Why this ride
Sustained elevation change, linked bends and open summit views. It also links naturally to Allgau Alps and Neuschwanstein.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
German Alpine Road West
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 130 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 54
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Check motorcycle weekend restrictions and noise-control closures on specific roads. Specific flag: seasonal traffic.
Seasonal context
May-Oct
Scenic road chapters
German Alpine Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 20 km this is German Alpine Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 20 km
- Named road
- German Alpine Road
- Pass
- Riedbergpass
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Lindau
Lindau is an island that behaves like a postcard, and the amusing thing is that it knows it. The old town sits on a small island in the eastern end of Lake Constance, the Bodensee, linked to the mainland by a causeway and a railway embankment, and the harbour at its south side is guarded by two monuments: a tall lighthouse and a stone lion of Bavaria on a pillar. The lighthouse was built in the nineteenth century, and from its top you see the whole lake, with the Austrian and Swiss Alps behind. About twenty-four thousand people live in the municipality, and most of them are on the mainland.
Read the complete Lindau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lindau sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Oberstaufen.
2. Oberstaufen
Oberstaufen is a spa town with a taste for fasting. Its fame comes from the Schroth cure, a regime of dry days, wet days, wraps and very little food that visitors have been putting up with here for generations, and the place wears its wellness reputation with a certain Bavarian shrug. You see it in the clean flower boxes, the Kneipp-style water basins in the park, and the clinic-like hotels. It is also a proper Allgäu town, and a pleasant one, with about seven thousand people, cow bells in the background, and a brewing tradition that makes the fasting look like a very optional part of life.
Read the complete Oberstaufen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Oberstaufen comes up 26 km in. Next is Sonthofen.
3. Sonthofen
Planning note
51 km in you reach Sonthofen. Next is Füssen.
4. Füssen
Füssen is the southern end of the Romantic Road, a sunny little town on the Lech river, a stone's throw from the Austrian border and with the Alps standing straight above its rooftops. It has about fourteen thousand people and a history stretching back to the Romans, who built a road here, the Via Claudia Augusta, to carry troops over the Alps. The old town is tidy, with arcaded streets and painted facades, and the river tumbles over a small waterfall at the edge of the centre.
Read the complete Füssen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Füssen, late in the day.