Why this ride
319 km from Bad Segeberg to Kiel, about 5 h 16 of riding. The stops in between: Plön lake road, Malente, Eutin castle stop and Bad Segeberg exit. The coast is the point of it.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hamburg · Holstein Switzerland Lakes + Kiel · Schlei, Kappeln and Eckernförde Arc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 319 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 16
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
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.
Scenic road chapters
Bad Segeberg exit → Plön lake road
Water arrives beside the road and stays for 46 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go — slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 44 km
Rendsburg canal check → Back to Kiel west exit
54 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 52 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Bad Segeberg exit
Bad Segeberg has a hill that should not be there. The Kalkberg rises out of the flat Holstein plain like a stray piece of the Alps, a block of limestone pushed upward by an underground salt dome, and on its flank there is an open-air arena where, every summer since 1952, the Karl May Festival has staged Wild West adventures with real horses, stuntmen and fireworks.
Read the complete Bad Segeberg exit write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bad Segeberg is where the day begins. Next is Plön lake road.
2. Plön lake road
Plön sits on a ridge between two lakes in the part of eastern Holstein that the locals call the Holstein Switzerland, a name that sounds absurd until you see the rolling, wooded country and the lines of blue water lying between the hills. The Great Plön Lake is the biggest lake in Schleswig-Holstein, with islands, bays and many smaller lakes around it, and the town of Plön, with thirteen thousand people, occupies a narrow strip of land between them. The altitude here is only twenty-eight metres, but the glacial landscape gives it a lot of character.
Read the complete Plön lake road write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Plön lake road comes up 40 km in. Next is Malente coffee.
3. Malente coffee
The thing about Malente is that it is really two villages that grew into one, Malente proper and Gremsmühlen, with a short stretch of the Schwentine river between them. The Schwentine rises in the hills near the Bungsberg, flows through the chain of lakes here, and eventually reaches the Kiel Fjord some sixty kilometres to the north, and in Malente it takes on the character of a lazy canal, moving slowly under bridges and between villas with gardens that run down to the water. You can sit at a café by the bridge and watch small boats pass, with the quiet noise of oars and the occasional quack of a duck.
Read the complete Malente coffee write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Eutin castle stop.
4. Eutin castle stop
Eutin's castle is easier to enjoy from the water side. Walk through the gardens at the back and the park slopes down to the shore of the Great Eutin Lake, with an avenue of old trees, a curving gravel path, and swans sliding across the surface in a V. The landscape garden was laid out in the English style in the early nineteenth century and is still planted with fine old trees, among them oaks and beeches that are well over a century old. On summer evenings an open-air opera festival is staged on a stage at the water's edge, and the sound carries across the lake.
Read the complete Eutin castle stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Eutin castle stop, early in the day. Next is Back to Bad Segeberg.
5. Back to Bad Segeberg exit
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bad Segeberg exit write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Bad Segeberg. That is the ride. Next is Kiel west.
6. Kiel west exit
Kiel is a city with a fjord at its heart, and the west side is where you most feel the practical, working character of the place. The Kiel Fjord cuts deep inland, giving the city a sheltered harbour, and the Kiel Canal begins at its western edge, so the neighbourhoods here are tied up with ships, locks and shipyards. This was the home of the German Imperial Navy in the nineteenth century, and the sailors' revolt in 1918 that helped end the First World War started here. The city was bombed almost flat in the Second World War, which is why so much of the centre is plain postwar architecture rather than old brick.
Read the complete Kiel west exit write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The day opens at Kiel west. Next is Eckernförde bay.
7. Eckernförde bay
Eckernförde Bay is a long, narrow arm of the Baltic that cuts into the coast of Schleswig-Holstein between the Danish Wohld and the Schwansen peninsula, and the little port of the same name sits at its head. The water is shallow, the beaches are wide and sandy, and the whole place has the relaxed air of a north German seaside town, with a promenade, a harbour full of boats and a smell of smoked fish. The altitude here is a modest eight metres, and the horizon is all sea and sky.
Read the complete Eckernförde bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
241 km in you reach Eckernförde bay. Next is Schwansen backroads.
