Gotte

My friend found this while researching our up and coming Mosel tour. It opens on Rhineland Pfalz, but has all the regions at the top.

https://www.hoeckmann.de/karten/rhein...z/index-en.htm

Hope it's of help to all those planning a tour in Germany.

bailout

Thanks for posting that. I am thinking of doing a tour from the UK through germany and Austria and have been thinking whether it is possible to plan the route and navigate without buying the bikeline books that everyone recomends. They are difficult to get here and expensive when you need several.

Gotte

My firiend and I used a Bikeline book for our first tour, but not for our second. Once we got used to the way the German Radweg system works (little signs by the side of the road), we found we could dispense with the mapbooks. All you have to do is check at each junction that you are following the radweg, and you are fine.
the Bikeline books are great, but experience tells me (Berlin to Dresden and back) so long as you are careful to make sure you are on the radweg, and don't try and make it up as you go along or trust to luck, you can do just fine.
hope it all goes well for you. What route are you thinking of taking? If I were going to Austria, I'd go to Dunkirque, down thorugh the Ardenne, pick up the Rhine at Koln, then down the Rhine, right to its source at the Bodensee, then along the Bodensee to Koenigsee radweg. It looks stunning (and not too hilly).

All the best

flavio

Thank you Phil, it is an impressive source of maps of any kind, and it covers countries outside Germany too.
And I agree, Esterbauer guides for a long path are expensive (and heavy). Anyway I think I'll use them even in the next tour... last year we lost some crossings looking at other maps - probably not so good - and it was a bit frustrating... however we were not in Germany, but in Austria and The Netherlands.

You seems to preced my plans
Rhine from the north to Lake Constance and Bodensee-Konigsee radweg will be my future trip (it was the previous plan for this year, but I changed and moved it to another summer).
Lake Constance is very famous and frequented, it should be perfect for bicycle holidays.

becnal

Ah, I am afraid I must disagree with my dear friend Gotte on this issue. I find the Bikeline maps to be INDISPENSABLE. 'tis true that German bike routes are very well marked, but way markers don't often tell you when the next camprground, supermarket or train station will appear. The Bikeline maps provide you with every conceivable piece of info you could need to make your bike tour as stressfree as possible, even if you don't speak German. The maps are that well illustrated.

As for the difficulty in getting them in England, just buy the first one you will need, and once you get to the continent, stop off at a bike or map shop and pick up the next ones you'll need.

xilios

The local tourist office (every town has one) is also a great "FREE" source of information on cycling routes, places to visit and stay (campsites). You just need to have a general idea of the route you would be taking.
Just take along a road map like a Michelin or any other thats about 1:200/300,000 for a backup.
cheers

flavio

In Italian shops they are unknown... but there is internet, so no problem to find

ScruffyChimp

Thanks very much!

I was looking for German cycle map websites recently, and had little luck. The Bayern page links to a great site, that include the Romantic Road that I was interested in.

becnal

Hey Flavio, have you managed to buy any Bikeline maps over the internet?

flavio

Yes, I buyed all the bikeline I have via internet.

Last year I wrote directly to Esterbauer, and they moved my question to the Italian distributor, which sold me the books. All went fine.

This year I ordered at landkartenshop.de, but I have to say THIS IS NOT A SERIOUS SELLER: May 18th I paied more than 80 euro, today May 30th my order is still not updated, and they never replied to my emails. I don't know if they received the money, or if they have the books, or if I have to wait months to receive them... but I have to leave on july, so I think I'll have to call by phone [international call] to ask what's the hell they did with my money.
If they are so lazy to never reply and to leave me alone inside stressing doubts caused by their silence, I will avoid this shop forever.