Hamburg · Altes Land and Elbe Orchard Ride

A 123 km loop from Finkenwerder ferry feel

Open this ride in the planner →

Why this ride

Ferry air, fruit villages and empty-dike calm when timed right. Out of Ottensen and back again: 123 km, roughly 2 h 07 in the saddle. On the way it passes Jork orchard roads, Stade old town and Zollenspieker dike stop. Back roads rather than main roads, where the map allows.

Roadbook

1. Finkenwerder ferry feel photo

   Some rides begin in a car park, and some begin on a boat. The ferry across the Elbe from the Landungsbrücken to Finkenwerder is one of the better openings to a day on the road, because for the price of a public transport ticket you get a half-hour cruise through the biggest port in Germany. The passenger ferries run out past the great cranes, the dry docks and the container terminals, with huge ships sliding by at what feels like arm's length, and the smell of diesel, salt and wet rope. If you are starting from the other side, the feeling is the same in reverse.

   Finkenwerder itself is an odd place, a former fishing island in the Elbe, a half-rural enclave inside Hamburg, with a village of thatched houses and old fishermen's cottages beside a modern aircraft factory. The Airbus plant here assembles and paints a good number of the company's planes, and when a new aircraft is ready you can see it on the apron beside the river, a huge white shape among the apple trees. The contrast is an unlikely one, and it is part of the island's charm. The writer Gorch Fock, born here as Johann Kinau in 1880, wrote tales of the sea, and the German navy named its sail training ship after his pen name.

   The island has a long tradition of fishing, and the Finkenwerder fishermen's old plaice, caught in the Elbe, is still a local dish. Orchards on the edge of the island belong to the Altes Land, the great fruit-growing region on the south bank of the river, and in spring the blossom comes right to the doorsteps. A short stretch of dike on the western side gives a long view down the river, with ships heading for the sea.

   For riders, the start from here is gentle. The roads leave the island over a causeway and head south and west through orchards, along dikes, across flat farmland with sky on every side. The landscape is soft and flat, so the riding is easy and quiet, and in the early morning the light on the river is pearl. Fuel stations and shops are in the town, and the ferry is simple to use, though motorbikes need to check the vehicle ferry timetables. Wind off the river can be sharp, so a layer is wise.

2. Jork orchard roads scenic

   The roads of the Altes Land are organised by water, and in Jork you can see how. The little river Este runs through the village and out toward the Elbe, and parallel dike roads follow it on both banks, with farms strung along them like beads on a thread. The orchards lie behind the farms in long, narrow strips, and a network of drainage ditches runs between them, each one marked by a footbridge to a field. It is the ordered result of eight centuries of drainage by Dutch settlers, and the pattern has barely changed.

   The main route through it all is known as the Obstmarschenweg, the Fruit Marsh Road, which runs for more than twenty kilometres along the dike and passes the finest of the old farmhouses. Their ornate gates, carved with sayings and dates, stand at the roadside like the entrances to small kingdoms. Riding the dike road is slow work, with a low speed limit, a rough surface in places and cyclists everywhere in good weather, but that is the point. You do not hurry through an orchard.

   The seasons here are so distinct that you would almost think of different places. In late April and May the trees come into bloom, pink and white, and the air is thick with the scent of blossom and the hum of bees. In July the cherries ripen, and farm stalls sell them by the kilo. In September and October the apples are picked, and the roads are full of tractors and trailers heaped with fruit. In winter, when the trees are bare, the landscape is stark and flat, with frost on the ditches and mist over the dike.

   Roadside stalls sell fruit, juice, jam and cider, and farm cafés serve apple cake and coffee on summer afternoons. Be prepared for honesty boxes, and carry coins. The Altes Land is a tourist destination in the blossom weeks, with coaches and cars crowding the dike, so go on a weekday and early, if you can. Jork has about twelve thousand people in its municipality, and fuel stations and supermarkets are on the edge of the village. Wedel and Hamburg are a short ride away. Bring a bag for fruit, since it is hard to resist.

3. Stade old town food food

   Stade's old town is built around a harbour, and the harbour is built around a tidal creek, the Schwinge, which loops into the centre and ends in a basin lined with merchants' houses. Brick gables, a wooden treadwheel crane on the quay and cobbles polished smooth by centuries of cartwheels make the Hansehafen look like something from a Dutch painting. In the Middle Ages Stade was one of the main ports on the Elbe, a rival of Hamburg, and its prosperity shows in the old buildings. The place went quiet when the river silted up, and the quiet saved it.