8. Schwansen backroads
Schwansen is a blunt thumb of land between the Schlei and the Bay of Eckernförde, and it is one of the most underrated corners of Schleswig-Holstein. The countryside is gently rolling farmland, divided into fields by Knicks, those hedge-topped earth banks that give the Baltic coast its distinctive patchwork, and dotted with old estates, thatched barns and brick villages. The sea is always near, on one side or the other, and glimpses of water through gaps in the hedge give the roads a pleasing sense of mystery.
Read the complete Schwansen backroads write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Schwansen backroads, about halfway at 35 m. Next is Kappeln Schlei bridge.
9. Kappeln Schlei bridge
Kappeln lies on the Schlei, a long narrow inlet of the Baltic that reaches forty-odd kilometres inland, like a fjord that forgot to be steep. The bridge itself is the town's emblem: a lifting bridge from the 1920s that opens to let ships through, so be prepared to wait a few minutes while the roadway rises and the sailing boats glide past.
Read the complete Kappeln Schlei bridge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kappeln Schlei bridge sits at 321 km, late in the day. Next is Schleswig food stop.
10. Schleswig food stop
Schleswig is a town you eat in with history around your ears. The quickest way to understand it is to walk to the harbour on the Schlei, where fish smokehouses and small restaurants sit beside a basin of yachts and the old cathedral spire rises over the roofs behind. Smoked herring, Schlei eel and fried plaice are all on offer, with potatoes and a pot of tea or coffee, and a table by the water on a warm day is hard to beat. Prices are fair, portions generous, and nobody hurries you.
Read the complete Schleswig food stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Schleswig food stop is where this day stops to eat. Next is Rendsburg canal check.
11. Rendsburg canal check
Rendsburg is a town made by a ditch, and what a ditch. The Kiel Canal, known in German as the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, was opened in 1895 as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal, cutting across the base of the Danish peninsula so that ships need not sail all the way around Skagen. It is still the busiest artificial seaway in the world by number of ships, and standing on the bank at Rendsburg you can watch container vessels, tankers and ferries glide past at what looks like walking pace, a few metres from the road. A quiet fact makes it more striking: the surrounding land is so flat and low, only a few metres above sea level, that the ships seem to be sailing through meadows.
Read the complete Rendsburg canal check write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
401 km in you reach Rendsburg canal check. Next is Back to Kiel west.
12. Back to Kiel west exit
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kiel west exit write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 441 km.
Leg by leg
Bad Segeberg exit to Plön lake road
Bad Segeberg exit → Plön lake road is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Plön lake road to Malente coffee
Plön lake road → Malente coffee is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Malente coffee to Eutin castle stop
Malente coffee → Eutin castle stop is 9 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Eutin castle stop to Back to Bad Segeberg exit
Eutin castle stop → Back to Bad Segeberg exit is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Back to Bad Segeberg exit to Kiel west exit
Back to Bad Segeberg exit → Kiel west exit is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kiel west exit to Eckernförde bay
Kiel west exit → Eckernförde bay is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Eckernförde bay to Schwansen backroads
Eckernförde bay → Schwansen backroads is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Schwansen backroads to Kappeln Schlei bridge
Schwansen backroads → Kappeln Schlei bridge is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kappeln Schlei bridge to Schleswig food stop
Kappeln Schlei bridge → Schleswig food stop is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Schleswig food stop to Rendsburg canal check
Schleswig food stop → Rendsburg canal check is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rendsburg canal check to Back to Kiel west exit
Rendsburg canal check → Back to Kiel west exit is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Kiel · Holstein Switzerland Lakes and Coffee Roads + Kiel · Rendsburg, Schleswig and Viking Roads · 217 km
- Kiel · Schwansen Villages and Schlei Coffee Loop + Kiel · Probstei, Hohwacht and Eutin Flow · 231 km
- Kiel · Danish Wohld and Gettorf Evening Ride · 110 km
- Kiel · Selent Lake and Hohwacht Short Day + Kiel · Boknis, Schlei and North Loop · 216 km