Weserbergland Long Sweep from Hamburg · short arc

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hamburg south-west edge

   Hamburg does not end so much as thin out, and this is where it happens. Out here on the south-west edge, between the Elbe and the heath, the port's industrial yards give way to a landscape of commuter villages, motorway interchanges, fields and low wooded hills, and the town of Neu Wulmstorf, with about twenty thousand people, is the nearest place of any size. Behind you lies Harburg, once a separate town on the south bank of the river, and ahead is the flat green country of Lower Saxony.

   Read the complete Hamburg south-west edge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hamburg south-west edge is where the day begins. Next is Rotenburg.

2. 2. Rotenburg fuel gate

   Rotenburg an der Wümme is a quiet district town of about twenty-two thousand people on the river Wümme, halfway between Hamburg and Bremen, and a convenient place to fill the tank on the way south. The landscape here is typical of northern Lower Saxony: flat or gently rolling, with heath and pine, wet meadows and the dark, boggy ground of the moors. Everything is green, and the sky is large.

   Read the complete Rotenburg fuel gate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Rotenburg is the fuel stop for this leg. Next is Nienburg river road.

3. 3. Nienburg river road

   With some thirty thousand people, it is a proper town with fuel, supermarkets and cafes, and with a pleasant, slightly sleepy old centre of brick and half-timber. The river here is broad and slow, lined with willows and meadows, and it makes a good place for a stop and a flask of coffee.

   Read the complete Nienburg river road write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 126 km into the recorded legs you reach Nienburg river road. Next is Rinteln Weser bends.

4. 4. Rinteln Weser bends

   Rinteln is a small Weser town of about twenty-eight thousand people, set where the river swings in a series of wide bends between the hills of the Weserbergland. The old town is full of half-timbered houses and handsome buildings in the Weser Renaissance style, a distinctive form of gables, bay windows and decorated stonework that spread along the river in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

   Read the complete Rinteln Weser bends write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   The high point of this section. Next is Hameln food stop.

5. 5. Hameln food stop

   Everyone knows the story, and Hameln has not tried to hide it. According to the legend, in 1284 the town was overrun by rats, and a stranger in colourful clothes offered to rid it of them in return for payment. He played his pipe, the rats followed him into the Weser and drowned, and the town refused to pay. So he played again, and this time the town's children followed him out of the gate and were never seen again. The Brothers Grimm wrote it down, Robert Browning wrote a poem, and the Pied Piper became one of the best-known figures in European folklore. The historical record does record some tragedy in 1284, though what actually happened is still a mystery.

   Read the complete Hameln food stop write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Finish at Hameln food stop. That is the ride.