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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines and Žatec

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
249 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 58
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Dippoldiswalde it runs 249 km to Dippoldiswalde; allow about 3 h 58 of riding. It goes by way of Marienberg Mining Town, Žatec and back through Marienberg Mining Town. It crosses from Germany into Czechia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines

    In 2008, when parts of the old town of Dippoldiswalde began to subside, engineers investigating the problem found something nobody expected: a network of medieval silver mines running beneath the streets, dating back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The tunnels contained remarkably well preserved wooden ladders, tools and even shoes, offering an unparalleled glimpse of mining at the start of the Ore Mountains' silver boom. These finds are part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region listed by UNESCO in 2019.

    Read the complete Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines is where the day begins. Next is Marienberg Mining Town.

  2. 2. Marienberg Mining Town

    In 1521 Duke Heinrich of Saxony founded a new town in the Ore Mountains to house miners drawn by recent silver strikes, and he had it laid out on a regular grid around a huge square market place, following Renaissance ideas of the ideal city. Marienberg is the result, and its plan is still clearly visible, with straight streets, the town church, the Zschopau gate and a stretch of town wall. The town is part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, the cross-border World Heritage Site inscribed in 2019, which recognises eight hundred years of mining in these mountains.

    Read the complete Marienberg Mining Town write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Marienberg Mining Town comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Žatec.

  3. 3. Žatec

    The smell gives Žatec away in late summer. The fields around this small town in northwestern Bohemia are planted with hops, tall green vines climbing up wires on wooden poles, and when harvest comes in August, the air fills with their resinous, slightly bitter scent. Saaz hops, named after the German form of the town's name, have been prized by brewers for centuries for their fine aroma, and they are a key ingredient in Czech pilsner lagers. In 2023, UNESCO inscribed Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops, recognising the town's hop warehouses, drying kilns, packing houses and the surrounding hop gardens as a unique agricultural and industrial heritage.

    Read the complete Žatec write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach Žatec. Next is back through Marienberg Mining Town.

  4. 4. back through Marienberg Mining Town

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Marienberg Mining Town write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Marienberg Mining Town, late in the day. Next is Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines.

  5. 5. Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Back at Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines to Marienberg Mining Town

Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines → Marienberg Mining Town is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Marienberg Mining Town to Žatec

Marienberg Mining Town → Žatec is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Žatec to back through Marienberg Mining Town

Žatec → back through Marienberg Mining Town is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Marienberg Mining Town to Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines

back through Marienberg Mining Town → Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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