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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

German Alpine Road · part 1

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
227 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 22
Journey
One way; return travel is separate
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 Lindau it runs 227 km to Bad Tölz; allow about 3 h 22 of riding. The stops in between: Oberstaufen and Garmisch Partenkirchen. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,550 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.

Scenic road chapters

Romantische Strasse

Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 129 km this is Romantische Strasse, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.

Rider note

Check the pass is open before you commit to it.

Chapter facts
Length
129 km
Named road
Romantische Strasse
Pass
Gaicht Pass

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Lindau

    Lindau is an island that behaves like a postcard. The old town sits on a small piece of land in the eastern corner of Lake Constance, linked to the mainland by a causeway and a railway bridge, with a harbour entrance guarded by two monuments, a stone lighthouse and a tall statue of the Bavarian lion. Boats cross to Bregenz in Austria and to the Swiss shore, and behind the harbour wall are cobbled streets, painted houses and cafés that spill onto the quay. The Bodensee, as the Germans call it, is the third largest lake in Central Europe and the surrounding land is orchard country, apple trees and vineyards, with the Alps rising over the south shore on a clear day.

    Read the complete Lindau write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Lindau is where the day begins. Next is Oberstaufen.

  2. 2. Oberstaufen

    Oberstaufen is a spa town with a taste for fasting. Its fame comes from the Schroth cure, a regime of dry days, wet days, wraps and very little food that visitors have been putting up with here for generations, and the place wears its wellness reputation with a certain Bavarian shrug. You see it in the clean flower boxes, the Kneipp-style water basins in the park, and the clinic-like hotels. It is also a proper Allgäu town, and a pleasant one, with about seven thousand people, cow bells in the background, and a brewing tradition that makes the fasting look like a very optional part of life.

    Read the complete Oberstaufen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Oberstaufen comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Garmisch Partenkirchen.

  3. 3. Garmisch Partenkirchen

    Garmisch-Partenkirchen lies in a wide Alpine valley in Bavaria, close to the Austrian border, with the Wetterstein range rising behind it and the Zugspitze, at 2,962 metres the highest mountain in Germany, standing at the end of the valley. The town is really two, Garmisch and Partenkirchen, joined together for the 1936 Winter Olympics, and each still has its own character. Partenkirchen, the older part, has a Roman history, as it stood on the road across the Alps, and its main street, with painted houses, is the more charming.

    Read the complete Garmisch-Partenkirchen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 169 km into the recorded legs you reach Garmisch Partenkirchen. Next is Bad Tolz.

  4. 4. Bad Tolz

    Bad Tolz grows from the Isar, the river that rushes down from the Alps toward Munich, and the town's main street, the Marktstrasse, climbs a steep slope above the water, lined with painted houses with gabled fronts and carved signs. At the top stands the Kalvarienberg, a hill with a baroque chapel and a view across the roofs to the Alps. The name Bad means spa, and it was the tapping of iodine-rich springs in the nineteenth century that gave the town its status, though the mountains and the old town are the real draw.

    Read the complete Bad Tolz write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Bad Tolz closes the day.

Leg by leg

Lindau to Oberstaufen

Lindau → Oberstaufen is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Oberstaufen to Garmisch Partenkirchen

Oberstaufen → Garmisch Partenkirchen is 129 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Garmisch Partenkirchen to Bad Tolz

Garmisch Partenkirchen → Bad Tolz is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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