Panorama vom Auerberg im Pfaffenwinkel , Foto: Christoph Jorda Pfaffenwinkel mit dem Radl erkunden, Foto: Oberbayern - Velontour Panorama genießen im Pfaffenwinkel, Foto: Oberbayern - Velontour Radtour im Pfaffenwinkel, Foto: Christoph Jorda Foto: Bartlomiej Banaszak, Lizenz: Deutsche Bahn AG Leihräder, Foto: ERadel Friedhofskirche Sankt Salvator und Sankt Sebastian (Innenansicht), Foto: Stadt Weilheim Herrliches Panorama im Pfaffenwinkel, Foto: Christoph Jorda
Bycicle tour

On the chapel tour through the Pfaffenwinkel

Experience with action
Churches & Monasteries
Animals & Nature

Get on the saddle and explore the small villages of the Pfaffenwinkel! On this tour through the glacial landscape, you will always have the Alps in view. Have a good journey by train and bike!

Start
Weilheim
Duration
4 h
Distance
27 km
Key facts of the tour
Gently undulating, with quaint villages and the Alps always in view: This is how the Pfaffenwinkel in Upper Bavaria presents itself. The name "Pfaffe" is no coincidence, as nowhere else in Germany are there as many church spires as in the holiday region between Lech and Loisach, Ammersee and the edge of the Alps. The Pfaffenwinkel region is home to 159 churches, chapels and monasteries. One of the most beautiful cycle tours to experience these sacred treasures is the 27-kilometre "Chapel Tour" from Weilheim. From the charming Ammer town, you set off into a landscape characterised by meadows, moors and glacial hills - the drumlins - and dotted with numerous little churches. What makes it special: Far away from mass tourism, you can still walk along secluded paths here and at the same time experience precious things from the Middle Ages to the Rococo period.
A cycle tour for culture lovers and nature enthusiasts

Arrive relaxed and hire bikes from local hire companies. The capacity for taking bikes on the trains is limited and, depending on capacity utilisation, it is not possible to guarantee that you will be able to take your own bike with you.

Start and end station

Start station
Bahnhof Weilheim
5 tour steps
27 km / 4 Stunden
End station
Bahnhof Weilheim

Our tip: Please make sure to check your train connection and the expected capacity before you start your journey.

Schedule

Tour starts on Bahnhof Weilheim

Direction

DB bicycle service Weilheim station

There are 564 bicycle parking spaces and a DB Fahrrad Service Station in the immediate vicinity of the station.

DB Fahrrad Service Station is the place to go for independent minor repairs to your bikes, which can be carried out free of charge. The station has air pumps for all common valve types as well as tools for small repairs.

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

Bahnhofplatz 1
82362
Weilheim

Foto: Bartlomiej Banaszak, Lizenz: Deutsche Bahn AG

Direction

If you are travelling without your own bike, you can have an e-bike delivered to the station in Weilheim via www.eradel.de.

E-bike hire (E)Radel.de

If you are travelling as a group and need several bikes, the agency eradel.de, based in Murnau, will deliver e-bikes to Weilheim train station during the summer season and pick them up again there. The daily price for an e-trekking bike is 36 euros, for an e-mountain bike 40 euros. There is also a delivery charge. Please enquire about the daily availability of bikes and opening hours before travelling.

Bahnhofplatz 1
82362
Weilheim

Phone: 0160 2373 478
Email Address: hallo@eradel.de
Monday: 09:00am - 06:00pm
Tuesday: 09:00am - 06:00pm
Wednesday: 09:00am - 06:00pm
Thursday: 09:00am - 06:00pm
Friday: 09:00am - 06:00pm
Saturday: 09:00am - 06:00pm
Sunday: 09:00am - 06:00pm
Leihräder, Foto: ERadel
Mountain-Bikes , Foto: ERadel

Direction

From Bahnhofplatz, turn left into Bahnhofstraße and then right into Münchner Straße. From here, cycle left before the Apostelkirche church into Krumpperstraße in the direction of the cemetery, where you will find the chapel of St Salvator and St Sebastian.

St Salvator and St Sebastian Weilheim cemetery chapel

With the cemetery chapel of St Salvator and St Sebastian, built in the 15th century and extended a century later, Weilheim has a unique testimony to medieval architecture. Betberg, located north-east of Weilheim's old town centre, served as a cemetery for the plague victims during the great plague epidemic of 1349. In 1449, a pious widow named Seitz had a chapel built there, which was extended by a choir in 1481. In 1521, the cemetery, then located in the town centre, was moved outside the town gates to the site of the former plague cemetery and the chapel became the cemetery church. The ceiling paintings created by Elias Greither the Elder between 1591 and 1615 depict scenes of the Passion of Christ, which today, after being uncovered, are only incomplete.