   Another chapter shaped the town in the seventeenth century. After the Thirty Years' War, Stade came under Swedish rule, and for about seventy years it was the Swedish capital of the German territories, with a garrison and an administration. The Swedes left their mark in the street layout and in the Schwedenspeicher, a large brick warehouse by the harbour that now serves as a museum. It is a reminder that this quiet Lower Saxon town was once a piece of a northern empire.

   As a food stop it is a very good one. The old town has a good range of cafés, bakeries and restaurants, many of them with tables on the quayside in summer, and the food leans toward fish, with plaice, herring and eel on offer along with simple dishes of potatoes and sausage. The Altes Land is next door, so apples and cakes are excellent, and apple cake with cream is the town's unofficial dessert. Prices are reasonable, service is relaxed and no one minds if you linger over a coffee.

   With about forty-five thousand people, Stade has fuel stations on the outskirts and supermarkets in the town, and parking a bike near the old centre is usually easy, though the cobbles are rough and slippery when wet. The ride in from Jork or Hamburg is flat and easy, with orchards, dikes and the occasional view of the Elbe. A weekday visit means quieter streets. If you have an hour, walk around the old moat ramparts, which are now a green ring of park. The light on the water in late afternoon is lovely.

4. Zollenspieker dike stop photo

   Zollenspieker is a place where a river crossing has been important for a very long time. The name comes from the old customs post, the Zoll, that stood here to tax traffic crossing the Elbe, and the little ferry that carries cars, bikes and walkers across to Hoopte on the south bank still runs, a short, unhurried journey of a few minutes. A half-timbered inn stands beside the landing stage, one of the oldest in the region, with a thatched roof, low beams and a terrace facing the river. It is a place where Hamburgers come for coffee and cake on fine Sundays.

   The dike is the best place from which to view the scene. The grass bank rises several metres above the fields, with a path along the top, and from it you look out across the broad, brown river with its sandbanks, its reed beds and its slow procession of barges. On the landward side lie the Vierlande, a country of market gardens and nurseries, where flowers, vegetables and strawberries grow in the rich silt, and brick farmhouses with thatched roofs stand among orchards. In spring and summer the colours are bright, and roadside stalls sell what the gardens produce.

   The Elbe is a tidal river here, and the water rises and falls by a metre or more, which shows in the mud flats and the wet lines on the pilings. Storm floods have swept over the dikes in the past, notably in 1962, and the river is carefully watched. A walk along the dike at dusk, with the lights coming on across the water and the sound of gulls, is a quiet pleasure.

   Riding here is flat, open and slow. The dike road is narrow and often one-way for cars, with speed limits and a lot of cyclists, and the tarmac is rough in places. Wind is the main factor, and on a cool day it will find every gap in your clothing. Weekends in summer see heavy traffic and queues for the ferry, so go on a weekday if you can. Stelle, about four kilometres away, has fuel stations and supermarkets, and Winsen a few kilometres farther has more. Bring a camera for the light on the water, particularly at the end of the day, when the sun drops behind the far bank.

5. Back to Finkenwerder finish

   Finkenwerder is an island that is not quite an island, a long, low spit of land in the Elbe that belongs to Hamburg and feels like a village. For centuries its people were fishermen, who sailed out into the North Sea in their sturdy boats and returned to a row of brick houses with thatched roofs, and the old quarter still has a sleepy, nautical atmosphere. The writer Johann Kinau, who published under the name Gorch Fock and wrote tales of the sea, was born here, and the famous German sail-training ship was named after him.

   The island has another claim to fame, which sits uncomfortably beside the thatch: it is the site of a large Airbus factory, where aircraft are assembled, painted and flown out from a runway on the edge of the Elbe. Huge jets come and go over the village, and the contrast between old fishing cottages and airliners is one of the odd sights of Hamburg. You can see the planes from a viewing spot, and enthusiasts gather at the fence.

   The ferry from Finkenwerder to the city centre is part of the public transport system, a pleasant half-hour crossing along the harbour, with views of the container terminals, the shipyards and the old fishing quarter. Nearby, the apple orchards of the Altes Land begin, and the island is known for an old apple variety, the Finkenwerder Herbstprinz, which is still sold at local stalls in autumn.

   For a rider, the end of the ride here is pleasantly slow. The roads on the island are quiet and low, with speed limits that are enforced, and there is much to look at. Ottensen and Altona lie across the river, with fuel and plenty of cafés, though you will need to take the tunnel or the bridge to reach them, so fill up before the last stretch. A fish roll on the quay, with the wind in your hair and the planes overhead, makes a decent end to a long day.

Where this sits

Rides near here