Kiel · Malente, Bungsberg and Eutin Hills

A 189 km loop from Plön lake

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Why this ride

The rare Schleswig-Holstein high-point excuse, with lakes around it. The best part sits around Plön lake gate, Bungsberg high point, Eutin lake, while Bad Malente coffee keeps the day practical instead of turning it into a fuel or food hunt. Check the OSM map, Google preview and GPX checkpoint order before departure; they use the same waypoint sequence. Ride it with legal pull-offs, patience through villages and enough daylight to stop without rushing.

Roadbook

1. Plön lake gate start · 28 m

   Plon is a small town on a tongue of land between two lakes, and the biggest of them, the Grosser Ploner See, is the largest lake in Schleswig-Holstein, a broad, shining sheet of water dotted with islands and fringed with beech woods and reeds. The ride begins at the lakeside, a few minutes from the old town, with the pale Baroque castle on its hill above the water, and that sense of space and light sets the tone for the day. About thirteen thousand people live in Plon itself, with Ascheberg, a village on the lake's western shore, a short way off.

   The landscape here is called the Holsteinische Schweiz, Holstein Switzerland, a name that makes locals smile and visitors raise an eyebrow, since the highest point is little more than a hill. But the glacial landscape of lakes, hummocks and valleys is lovely, and it makes good motorcycle country for people who like gentle, rolling roads instead of mountains. The lanes wind between fields and woods, through villages with brick churches and thatched barns, with a surface that is mostly good and bends that flow. The route toward Malente, Bungsberg and Eutin gathers pace through the hills, and at 168 metres, Bungsberg is the highest point in the state, where you can top it with a flourish. Traffic is light outside summer weekends, when cyclists, sailors and day trippers fill the roads.

   The castle in Plon was built in the seventeenth century for the dukes of Holstein-Plon, and it later served as a military academy and is now a boarding school. The town itself began as a Slavic fortress on an island in the lake, and it later became a trading centre of the region, with a small, pretty centre of brick houses and a harbour. Eutin, farther east, was the birthplace of the composer Carl Maria von Weber, and its castle and rose gardens are worth a stop.

   The lakes are a haven for birds, with cranes, grebes and white-tailed eagles nesting around the shores, and in autumn migrating geese fill the sky. Beech forest covers the hills, and in May the rapeseed fields glow yellow. The air smells of water, cut grass and, sometimes, a smoked fish stand by the quay, where eel and herring are sold.

   Fuel is easy to find in Plon and the larger villages, and the cafes by the lake serve excellent cake. Bring a light waterproof, since the weather in northern Germany changes quickly, and take your time.

2. Bad Malente coffee food · 32 m

   Malente is a spa town that sits between two lakes, and it has the quiet manners of a place that has been taking care of visitors since the nineteenth century. The Dieksee lies to the west and the Kellersee to the east, and between them runs a canal and a path, lined with chestnut trees and villas, with boat landings and cafes. The old spa quarter, Gremsmühlen, has a park, a spa house and a fine collection of wooden villas with turrets and balconies.

   The big attraction is the Five Lakes Tour, a boat trip that links the lakes of the Holstein Switzerland by canals and short channels, with a launch that runs in summer between Malente and Plön or Eutin. The trip lasts a couple of hours, and passes through reeds, beech woods and small hills, with swans and herons. It is slow and peaceful, a good way to spend an afternoon when the road is damp.

   For riders, the town offers an easy coffee stop. There are bakeries and cafes along the main street, with cakes and coffee, and fuel stations on the road to Eutin. The town has about ten thousand people, and everything you need is within a short walk or ride. Eutin, a few kilometres away, is bigger and has more services.

   The roads around Malente are among the most pleasant in the north, with smooth surfaces, gentle bends and a succession of lakes and woods. The hills are small, but they give a surprising sense of variety after the flat coast. The weather is mild, but showers can arrive quickly. In summer, the lakes are warm enough for swimming, and the beaches are busy at weekends. Come in the morning, when the water is still, and the first light picks out the reeds. A slice of plum cake and a pot of coffee at one of the lakeside cafes costs little and takes the edge off any amount of damp.

3. High point near Schönwalde am Bungsberg scenic · 168 m
4. Eutin lake stop · 28 m

   Eutin is a town with a lake, a castle and a composer. The lake, the Großer Eutiner See, is a broad stretch of water at the heart of the Holstein Switzerland region, with wooded shores and a slender island, and the castle stands at its edge, a moated palace of the old prince-bishops of Lübeck, surrounded by a landscape park. The composer is Carl Maria von Weber, who was born in the town in 1786, and the summer opera festival here is held in his honour on an open-air stage by the lake.

   The town, with about seventeen thousand people, is known as the rose town, for the flowers that fill the gardens and the market square. It has a pleasant old centre of low brick houses, cafes and shops, and a lakeside promenade. Fuel and groceries are plentiful, and the cafes serve the cake and coffee that are essential to north German life. Malente, with its lakes and spa gardens, is a few kilometres away.

   The Holstein Switzerland is a hilly region of glacial landscapes, left by the last ice age, with lakes, beech woods and rolling fields, and it is among the best riding in the north. The roads are smooth, with gentle curves and short climbs, and the lakes appear at every turn. The surface is generally excellent, but the verges are lined with trees, so look out for shadows and patches of damp in the morning. Cyclists are everywhere in summer, so share the road.

   The lake is a good place to take a break, with benches and a path along the shore, and boat trips in summer. The light in the evening is soft and golden, and swans glide on the water. Spring and autumn bring colour and quiet, while summer can be busy at weekends. Come on a weekday, and you may have the shore to yourself.

5. Back to Plön lake finish · 28 m

   Back at Plön lake. That is the ride.

Where this sits

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