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Germany


Sunset on the approach to Düren in Germany. This was the only day when I did any cycling at night. I... A rather organised approach to electioneering in Zülpich. Germany's general election was about three... I didn't have a very good map of Germany when I arrived here yesterday so I could't really understan... There's my bike, in the shade of that tree. This is near a place called Euskirchen. A field of poles near Rheinbach. I think something is going to be trained up them. Possibly grapes. ... Without really realising it, I have been gradually gaining height since Maastricht. In front of the ... The River Rhein. I have been looking forward to reaching this ever since I left Calais. You may have... There's a German village, looking German. One of the Köln-Düsseldorfer ferries. I would see several of these operating on this part of the riv... Not really sure what I'm trying to show here. That boat again. The castle on the far bank is one of a pair on opposite sides of the river. A covered bridge on the Rhein cycleway. The number 2 in the foreground is one the the markers which ... A bloke in a hat. I said I would show you one of these. As you can see, I'm now 627 km downstream of a point which mus... A boat race. Over there near the other bank. Can you see it? Scenery. There's certainly no shortage of hotels and restaurants along the riverside. Most of them expressly ... More hotels, more bikes. This is a place called Bad Breisig, by the way. Yet more bikes. There's that castle again on the opposite bank. One of the ferries across the river. I won't be using those though. That would be cheating. It's not very easy to see but, bizarrely, that white blob in the middle of the picture is the word <... I'm glad there's this route along the bottom of the valley; I wouldn't much fancy having to go up an... Oh look, a bike. This one's got quite a lot of luggage. I wonder how far it's going. More bikes. I would see the group on the right again the next day. More shipping on the Rhein. This is Koblenz. I have come to the railway station to look for a map which might show me where my h... I've found the hotel. It's on the road which was on the far side of the big archway in the previous ... The view from my window. Not especially pretty. Looking through the arch towards the station. Dodgy looking bloke. Why is he wearing a scarfe in this weather? The view towards the station after dark. Koblenz by night. Dark, isn't it? Koblenz station the following morning. I'm now trying to find my way out of the city. I've found the Rhein cycleway again now. Here's a brewery. The white markings on the sides of the arch show the water levels of various floods over the ages. The Rhein again. The town of Sankt Goar, featuring a bicycle-friendly hotel in the foreground, a Youth Hostel in the ... Sankt Goar, where I have stopped for another lolly or two. Rapids on the Rhein. The ducks seemed to enjoy going over these. Another small German-looking town. Bikes, vineyards, a barge. I bet you weren't expecting those. The cycleway through Bingen seems a little obstructed. I don't think it's open at the moment. Yes, yes, yes. Another chairlift. I've probably taken more photographs than was really necessary. More of the same, really. Now here we have a problem. The sign for the cycleway I was following points straight into that &quo... Here we have a cluster of milestones. The small one on the right shows 507 km, like the huge one. Th... Does that mean anything to you? The ramp up to the bridge across the river at Mainz. The railway bridge across the Rhein at Mainz. After crossing this bridge, I will leave the Rhein and... Rüsselsheim, where I seem to get a choice of paths. Bike racks at the Opel car factory in Rüsselsheim, which I thought was quite amusing. Still in Rüsselsheim. This road is called Rugbyring, after Rüsselsheim's twin town. The road on the ... This looks like a rather minor path to for part of a transcontinental route. It would soon peter out... Again, I've booked a hotel in advance. This one is in Neu-Isenburg. After getting a bit lost and hav... Wow! It's a sparkly one. A bridge for walkers and cyclists across the road from Neu-Isenburg to Frankfurt. I'm off to Frankfu... I don't actually need to go through there. I've come in to take a picture of the road anyway. I'm only a few miles from the middle of Frankfurt... Another view of the bridge. The Binding brewery in Frankfurt. Frankfurt. One of Frankfurt's nice smooth cycle lanes. Frankfurt. That's the river Main's cycleway down there. I won't be using this section of it because my hotel is... Frankfurt's outdoor market. The skyscrapers of the financial district on the north side of the river... ...and a load of carpets for sale on the south side. A Binding beer stall. They seem quite keen on it here. I'm coming into the financial district now. Frankfurt! More of Frankfurt. One of the bikes provided by the railway company. They seen rather