The Rottal, in Lower Bavaria, is a land of rolling hills, small woods and wide fields, with farmhouses scattered across the slopes and onion-domed church towers rising above the villages. It is far from the famous Alpine scenery of the south, and few tourists come here, but it has a quiet, pastoral beauty that many riders find refreshing. Johanniskirchen is a small village in the hills between the Vils and the Rott, on the way back towards Munich, and the lanes around it are as calm as any in Bavaria.
This is traditional farming country, and the Rottal was once famous for horse breeding, producing a sturdy warmblood used for farm work and cavalry. Nearby Arnstorf has a moated castle and a fine Baroque church, and the small towns of the region have markets and inns serving hearty Lower Bavarian food: roast pork with dumplings, sausages and local beer.
For a swim, the best-known spot in the area is the Rottauensee, a reservoir on the Rott near Postmünster, about twenty kilometres south, with beaches, meadows and a path around the shore, popular with families in summer. There are also smaller ponds and lakes in the hills, some with bathing spots, though many are private or used for fishing. Further south-east, the spa towns of the Bavarian Bäderdreieck, Bad Füssing, Bad Griesbach and Bad Birnbach, offer thermal pools if you prefer warm water.
The roads in the Rottal are quiet and winding, rising and falling over the hills, with good surfaces and very little traffic, ideal for relaxed riding. Watch out for tractors, mud on the road after harvesting and the occasional deer at dusk. Johanniskirchen is small, with few services, so fill up in Arnstorf, Eggenfelden or Pfarrkirchen. The ride back to Munich takes about two hours, through the hills and across the flat plains of the Isar valley.