From Schweinfurt to the Volkacher Mainschleife

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

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

A total of 4 e-bikes from the regional manufacturer Winora can be hired from the Schweinfurt 360° Tourist Information Centre outside opening hours from April to the end of October.
They can be hired for one or more days. The team at the Tourist Information Centre can arrange for you to collect and return them individually and flexibly outside our opening hours by telephone. Alternatively, bikes can be returned 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. Here you can breathe in a little riverside air on the south bank before temporarily leaving it after crossing under the A70 motorway and cycling southwards on small roads and across open fields parallel to the river. You will also briefly touch the Old Main on the 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 the town: the Stammheim Museum.

Germany's largest private museum for military and contemporary history presents two centuries of Franconian and German history. The journey through time begins in the Napoleonic era and 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. Over 250 wheeled, tracked, water and air vehicles can be marvelled at here. Among other things, museum visitors can climb aboard the world's largest single-engine biplane, the Antonov AN-2.

On your next stage, you will always stay close to the banks of the Main. The river winds its way south, south-west and finally east and you follow it through the northern loop of the Main to the next attraction, the Barockscheune museum in the heart of Volkach's old town.
Along the way, it is worth letting your gaze wander. You will pass romantic winegrowing villages, the Vogelsburg castle, the world's largest Bocksbeutel and the "Maria im Weingarten" chapel.

You have now covered half the distance, and you won't be travelling any further from Schweinfurt today. If you would like to fortify yourself before or 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 regional and town history museum reveals its treasures in a barn that is over 300 years old and was completely renovated in 2003. It is dedicated to the history, landscape and culture of the Mainschleife. Viticulture is just as much a topic as prehistory, early history, everyday history and the history of the town.

The centrepiece of the permanent exhibition is a manuscript over 500 years old, 1050 pages or eleven centimetres thick, weighing almost five kilos and 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 "Local Treasures in Bavaria" since 2017.

In addition, the museum constantly presents new temporary exhibitions on various topics. The museum is run by the town and is staffed exclusively by a team of volunteers.

From the old town, you roll a few metres down to the river. The MS Undine docks close to the Main Bridge and promises you a change of perspective. On a short river cruise, you can view your last stage from the water in comfort and without any effort. 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 guests on 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 stopover at the jetty in Stammheim, before the Wipfeld lock the ship turns round and after approx. 90 minutes it returns to the jetty in Volkach. There is an on-board service with cappuccino and cake, Franconian bratwurst, hot and cold dishes and meals for children. There is a choice of eight different Franconian wines to match the view.

ATTENTION: There is only limited capacity for bicycles! It is therefore better to plan a round trip without bicycles.

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

Have you travelled the whole round trip on the MS Undine or not travelled at all? Then take a look at the Main loop from the opposite direction on the way back and from a different perspective.

On the way, you have the opportunity to sample Franconian specialities, home-grown wine and locally brewed beer in the Fahr district, which is romantically situated directly on the Main and the Main ferry.

North of Stammheim, you cross the Wipfeld Main floodplain at St. Ludwig and take the Wipfeld Main ferry. From here you can enjoy the journey northwards along the opposite bank. You pass the Hirschfelder Weiher pond. At Garstadt, you will see the bird sanctuary and Garstadter Holz on the other side of the river.

At the weir, you decide against the somewhat bumpy and unsurfaced riverside path and in favour of 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 towards Schweinfurt.

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