With the e-bike through the Bamberg countryside

If you need technical assistance, you can head for these repair stations along the route:

- Radhof Riedl, Am Knock 7, 96123 Litzendorf, tel. 0171 6017112
- Radfit, Ringstraße 5, 96175 Pettstadt, Tel. 0160 4022284
- Car-n-Bike Service, Würzburger Straße 76, 96049 Bamberg, Tel. 0951 51935910

There are 762 bicycle parking spaces in the immediate vicinity of Bamberg station. 330 of these are free bike stations.

With the DB app Rad+, you can collect kilometres cycled in the participating cities and then exchange them for discounts or rewards at exclusive partners.

From the station, take Ludwigstraße to Kunigundenruhstraße, turn right briefly into Steinweg and you will be in front of the Griesmann bicycle shop.

Fahrradhaus Griesmann is the bike rental shop for Bamberg and the surrounding area.
Physiologically tuned and suitable for the challenges of the route, the cyclist will find what he needs here, whether e-bike or touring bike. This way, the planned tour can be cycled in a relaxed manner.

It is advisable to register your needs before the start of the trip and the tour, so that the rental can really start right away upon arrival.

The bicycle rental 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: Rental is only possible from Tuesday to Saturday during business hours!

Prices
City / Touring or Trekking bike:
12 € / day or 75,00 € / week
Electric bike:
30,00 € / day or 180,00 € / week

From the train station or from the bike rental, head northwest first to Memmelsdorfer Str. and past the Weyermann malthouse on inner-city, roadside cycle routes "Burgenstraße" and "Fürstbischöfliche Radtour" via Lichteneiche to Memmelsdorf.

Here the baroque castle Seehof with its extensive park is worth a visit. In addition, two local breweries offer their Franconian beer specialities: Brauereigasthof Höhn in Hauptstraße 11 or Brauereigasthof Drei Kronen in Hauptstraße 19.

Seehof Palace was built in 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 still give the grounds a special charm.

After secularisation and neglect in private ownership, extensive renovation 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 flat of the prince-bishops are accessible, including the "White Hall" with the virtuoso ceiling painting by Giuseppe Appiani.

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

The parish church of St. Wenceslaus was built in the years 1715-1718 according to plans by the Baroque architect Johann Dientzenhofer. The mighty, golden-yellow iron sandstone blocks for the church were quarried in the forest northeast of the church. The tower is from the previous building dating from 1467. Above the main entrance is the coat of arms of Bamberg's Prince-Bishop Franz von Schönborn, who commissioned the church building. The rich baroque interior of the church with altars, figures of saints and the pulpit was made by the sculptor Leonard Gollwitzer with the carpenter Franz Jörg. Gollwitzer created the baptismal font around 1734. Also by him are the two side reliefs on the south side of the church (village side), depicting the Olivet Scene and the Resurrection of Christ.

The acoustics inside the church are exceptionally good. Even the finest nuances of classical music can be perceived. That is why concerts are held in autumn, which, under warm candlelight, create a very special magic. 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, there is an ascent (about 250 climbs over 5 km, sometimes over 10%) to the Alb plateau, before from Lindach the route runs leisurely through the valley of the Leinleiter to Heiligenstadt via Oberleinleiter and Burggrub.

Here you can make a detour to the nearby Greifenstein Castle.

Greifenstein Castle towers high on a rock above the present-day market town of Heiligenstadt in Franconian Switzerland. Because of its high towers and majestic dignity, it was also called "Little Neuschwanstein" during the Romantic period.

An avenue of 300-year-old linden 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. In the castle courtyard there is a draw well that was driven more than 92 metres into the earth in 1691. The rooms that are open to visitors convey a vivid impression of the lifestyle of the former lords of the castle with contemporary furnishings.

If you would like to fortify yourself 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, through Turmgasse, the tour heads westwards, initially uphill for a short distance on the road and after a few 100 metres branches off to the right onto a path that leads slightly uphill to Kalteneggolsfeld. From here you cycle on the high plateau of the Franconian Alb with wonderful views. You head towards the Deichselbach valley. After a steep (about 180 m with about 10% over 2 km), winding descent, you reach Stackendorf. Via Stackendorf, Gunzendorf and Dreuschendorf, the tour leads along the Deichselbach to Buttenheim, the birthplace of Levi Strauss.

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

In the house where Levi Strauss was born in Buttenheim, a museum has been created that has won international awards for its audiovisual presentation technology. Visitors learn interesting facts about Jewish life in the countryside and retrace the hopes and dreams of the emigrants. For a short time, the museum takes you into the world of indigo and denim and tells the story of Levi, the person, and Levi's, his world-famous jeans.

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

You now cycle on 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 ferry in Upper Franconia.

Yaw ferries only cross from one bank to the other with the force of the flowing water. The ferry at Pettstadt across the Regnitz can be traced back to at least the 15th century. While in historical times it was a narrow, wooden ferry boat, today it is made of metal. It carries pedestrians, bicycles, prams 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 district of Bug and across the lock of the Main-Danube Canal, you reach the Hain in Bamberg, a spacious landscape park, and finally arrive at the tourist information office in the heart of the old town next to Geyerswörth Castle.

From here, the city ensemble, which is a World Heritage Site, and its splendour can be easily explored on foot.

The cathedral, the Alte Hofhaltung, the Böttingerhaus and the town hall washed by the Regnitz River or the row of houses called "Little Venice" are particularly spectacular attractions. Over 1,000 houses are listed here.

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