Around Bad Wörishofen

There are bicycle parking spaces in the immediate vicinity of Bamberg station.

Just a few steps from Bad Wörishofen station, in Rosenstraße, you will find the Osswald bicycle shop, where you can rent a touring bike with or without e-drive.

Fahrrad Osswald offers a wide variety of bikes and accessories: new and used, for sale and for hire, for a day, a weekend or a whole week. Of course, a repair workshop is also part of the service, and so the touring bikes, which are available in different sizes and with or without e-drive, are always perfectly maintained.

Now you're ready to go! Pass the station and head south along Bahnhofstraße and Hauptstraße. A small detour to the left gives you a glimpse of the first public men's baths dating back to 1888. From the main road, turn right into Obere Mühlstraße, which takes you past a small park with an old orchard, natural water treading facility and some works of art. On the southern outskirts of the town, you may notice the oak grove with the large needles of the Allgäu hiking trilogy, or perhaps the Waldsee lake will tempt you...

You are now cycling southwards through the most beautiful nature. On the Zusam cycle path you go through Untergammenried, Großried and Baisweil and on signposted cycle paths to Eggenthal. Here you make a short detour up the hill to take a look at the Marien-Seelenkapelle chapel.

The first idea for a chapel on this site came from children. After a plague cemetery had been established on the hill in 1628, they built a modest wooden chapel in 1645 with the help of a carpenter. It was to last for three decades and then be replaced by a stone building for the first time in 1683. The present baroque splendour of the chapel dates from the turn of the 18th century, the ceiling paintings followed half a century later in 1758. The structure, hidden behind trees, has been a place of pilgrimage since the 17th century and is the landmark of the village of Eggenthal.

On the next stage, the route continues south and also goes up and down a little. You cycle through Blöcktach and Friesenried and head for the bird nature trail near Aschthal. Take a breather near the highest point of your tour with a short, educational walk through the forest.

If you have always wanted to see birds up close and personal, this is the place for you. In display cases along this nature trail, lifelike replicas made of clay can be seen, making it easier to recognise native birds in the surrounding nature as well. The information boards along the 4.5-kilometre-long circular trail tell more about the individual species.

Native wild bees breed in an insect clay wall, a listening funnel captures the silence of the forest, and the wooden pavilion in the heart of the nature trail not only invites you to have a picnic. Here there is the opportunity to look inside bird nesting boxes and observe the family life of the birds without disturbing them. When they have all flown out, an exhibition of eggs and nests shows the diversity of nature.

Whether big or small, if you like and have a pen with you, take the bird quiz right at the beginning or download it as a pdf file.

Continue on the road in the direction of Oberbeuren. After a few hundred metres, turn left towards Großkemnat. The next nature trail is right on this stretch of road. Via Aqua is a theme trail that deals with the forest and our drinking water.

Does this make you thirsty or are you hungry in the meantime? Then stop off at the Café Burgstüble. In the former official residence of Kemnat Castle you will find a rustic-historical ambience, a beer garden, a cold or warm snack or a piece of cake with the right thirst quencher or coffee to go with it.

Café Burgstüble
At the Römerturm 15
87600 Kaufbeuren
083419614961

Opening hours: Sun 14.30 - 17.30

Literally the next highlight of your tour is the Römerturm, which, like the former Amtshaus, is also part of the Kemnat castle ruins.

The name "Roman Tower" is misleading. The high medieval keep was not built by the Romans, but by two servants of the Count of Ronsberg with the resounding names Volkmar and Markward von Apfeltrang.

The tower belongs to Kemnat Castle, built in 1185, one of only a few castles in the Allgäu region that were not captured in the Peasants' War of 1525. In addition to the keep and the official residence, the castle well 20 metres to the east is still preserved today, with a depth of 24 metres. The other buildings of the castle complex were demolished in the 19th century, the dilapidated castle tavern finally in 1978.

The entire region can be seen from the tower. A detailed panorama panel provides orientation for the view of the entire Alpine chain from the Karwendel Mountains to the Allgäu Alps.

On this stage, you largely roll downhill and on the Zusam cycle path via Kleinkemnat tightly northwards to Irsee. There, a monastery church awaits you, whose origins date back to the time of the Roman tower you have just visited.

In 1182, the hermits of the hermitage in the Eiberger Forest first built a chapel on the Eiberg. In the valley, however, the water supply was less difficult, and so from 1187 the Benedictines settled in the valley where the Irsee monastery still stands today. On 3 May 1195, Bishop Udalschalk of Augsburg consecrated the newly built church and chapel there, which soon became a coveted burial place for the monastery's benefactors.
The medieval basilica was destroyed in the Peasants' War in 1525, but rebuilt by 1534. War and looting took their toll on the region and the monastery. The building's dilapidated steeple collapsed in 1699 and the choir was destroyed. The successor building in the Baroque style, which was started immediately, was completed as early as 1704. A century later, the monastery was dissolved in the course of secularisation and the former monastery church became the Catholic parish church of St. Peter and Paul.

The splendidly decorated baroque monastery church is open for visitors during the day.
Registration for guided tours of the monastery church is possible through the parish office.
Duration of the guided tour approx. 30 minutes

Before you head back, you have the opportunity to fortify yourself in the monastery brewery with the untreated and unfiltered beer that has been brewed here for more than 800 years. The Kolsterbraugasthof serves Bavarian-Allgäu dishes with ingredients from the brewery's own production and from local farmers. Perhaps you would also be interested in taking a look at the beer museum? Irseer Klosterbräu, Klosterring 1-3, 87660 Irsee, tel. 08341 432200, www.irsee.com.

When you are ready for the way back, cycle down to the Wertach and follow the little river to Schlingen. You can then cycle back to Bad Wörishofen on the Bäderradweg or the Radrunde Allgäu.