From Schweinfurt to the Volkacher Mainschleife

There are 25 bicycle parking spaces in the immediate vicinity of the station.

At Schweinfurt Mitte station you leave the riverbank at the first opportunity. But don't worry, it will accompany you for a long time this day. You walk along Schultestraße and Spitalstraße to Schweinfurt's market square. In the old town hall you will find the tourist information office where you can rent an e-bike for today's excursion.

A total of 4 e-bikes from the regional manufacturer Winora can be rented from April to the end of October outside opening hours at the Tourist Information Schweinfurt 360°.
They can be rented for one or more days. The Tourist Information team will be happy to collect and return the bikes individually and flexibly outside our opening hours by telephone arrangement. An alternative is to return the bikes to bike boxes near the Museum Georg Schäfer and the Main cycle path. Bikes are only available for hire from April to October.

From the market square, take Brückenstraße and cross the Main. You will get a taste of the riverbank air here on the south bank before you temporarily leave it after crossing under the A70 and head south on small roads and across open fields parallel to the river. You will also briefly touch the Old Main on your right and a little later the Garstadt bird sanctuary. At Hirschfeld you meet the Main again and cycle along the banks and meadows to Stammheim. One of the highlights of today's tour awaits you at the entrance to Stammheim: the Stammheim Museum.

Two centuries of Franconian and German history are presented by Germany's largest private museum for military and contemporary history. The journey through time begins in the Napoleonic era, covers the conflicts of the 20th century and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The three exhibition halls with elaborately staged dioramas and displays are complemented by an outdoor area. Here, more than 250 wheeled, tracked, water and air vehicles can be marvelled at. Museum guests can climb aboard the world's largest single-engine biplane, the Antonov AN-2, among other things.

On your next stage, you always stay close to the banks of the Main. The river winds south, southwest and finally east and you follow it through the northern loop of the Main to the next attraction, the Museum Barockscheune in the heart of Volkach's old town.
On the way, it is worthwhile to let your gaze wander. You pass romantic winegrowing villages, Vogelsburg Castle, the largest Bocksbeutel in the world and the "Maria im Weingarten" chapel.

You have now completed half of the route and will not be going any further away from Schweinfurt today. If you would like to fortify yourself before or even after your visit to the museum, the Hinterhöfle (Hauptstraße 30, 97332 Volkach) invites you to its wine and beer garden in the backyard of a venerable town house, where you can enjoy regional specialities, top Franconian wines, fair trade coffee and farmhouse ice cream.

The museum of regional and urban history reveals its treasures in a 300-year-old barn that was completely renovated in 2003. It is dedicated to the history, landscape and culture of the Mainschleife. Winegrowing is just as much a theme as prehistory and early history, everyday life and the history of the town.

The centrepiece of the permanent exhibition is a manuscript that is over 500 years old, 1050 pages or eleven centimetres thick, weighs almost five kilos and is illustrated with 128 coloured drawings. The "Volkacher Salbuch" provides insights into life in the Franconian town in the late Middle Ages and has been one of the hundred award-winning "Heimatschätze in Bayern" (local treasures in Bavaria) since 2017.

In addition, the museum always shows new temporary exhibitions on different topics. The museum is run by the city and looked after exclusively by a team of volunteers.

From the old town, you roll a few metres down to the river. The MS Undine moors near the Main bridge and promises you a change of perspective. On a short river cruise, you can once again view your last stage comfortably and without any effort from the water. Perhaps you are lucky and there is still room for your bike, in which case you can simply ride along to Stammheim and continue your tour from there.

A short river cruise takes the guests of the MS Undine to the Volkacher Mainschleife. During the trip, the captain will tell you interesting facts about the river, navigation and the landscape. There is a short stop at the pier in Stammheim, the ship turns around before the lock in Wipfeld and after about 90 minutes it reaches the pier in Volkach again. There is on-board service with cappuccino and cake, Franconian bratwurst, hot and cold dishes as well as dishes for children. There is a choice of eight different open Franconian wines to match the view.

ATTENTION: There is only limited capacity for bicycles! Therefore, it is better to plan a round trip without bicycles.

Timetable and prices at https://mainschifffahrt.info/fahrplan-preise/

You did the whole round trip with the MS Undine or didn't go at all? Then take a look at the Main Loop on the way back from the opposite direction and thus from a different perspective.

On the way, you have the opportunity to sample Franconian specialities, home-grown wine and locally produced beer at the cyclists' meeting place in the Fahr district, romantically situated directly on the Main and the Main ferry.

North of Stammheim, you cross the Wipfeld Main floodplain at St. Ludwig and cross over to Wipfeld on the Main ferry. From now on, enjoy the ride north along the opposite bank. You pass the Hirschfelder Weiher pond. At Garstadt, on the other side of the river, you will once again see the bird sanctuary and Garstadter Holz.

At the weir, you decide against the somewhat bumpy and unpaved riverbank path in places and for the Main-Werra cycle path running parallel to it. You cycle on, at some point between the Schwalbenufer and a labyrinth of elephant grass and along the edge of Bergrheinfeld, always towards Schweinfurt.

The last section treats you once again to a ride through the Main meadows to the Main promenade and Schweinfurt-Mitte railway station. If you want to drop off your e-bike at the market square, please observe the rules for riding or just pushing it in the pedestrian zone on Spitalstraße.