CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 237 km round trip from Krupka - roughly 4 h 23 in the saddle. On the way it passes Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines, Dresden Elbe Valley, Freiberg Mining Landscape and back through Dresden Elbe Valley. It crosses from Czechia into Germany - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 26 km this is Saxon Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Krupka is a hillside mining town stuck to the foot of the Ore Mountains, and it wears its history quietly. The town sits a short climb above the plain near Teplice and Ústí nad Labem in the north of Bohemia, with the ridge of the Krušné hory rising behind. Tin was dug here for a very long time, and the shafts and spoil heaps scattered around the slopes are what UNESCO recognised in 2019 when it listed the Ore Mountains mining region, a landscape shared with Saxony on the German side. Marienberg, on the far side of the border, belongs to the same story.
Read the complete Krupka Mining Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Krupka Mining Landscape is where the day begins. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dresden Elbe Valley.
Dresden's Elbe valley once held a World Heritage listing and then lost it. Inscribed in 2004 for its blend of Baroque city, river meadows, palaces and vineyards, it was removed from the list in 2009 after the city built the Waldschlösschen bridge across the meadows, a decision that sparked fierce debate. The landscape itself, however, remains beautiful: the river curves through wide green meadows, with the domes and spires of the old town on one side and the villas and vineyards of the Loschwitz slopes on the other.
Read the complete Dresden Elbe Valley write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 65 km into the recorded legs you reach Dresden Elbe Valley. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Freiberg Mining Landscape, about halfway. Next is back through Dresden Elbe Valley.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dresden Elbe Valley write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Dresden Elbe Valley sits at 147 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines comes up about 199 km into the recorded legs. Next is Krupka Mining Landscape.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Krupka Mining Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Krupka Mining Landscape closes the day.
Krupka Mining Landscape → Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines → Dresden Elbe Valley is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dresden Elbe Valley → Freiberg Mining Landscape is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Freiberg Mining Landscape → back through Dresden Elbe Valley is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dresden Elbe Valley → back through Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dippoldiswalde Medieval Silver Mines → Krupka Mining Landscape is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.