By e-bike through the Bamberg countryside

There are 762 bicycle parking spaces in the immediate vicinity of Bamberg railway station. 330 of these are chargeable cycle stations.

With the DB Rad+ app, kilometres cycled in the participating cities can be collected and then exchanged for discounts or rewards with exclusive partners.

From the railway station, take Ludwigstraße to Kunigundenruhstraße, turn right again briefly into Steinweg and you will find yourself in front of Fahrradhaus Griesmann.

Fahrradhaus Griesmann is the bike hire shop for Bamberg and the surrounding area.
Physiologically customised and suitable for the challenges of the route, cyclists will find what they need here, whether e-bike or touring bike. So the planned tour can be ridden in a relaxed manner.

It is advisable to register your requirements before you start your journey and tour, so that you can really get started with the hire as soon as you arrive.

The bike shop offers the following selection:
City bikes for men and women with 7 gears
Trekking bikes with 24-speed derailleur gears
Electric bikes with 400 W/h
and 9-speed derailleur gears or 7-8-speed hub gears

Please note: Hire is only possible from Tuesday to Saturday during business hours!

Rental prices
City / touring or trekking bike:
12 € / day or 75,00 € / week
Electric bike:
30,00 € / day or 180,00 € / week

From the railway station or from the bike hire shop, cycle north-westwards to Memmelsdorfer Str. and past the Weyermann malthouse on the inner-city, roadside cycle routes "Burgenstraße" and "Fürstbischöfliche Radtour" via Lichteneiche to Memmelsdorf.

Here, the baroque Seehof Castle with its extensive park is well worth a visit. Two local breweries also offer their Franconian beer specialities: Brauereigasthof Höhn in Hauptstraße 11 or Brauereigasthof Drei Kronen in Hauptstraße 19.

Seehof Palace was built from 1686 as the summer residence of the Bamberg prince-bishops
in the rococo style. This included ingeniously designed water features, the "cascades", which were first put into operation in 1771. The carp ponds give the grounds a special charm.

After secularisation and neglect in private ownership, extensive restoration measures were necessary at the end of the 20th century. The "cascades" have been delighting visitors to the park again since 1996. Inside the palace, nine showrooms of the restored flats of the prince-bishops are accessible, including the "White Hall" with the virtuoso ceiling painting by Giuseppe Appiani.

From Seehof, the "Burgenstraße" (Bu) cycle route, and from Litzendorf the "Brauereien- und Bierkellertour" (BBT) also leads past the castle's carp ponds, the Pulversee and Ottensee lakes and into the heart of Franconian Tuscany to Litzendorf with the parish church of St Wenceslaus.

The parish church of St Wenceslaus was built between 1715 and 1718 according to plans by the Baroque architect Johann Dientzenhofer. The mighty, golden-yellow iron sandstone blocks for the church were quarried in the forest north-east of the church. The tower dates back to the previous building from 1467 and the coat of arms of Bamberg's Prince-Bishop Franz von Schönborn, who commissioned the church building, is displayed above the main entrance. The rich Baroque interior of the church with altars, statues of saints and the pulpit was created by the sculptor Leonard Gollwitzer with the carpenter Franz Jörg. Gollwitzer created the baptismal font around 1734. He also created the two side reliefs on the south side of the church (village side), which depict the Mount of Olives scene and the resurrection of Christ.

The acoustics inside the church are exceptionally good. Even the finest nuances of classical music can be perceived. For this reason, concerts are held in autumn, which create a very special atmosphere in the warm candlelight. Musicians from the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, renowned instrumentalists, unique singers and excellent choirs always take part.

Concert information at www.litzendorferkonzerte.de

From Litzendorf, the tour now leads via Melkendorf into the wild and romantic Franconian Switzerland.

First of all, there is an ascent (over 5 km, around 250 ascents, some of which are over 10%) to the Alb plateau, before the route from Lindach via Oberleinleiter and Burggrub runs leisurely through the Leinleiter valley to Heiligenstadt.

