The southern Allgäu lake district in particular offers the popular leisure combination of cycling and swimming, for example at Niedersonthofener See or Rottachsee. But it's not just families and leisure cyclists who will find the right routes here. More fit cyclists can try out the hilly routes in the Alpine foothills.
Character:
Cycle tours around Kempten and in the Oberallgäu lead past lakes, idyllic farms, but also up the hills of the Alpine foothills and partly through a tranquil river landscape. An interesting, easy to moderately difficult family tour of just under 60 kilometres leads from Sonthofen via Immenstadt and then around Lake Niedersonthofen.
Tour tip:
Allgäu cycle path, 119 km, easy to moderately difficult
The long-distance cycle route leads through the hilly, densely wooded Allgäu Alps on the former Isny-Kempten (Allgäu) and Kaufbeuren-Schongau railway lines as well as on low-traffic roads.
Route: Baden-Württemberg-Bavaria border - Weitnau - Buchenberg - Kempten - Betzigau - Unterthingau - Marktoberdorf - Kaufbeuren - Burggen - Schongau
Best time to travel
End of May to end of September.
Journey:
Kempten can be easily reached by train via Ulm and Munich. The railway's cyclists' hotline is 01805/99 66 33 (14 ct/min. from landlines, max. 42 ct/min. for mobile phones).
Bike service:
Bike hire and workshops can be found in Kempten, Waltenhofen and Sonthofen. Addresses can be found at http://www.oberallgaeu.de
E-bike hire in Kempten, Oy-Mittelberg, Buchenberg, Rettenberg and Weitnau, among others http://www.movelo.com
Cycling hotels:
There are several cyclist-friendly establishments, such as Hotel Am Forum in Kempten http://www.hotel-am-forum.de
Gasthof Krone in Waltenhofen http://www.krone-waltenhofen.de
Gasthof Zum Engel in Kaufbeuren http://www.engel-kaufbeuren.de
Further addresses under http://www.bettundbike.de
Maps/literature:
Kompass cycle maps no. 3123 "Oberschwaben, Unterallgäu" and no. 3124 "Ostallgäu, Pfaffenwinkel" 1:70,000 at 6.95 euros each.
Information (general):
Allgäuer Seenland, Rathausplatz 4, 87477 Sulzberg, Tel. 08376/9201-0, Fax 08376/9201-40.
Kempten Tourism and Event Service, Rathausplatz 24, 87435 Kempten, Tel. 0831/2525-237, Fax 0831/2525-427.
Internet:
http://www.oberallgaeu.de (lots of tourist information and some cycle tour suggestions)
The full-length article from issue 4/2011 is available as a free PDF download.
