Why this ride
257 km from Freiberg to Freiberg, about 4 h 32 of riding. It goes by way of Buchholz Mining Landscape, Žatec and back through Buchholz Mining Landscape. It crosses from Germany into Czechia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Freiberg Mining Landscape and Žatec
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 257 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 32
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Freiberg Mining Landscape
Silver was found near Freiberg in 1168, and within a few decades the town had become one of the richest in Saxony. For eight centuries, miners dug ever deeper into the hills, and the wealth they brought up paid for churches, palaces and the splendours of Dresden. Freiberg's Bergakademie, founded in 1765, is the oldest mining university in the world still operating, and its mineral collection is one of the finest anywhere. The town and its mining landscape are part of the Erzgebirge mining region listed by UNESCO, shared between Germany and the Czech Republic.
Read the complete Freiberg Mining Landscape write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Freiberg Mining Landscape is where the day begins. Next is Buchholz Mining Landscape.
2. Buchholz Mining Landscape
The twin towns of Annaberg and Buchholz grew from silver. In the late fifteenth century a strike in the Ore Mountains set off a rush, and Annaberg was founded as a mining town with remarkable speed, while neighbouring Buchholz joined it later to form the double-barrelled name you see on the signs. The wealth shows in the St Annen church, a vast late-Gothic hall with a soaring vault, which stands over the market square like a promise made by men who suddenly had money. The wider mining landscape was inscribed by UNESCO in 2019, with its counterpart across the border in Jáchymov, where silver coins were once minted that gave the world the word thaler, and eventually the dollar.
Read the complete Buchholz Mining Landscape write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Buchholz Mining Landscape comes up about 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Žatec.
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 128 km into the recorded legs you reach Žatec. Next is back through Buchholz Mining Landscape.
4. back through Buchholz Mining Landscape
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Buchholz Mining Landscape write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Buchholz Mining Landscape, late in the day. Next is Freiberg Mining Landscape.
5. Freiberg Mining Landscape
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Freiberg Mining Landscape write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Freiberg Mining Landscape. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Freiberg Mining Landscape to Buchholz Mining Landscape
Freiberg Mining Landscape → Buchholz Mining Landscape is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Buchholz Mining Landscape to Žatec
Buchholz Mining Landscape → Žatec is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Žatec to back through Buchholz Mining Landscape
Žatec → back through Buchholz Mining Landscape is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Buchholz Mining Landscape to Freiberg Mining Landscape
back through Buchholz Mining Landscape → Freiberg Mining Landscape is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.