages
The route of the Vosges Trail is marked (red bar on a white background), but an additional GPS track makes sense, as some trails branch off unexpectedly into the thicket. There are plenty of places to stay overnight in the towns along the route. Return transfer: Darmstadt and Heidelberg are well connected with the Deutsche Bahn IC network.
Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