over-engineered. Frankfurt station, where I managed to buy maps, a newspaper, all sorts of food and, of course, a cou... Frankfurt station. Another view of Frankfurt. Frankfurt, seen from inside the station. I'm on my way back to Neu-Isenburg now. Riding into the city centre along this road was a strange ex... Guess where Neu-Isenburg is twinned with? Ah, now I get a chance to do some interplanetary cycling. Hey, I can see Uranus from here. Sorry. The view across the Main valley from Klingenburg. A flight of steps forming a bit of a bottleneck on the Main cycleway at Miltenburg. A lock on the river Main at Freudenburg. People enjoying the sunshine at Hasloch. A finger post in the village of Dertingen. Of particular interest here are "London 882 km"... Oh, a hill. Not sure if I can remember how to do these. This is the cycleway approaching Waldbüttelb... The view from my hotel in Würzburg. The view from my hotel in Würzburg. The bridge over the Main in Würzburg. The bridge over the Main in Würzburg. Würzburg Town Hall, I think. My last view of the river Main, at Ochsenfurt. The view to the south from Gnodstadt. The view to the north from Gnodstadt. The scenery looks rather flat in this picture but this seemed ... Enheim. Ickelheim. On the phone in Trautskirchen, booking a room for tonight in Nürnburg. That's an aqueduct. Yes, really. It's full of water. This is the mighty Main - Danube canal. The route into Nürnburg. The route into Nürnburg. Nürnburg. Nürnburg. Nürnburg. Nürnburg. "Hoffeller's hoe-House" in Nürnburg. Intriguing. There's a railway going into that building. Another aqueduct. Impressive, eh? An advert for some kind of pub, just 28 minutes from here by foot or 4 minutes by helicopter. Pick-your-own flowers at Rednitzhembach. I passed quite a few fields like this, although I think thi... That can't possibly be a lock gate, can it? It is! Look at it! It's absolutely enormous! When that barge gets in here, the door will close and i... The village of Heuberg, near Hilpoltstein. The ridge forming the horizon in this picture is rather significant. You'll see it in the next photo... The European Watershed. I think the Americans call their equivalent the Continental Divide. Water wh... Apart from the ornamental stag which isn't really visible, the only interesting thing here is that t... I think this is a place called Kinding. More lock gates. Prunn. A footbridge in Essing. I didn't have to cross it. I've reached the Danube at last, at the town of Kelheim. I think that calls for a celebratory pizza. I didn't book this hotel, I just found it. Places like this have more character and quirkiness than ... The same hotel, obviously. This place is also quite a bit cheaper than the ones I had been booking b... I never really worked out what that structure is on the hill. The people of Kelheim are obviously pr... Although I saw the Danube last night, the Main - Danube canal hasn't quite reached it yet. This brid... Kelheim, seen from the bridge. The shorter clock tower is on one of the gates of the old town. Another view of the thing. The distance markers on the Danube are rather smaller than those on the Rhein and also seem to be on... Demolition work a few miles out of Kelheim. A rope from the tractor is wrapped around the top right ... Regensburg. I tried to book a room here for last night but the hotel was full. That didn't matter th... I couldn't leave Germany without photographing one of the public cigarette machines. They are everyw... This is the Danube cycleway. The river is on the other side of that grassy bank on the right. I believe this is a building called Valhalla at Donaustaf, although I'm not sure what it is. It was ... Look, it is blue. Unfortunately, I've had to stop here to fix my fourth puncture. They seem to be ge... Straubing, seen from a distance. Straubing's main street, with several rather tempting pavement cafés. Would sir like to see the cabbage list? We have red and white. There were also a huge number of litt... The view from my window in Deggendorf. The decor inside was in a better state of repair than this, a... A more tidy view in the other direction from the same window. A fountain in Deggendorf's central square. My hotel is the tall building to the left of the pink one... The square in Deggendorf, which is very pleasant this warm evening and feels rather Italian. Most of... Deggendorf again. One of two churches situated in the middle of the square. A bridge across one branch of the Danube at Passau. Passau's dam. I had been sort of racing this boat all the way from Deggendorf. It seemed like quite a large boat in the previous photograph but it looks rather insignificant in th... Look at this. A map specifically for cyclists. This shows me how to get on the path to Austria. Ah, I'm coming to the end of Germany now. Of the four towns on this sign, two are in Austria and one... Another narrow section of cycleway. The bike has now crossed into Austria, which means it gets a new style of cycleway sign to lean agai...