Admiral-Hipper-Str. 13
82362
Weilheim

Phone: 0881 2287
Friedhofskirche Sankt Salvator und Sankt Sebastian (Innenansicht), Foto: Stadt Weilheim

Direction

From Krumpperstraße, turn left into Römerstraße at the next but one junction. Now cycle along the historical part of the Brenner-Augsburg route from the Roman Empire for a while before you come to Deutenhausener Straße via Hardtkapellenstraße and Narbonner Ring. Keep left here and follow the signs that lead you along the road through the wide Angerbach valley to Deutenhausen. In the centre of the small village is the charming parish church, whose onion dome greets you from afar.

St John Baptist Deutenhausen

The church in Deutenhausen, dedicated to St John the Baptist, can look back on a long history. It was probably built around 1083 and was rebuilt shortly before 1500, then again in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its late medieval core has been preserved. Fine, colourful stucco tendrils cover the ceiling and frame the popular ceiling paintings. A pavilion-like rococo high altar houses the miraculous image of the Mother of God created by Hans Leinberger around 1527. Of particular interest are the votive picture from 1733 in the choir with the first depiction of a maypole in the Weilheim region and the folding confessional.

Direction

Now continue in the direction of Marnbach. After about 250 metres, leave Marnbacher Straße and turn left into Riederstraße. You will see the St Michael field chapel on the left. This field chapel was built on the so-called Egerriederanger in 1717. The choir was added in 1900. It houses a small stucco marble altar from the end of the 18th century.

Shortly after Marnbach, it is worth taking a detour to the left to the "Wieshof", where you can visit Elisabeth Doll's lovingly designed natural garden with numerous medicinal plants and historical herbs and sample delicacies such as homemade mustard, vinegar and liqueurs. To do this, you should keep left about 150 metres after the Egerrieder chapel. The tour then continues through the Hardt landscape in the direction of Hardtwiese.

Hard landscape

The Hardt, located between Weilheim, Magnetsried and Haunshofen, presents itself as a very varied landscape with elongated drumlins (from the Irish "droim": ridge), which were once given their typical teardrop shape by glacial ice sliding over them. Between the dry hills with nutrient-poor grassland are damp depressions in which bogs were able to develop.

The name "Hardt" means nothing other than the right of common use by the so-called Hardtgenossen. In the past, the Hardt landscape was utilised in a variety of ways. This mainly included timber utilisation, pig fattening and forest grazing for cattle and horses. Peat was extracted from the raised bogs for heating, and bedding for the cattle stables was obtained from the low moorland areas. So-called litter meadows were created, a habitat for numerous rare plant and animal species. This close-knit combination of landscape elements is probably unique in Germany. Large areas of the Hardt are now nature or landscape conservation areas.

Herrliches Panorama im Pfaffenwinkel, Foto: Christoph Jorda

Tour ends on Bahnhof Weilheim

Direction

Change the route description "Hardtlandschaft" as follows: Via a gravelled path and the tarmac Hardtstraße road, you reach the Hardtkapelle chapel from 1865/66 and the Way of the Cross, which is well worth seeing. The footprint of the devil is said to be immortalised in the chapel, where legend has it that he appeared around 1250.

Now cycle down into the Grünbach valley and from Bauerbach back uphill to Haunshofen. There we turn left at St Gallus into Tahlfeldstraße towards Wilzhofen. On the way you have a beautiful view of the Grünbach valley. Pass under the railway bridge to reach Wilzhofen. Away from the marked path, on a small hill, you will find the church of St Valentin, which is essentially late Gothic and was rebuilt in Baroque style. For refreshments, it is worth making a detour to the Guggemos inn, which can be reached at the end of the village via Bahnhofsallee. (Bahnhofsallee 12, 82407 Wilzhofen, tel. 088 12524).

After the subway of the B2 motorway, continue to Wielenbach. Continue along Raistinger Straße to the Ammer-Amper cycle path and then along the eastern bank of the river back to Weilheim. At Schützenstraße, turn left towards the town centre. After the railway and pedestrian bridge, a path on the left leads to Bahnhofsgasse, which takes you back to the station.

If you like, you can sweeten your waiting time with a stroll through Weilheim's charming old town centre: the winding alleyways with magnificent old patrician houses are only a 10-minute walk from the station.

Tour map

More destinations

The Osterseen lakes in Iffeldorf offer Caribbean flair in the centre of Upper Bavaria. Discover the... Petting zoo for the kids, wellness for the parents, and the motto: “Happy children – rested... The Bavarian Forest is a region known for glass blowing, and Passau was the centre of this trade... In the Rottal valley you will not just find an exercise trail, but an entire fitness park. You can... Enjoy the harmony of water on this relaxing cycle tour. Marvel at the development of the art of... The largest stalactite in Germany. You certainly won't want for things to see in the Maximilian... Discover the impressive Thierstein castle ruins, the mystical ruins of the pilgrimage church on the... The "Altherrenweg" through the Ammergau Alps is by no means just for sprightly senior citizens. It... Perfect for connoisseurs! This cycle tour takes you through the floodplain and lake landscape past... Experience a refreshing break away from the city! On the hike through the Schwillach valley you...