Lüneburg Heath - the final days

 ... of our vacation are spent at the best campground of our trip. Since my better half has never been to the Lüneburg Heath, we spontaneously decide to spend the last two nights of our trip at the Wildwood campsite in the southern heath. The campground is close to nature and offers forest or meadow spaces and brand new sanitary facilities. A real insider tip!

From here we hop on our bikes to explore the region via cycle path network. Several times we cross hiking and separate horse riding trails and come across the professional markings of a long-distance hiking trail through Germany, the "Nord-Süd-Trail", a project which I supported to come to life.

The heather blossom is almost over and the weather has cooled down noticeably, but the clear air, the lovely scenery and the good bike paths ensure a relaxed finale to our road trip.

Our conclusion: Vacation in Germany... can be wonderful. Especially when the weather is cooperating.

Bicycle town Schwerin

We were wondering why there was almost no accommodation left in and around Schwerin. Reason was the "Everyone's bike race around the Schwerin lakes". At Hangar 19 marina we got the very last camp space, not perfect, but at least with top sanitary facilities and our own access to the lake. Since we are “stuck” here with the van, we explored Schwerin castle, the park, the old town and the surrounding area on bikes and on foot.

The city is preparing to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many of the residential buildings appear to have been recently restored or are in the process of being renovated.

We walk around the beautiful castle, located on an island in the lake, and marvel at the building with its almost 1,000-year history from all sides.

The old town is lively. Unfortunately we are denied access to the cathedral due to an event. Schwerin is a real bicycle town with separate bike paths and often two-wheelers have priority over motorized vehicles. Thats how it is suppost to be!

Bad Kösen and Naumburg

Today we move on to Bad Kösen an der Saale, a spa on the edge of the northernmost wine-growing region in Germany with a nice campsite and an excellent Greek restaurant that also offers regional wine.

From here we visit Naumburg Both towns look back on almost 1000 years of history. The city's landmark is the Naumburg Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in the center, which was built in the first half of the 13th century.

A partially intact city wall with a dry moat surrounds the medieval old town. At Marienplatz there is the double-door Marienturm, which is the only one of five defensive towers that has been preserved.

A special eye-catcher is the old tram, whose route was put into operation in 1892. Today the tram only runs back and forth over a distance of a mere 3 km, making it one of the smallest tram operations in Europe.

Hainich National-Park

With newfound balance I am back on two wheels, at least the pedal-powered kind. We got a few days off work and ventured off east into (unknown to us) territory.

Day 1: The Gate-to-Hainich Campground at Weberstedt is located... well, at the gate to said national park. From here we can start exploring our surroundings thanks to a very well designed bike path system that barely touches main roads, and make for very safe riding.

Day 2: Next morning I woke up due to some wolves howling in the far. Yes, indeed! Wolves are back in Germany confirmed a ranger I talked to later the day. The Hainich area is an old beech forest. The day is spent with biking, hiking and relaxing. We also visit the canopy walkway to learn more about the protected forest.

Day 3: The (never heard of before) village of Niederdorla is a very special place as it marks the center of Germany in terms of extreme latitudes and longitudes of the northernmost, southernmost as well as easternmost and westernmost points. The mildly hilly terrain proves more challenging than expected due to headwinds but we manage and were happy to find an open inn at the halfway point.

A soup (Soljanka) in a jar.

A hot shower and a cold beverage awaited at the end ouf our cycle tour.