Here you have the opportunity to take a detour to nearby Greifenstein Castle.

Greifenstein Castle is enthroned high on a rock above today's market town of Heiligenstadt in Franconian Switzerland. Because of its high towers and majestic dignity, it was also known as "Little Neuschwanstein" during the Romantic period.

An avenue of 300-year-old lime trees leads up to the castle gate. Originally, the hill, which is now wooded again, was cleared to give the lords of the castle a view of the countryside so that they could protect themselves from approaching enemies in good time. There is a draw well in the castle courtyard, which was driven over 92 metres deep into the ground in 1691. The rooms, which are open to visitors, give a vivid impression of the lifestyle of the former lords of the castle with period furnishings.

If you would like to stop for refreshments in Heiligenstadt, we recommend the Brauereigasthof Ott, Oberleinleiter 6, or the Brauerei Aichinger, Marktplatz 5.

From Heiligenstadt's market square, which is well worth seeing, the tour heads westwards through Turmgasse, first uphill for a short stretch on the road and then, after a few hundred metres, branches off to the right onto a path that leads slightly uphill to Kalteneggolsfeld. From here you cycle on the plateau of the Franconian Alb with marvellous views. The route heads towards the Deichselbach valley. After a steep (about 180 metres over 2 km at around 10%), winding descent, you reach Stackendorf. The tour leads via Stackendorf, Gunzendorf and Dreuschendorf along the Deichselbach stream to Buttenheim, the birthplace of Levi Strauss.

Here you will also find two country breweries with tasty Franconian beer, the St. GeorgenBräu-Keller in Kellerstraße, www.georgenbraeu.de, and the Löwenbräu Keller, Eremitage 3.

The birthplace of Levi Strauss in Buttenheim is now home to a museum that has won international awards for its audiovisual presentation technology. Visitors learn interesting facts about Jewish life in the country and retrace the hopes and dreams of the emigrants. The museum takes visitors on a brief journey into the world of indigo and denim and tells the story of Levi the man and Levi's, his world-famous jeans.

Levi Strauss was born in 1829 as the youngest child of the Jewish peddler Hirsch Strauss. After the death of his father, the family emigrated to America in 1847. Levi later settled in the young gold mining town of San Francisco. On 20 May 1873, he applied for a patent for riveted work trousers: The jeans were born. Levi's jeans quickly made their way into everyday fashion and immortalised the name of their inventor.

You now cycle along the Regnitz cycle path (valley route) first to Altendorf and on the west side of the river via Seußling, Sassanfahrt and Erlach to Pettstadt. Here you cross the river on the Pettstadt ferry, the only yaw ferry in Upper Franconia.

Yaw ferries only cross from one bank to the other using the force of the flowing water. The ferry at Pettstadt across the Regnitz can be traced back to at least the 15th century. In historical times it was a narrow, wooden ferry boat, but today it is made of metal. It ferries pedestrians, bicycles, pushchairs and even tractors across the river. The ferryman is called with a bell. The short crossing offers a unique view of the Regnitz landscape.

After crossing the river, the e-bike tour now leads through the valley landscape of the Regnitz into the World Heritage Site of Bamberg, which impresses from afar with its magnificent cityscape.

Through the Bug district and across the lock of the Main-Danube Canal, you reach the Hain in Bamberg, an extensive landscape park, and finally arrive at the tourist information centre in the heart of the old town next to Geyerswörth Castle.

From here, you can easily explore the World Heritage-listed city ensemble and its splendour on foot.

The cathedral, the Alte Hofhaltung, the Böttingerhaus, the town hall surrounded by the Regnitz river and the row of houses known as "Little Venice" are particularly spectacular attractions. Over 1,000 houses are listed buildings here.

Bamberg's oldest inn, "Zum Sternla" (since 1380), can be found in Bamberg's island town, Lange Straße 46. Well fortified, it is only a few minutes by bike from here to Bamberg railway station.