Harz Edge Overnight from Hamburg · part 2

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Sankt Andreasberg bends

   Sankt Andreasberg is a small town of two thousand at roughly six hundred metres in the Upper Harz, a mining place that has lived on silver, in one way or another, for five hundred years. The lodes were worked from the sixteenth century, and the Grube Samson, a mine here, is famous for its water-driven ore hoist, which kept working until the 1900s and is preserved as a museum, an astonishing piece of engineering from the age of waterwheels. You can still see the old ditches and ponds that fed the mines across the hills, many of them now loved by walkers.

   Read the complete Sankt Andreasberg bends write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sankt Andreasberg bends is where the day begins. Next is Torfhaus Harz high point.

2. 2. Torfhaus Harz high point

   Torfhaus is a scattering of buildings on the high road across the Harz, at about eight hundred metres, where the road crosses a wide, boggy plateau of moor and spruce. There is no village here to speak of, just a car park, a few places to eat and the visitor centre of the Harz National Park, and its popularity comes from a view: from the edge of the plateau you look east across a broad valley to the Brocken, 1,141 metres high and bare on top, the highest peak of the Harz. Altenau, six and a half kilometres away, and Bad Harzburg, nine, are the nearest towns for fuel.

   Read the complete Torfhaus Harz high point write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Goslar high-road.

3. 3. Goslar high-road entry

   Goslar is a thousand years old and looks every year of it. The old imperial city lies at the northern foot of the Harz, and its centre is a miniature of medieval Germany: steep slate roofs, half-timbered houses, narrow lanes, and a market square with a golden glockenspiel that, at set hours, acts out scenes from the town's mining history.

   Read the complete Goslar high-road entry write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 41 km into the recorded legs you reach Goslar high-road. Next is Back to Hamburg.

4. 4. Back to Hamburg

   Harburg, on the south bank of the Elbe, is the part of Hamburg that visitors rarely see. It was a separate town until 1937, and it still has its own centre, its own inner harbour with old warehouses, and a slightly rough, working feel that contrasts with the polished facades of the city across the river. Behind it lies Seevetal, a green commuter district at the northern edge of the Lüneburg Heath, and the land begins to open into woods and sand. The dot sits at this seam between city and country.

   Read the complete Hamburg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back to Hamburg closes the day.