In spring, the sandy fields around Schrobenhausen are covered with long, ridged rows under black plastic, and from April to June the whole region revolves around a single vegetable: white asparagus. Schrobenhausener Spargel is among the best-known asparagus in Germany, protected by an origin designation, and the town even has a museum devoted to it. If you are passing in season, the restaurants serve it in every possible form, classically with boiled potatoes, ham and hollandaise sauce.
The town has a well-preserved medieval wall, with towers and a moat, enclosing the old centre. The painter Franz von Lenbach, famous for his portraits of Bismarck and other notables of the German Empire, was born here in 1836, and his birthplace is now a small museum. The river Paar flows past the town, and the countryside around is gentle, with fields, woods and small villages.
To the north lies the Donaumoos, once the largest fen in southern Germany, which was drained and settled at the end of the eighteenth century under the Elector Karl Theodor. The landscape is flat, with straight roads and drainage channels, and the peat soils have been sinking ever since, as the drained peat decomposes. It is a strange, quiet landscape, with big skies and fields stretching to the horizon.
For a swim on the way back to Munich, there are several quarry and gravel lakes in the area, some with small beaches and kiosks, and the water is clear and refreshing in summer. Choose an official bathing spot, as some lakes are private or used for fishing only. The roads around Schrobenhausen are generally quiet and flat, with gentle curves through the fields and woods, and the ride back to Munich takes about an hour. Fuel, supermarkets and restaurants are available in town, and in May a warm plate of the local asparagus is reason enough to stop twice.