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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Nussbaumersee and Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
354 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 02
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.

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Why this ride

354 km from Hüttwilen to Hüttwilen, about 6 h 02 of riding. On the way it passes Bodman-Schachen / Löchle, Schreckensee, Ödenahlen and Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura. It crosses from Switzerland into Germany - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Scenic road chapters

Grand Tour of Switzerland

This part of the ride is 48 km of Grand Tour of Switzerland.

Chapter facts
Length
48 km
Named road
Grand Tour of Switzerland

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Nussbaumersee

    Out in the Thurgau countryside, between Frauenfeld and the Rhine, a chain of small lakes lies in a glacial hollow: the Nussbaumersee, the Hüttwilersee and the Hasensee, with the wetland of the Seebachtal around them. It is a place of reeds and still water, where herons stand in the shallows and dragonflies hang over the surface. The Nussbaumersee is the biggest of them, a modest lake with a wooded shore, and a footpath circles it.

    Read the complete Nussbaumersee write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Nussbaumersee is where the day begins. Next is Bodman-Schachen / Löchle.

  2. 2. Bodman-Schachen / Löchle

    Lake Constance takes its German name, Bodensee, from this village. Bodman, at the western tip of the Überlinger See arm of the lake, was the site of a royal palace in the early Middle Ages, and the name of the place spread to the water. Below the village, in the shallows at Schachen and Löchle, lie the remains of prehistoric pile dwellings, part of the transnational World Heritage Site of Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps, inscribed in 2011.

    Read the complete Bodman-Schachen / Löchle write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Bodman-Schachen / Löchle comes up about 48 km into the recorded legs. Next is Schreckensee.

  3. 3. Schreckensee

    The Schreckensee, the lake of terror, is a disappointingly peaceful place for such a dramatic name. It is a small kettle lake in the moraine country of Upper Swabia, between Ravensburg and Aulendorf, left behind when a block of glacial ice melted at the end of the last Ice Age. Its shores, now partly bog and reed bed, hide the remains of prehistoric settlements, and it is one of the German sites in the UNESCO listing of Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps. As at most of these sites, nothing is visible on the surface; the timbers and household waste lie preserved underwater and in the peat, waiting for future archaeologists.

    Read the complete Schreckensee write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 103 km into the recorded legs you reach Schreckensee. Next is Ödenahlen.

  4. 4. Ödenahlen

    The Federsee basin in Upper Swabia is one of those landscapes that hides its importance. It looks like a flat expanse of reeds, wet meadows and woodland around a shrinking lake, but beneath the peat lie dozens of prehistoric settlements, preserved because the bog kept the oxygen out. Ödenahlen is one of these sites, a Neolithic village on the edge of the moor, and the Federsee settlements are part of the UNESCO Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps. Wooden floors, house walls, wheels and everyday objects have been excavated here, and some of the oldest wooden wheels in Europe come from this region.

    Read the complete Ödenahlen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Ödenahlen, about halfway. Next is Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura.

  5. 5. Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura

    Forty thousand years ago, someone sitting in a cave above the Ach valley carved a tiny woman out of mammoth ivory, and someone else made a flute from the wing bone of a griffon vulture. Both were found in the Hohle Fels near Schelklingen, a few kilometres from where you are standing, and they rank among the oldest figurative art and musical instruments ever found. The caves of the Ach and Lone valleys were inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2017 as the Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura, and they changed how archaeologists think about the first modern humans in Europe.

    Read the complete Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura sits at 170 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ödenahlen.

  6. 6. back through Ödenahlen

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Ödenahlen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Ödenahlen comes up about 215 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Schreckensee.

  7. 7. back through Schreckensee

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Schreckensee write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 250 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Schreckensee. Next is back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle.

  8. 8. back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Bodman-Schachen / Löchle write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle, late in the day. Next is Nussbaumersee.

  9. 9. Nussbaumersee

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Nussbaumersee write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    The route ends here after 354 km.

Leg by leg

Nussbaumersee to Bodman-Schachen / Löchle

Nussbaumersee → Bodman-Schachen / Löchle is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Bodman-Schachen / Löchle to Schreckensee

Bodman-Schachen / Löchle → Schreckensee is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Schreckensee to Ödenahlen

Schreckensee → Ödenahlen is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Ödenahlen to Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura

Ödenahlen → Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura to back through Ödenahlen

Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura → back through Ödenahlen is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Ödenahlen to back through Schreckensee

back through Ödenahlen → back through Schreckensee is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Schreckensee to back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle

back through Schreckensee → back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle to Nussbaumersee

back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle → Nussbaumersee is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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