Hotels on the way to Vernířovice

Just confirming the hotels on the way over to the rally hotel in Vernířovice. 

It is two longish days on the road to Fachbach/Koblenz and Plzeň, but I have tried to build in some "sights" and scenic roads on the way, rather than squaring the tyres on the A3!

Between Fachbach/Koblenz and Plzeň I have built-in a trip into the Christmas Town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Who could resist the charm of the place?  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber

Photo by Berthold Werner/Rothenburg

Anyway hotels.

Hotel Stadt Coblenz - Check-in Wednesday, 25 May 2022 - https://www.booking.com/hotel/de/stadt-coblenz-fachbach.en-gb.html

Hotel Plzen - Check in Thursday 26 May 2022 - https://www.booking.com/hotel/cz/plzen-r.en-gb.html

I booked myself a single room where possible, or double when not possible. Not because I am a miserable bugger but with a few personal problems mean I sleep fitfully and disturb others.

Routes - Day 1 Parts 2 & 3 - Bikers Ranch to Fachbach

Here we are again!  More changes.  This time not anything to do with a hotel change. I am happy with the Hotel Stadt Coblenz in Fachbach. This route supersedes one from last month!

What I have changed is some of the rides between the start at the Bikes Ranch and Fachbach via Bad Münstereifel. 

Once I got my hands on the Michelin 718 map of Germany and remembered that Michelin highlight scenic roads with a green stripe, AND, that MyRouteApp also gives Michelin as a mapping option, I have been busy looking both on paper and online at "green roads".

On top of that I have been adding some potential fuel stops along all the routes!

So far Part 2 looks like a pretty straightforward with a many "green roads" as I could fit in.  I have a fuel stop after about 175 miles from Calais planned and that is still Part 1 and in Belgium.  I shouldn't need any more fuel until I am almost at the hotel in Fachbach. So to make sure I am ready to ride off after breakfast I added a fuel stop near the hotel. An estimated 140 miles between stops!

Michelin background!

From Bad Münstereifel the default route to Fachbach took in a lot of "green roads" but there were so many more I could exploit.  Again using Michelin I have added a loop to take in the Mosel/Moselle mostly all of it on "green roads".

It adds another 40 to 45 minutes onto the day's riding but I expect to be away from the Calais around 10am and with lunch and fuel stops this puts a potential arrival at the hotel at around 6pm. Not too bad for a more leisurely ride to avoid plugging along boring motorways. There will be plenty of that during the trip as it is!

Bit of a loop to take in the Mosel/Moselle scenic route

I can't guarantee that there won't be any more changes! But this looks like a nice ride!

Routes - Day 2 - Bad Ems to Plzeň - Tinkering!

Tinkering yet again.  Maybe I have too much time on my hands.  

Now that I have moved the end of Day 1 hotel to Hotel Stadt Coblenz I have started too look at Day 2.

My first routes have two parts based on a stop in Würzburg hat would have been about lunchtime. But to get off the motorways a little a enjoy some "green roads", I picked up a Michelin National map of Germany. It's the 2021 edition so should be pretty much up to date.  It's map number 718 if anyone wants to buy one. Well worth the £5.50 it cost.

I saw on the Michelin maps that they show scenic routes e.g. scenic roads marked with a green strip alongside! 

I had forgotten all about that since I became a digital map user and stuck to Google! With a paper map there is so much extra to see but you can't zoom in!  

What I also hadn't noticed is that MyRouteApp also has the option of Michelin as well as Google and other mapping systems!

With the two I have made a change to Day 2.  Removed Würzburg, and replaced that stop over with a couple of scenic rides. Slower than the A3 autobahn but better for me!

The first will take me back from Fachbach/Bad Ems to the Rhine south of Koblenz and then down the eastern bank almost as far as Wiesbaden, then onto the A3 and the A6 to the border and Plzeň.

The first part will be very scenic and I have done it before, but in the opposite direction, going south to north. I have once again added another stop near the Käthe Wohlfahrt shop in Rothenburg ob der Tauber for a gift or trinket for Mrs D.

The days mileage is about 360 with a lot of it on the motorways and about 6 hours on the road before we factor in stops for fuel and food!

Should be in Rothenburg ob der Tauber in time to get some lunch and then it is all motorway to Plzeň and the hotel.

Routes - Day 1 Parts 2 & 3 - Bad Münstereifel to Bad Ems

I have a new route from Simmerath and the Bikers Ranch, that I will call my lunch stop, to the overnight hotel stop.

I had thought that maybe I would avoid Bad Münstereifel in case it's no longer open to visitors after the floods and the damage caused in the summer of 2021.  In the end I thought that it would do no harm to go and see and if open maybe grab a coffee and take some photos.  

The mediaeval centre looks to have avoided the destruction that many other places suffered during WW2. It looks as though the terrible flooding did what the armies and bombs couldn't do seventy plus years ago.

The other reason for the changes (all across the trip)  are because choosing different hotels and therefore the planned routes. As more hotels come online for next May, I check the distances and the costs and then make a change if there is a better option. There often is and I make a change!

It is so much easier with booking.com being all done online and no need like the old days to phone or even write a letter to where you want to stay and wait for a reply!

Anyway. The change. Kobern-Gondorf on the Moselle has gone and has been replaced with Fachbach near Bad Ems on the Lahn. It's not much further on and it looks like more interesting roads are in the area as you come down off the mountains to river level.

Hotel Stadt Coblenz in Fachbach/Bad Ems is the new end of Day 1 hotel.  I made the change purely as it is a little further east, offer included breakfast (see the photos!) and has onsite parking. 

Many of the options simply don't have parking onsite or even nearby. Okay for a car but not for a bike.  As usual it has free cancellation and no pre-payment.

I don't mind paying for breakfast at the hotel, or stopping at a nearby McDonalds, but finding those at a reasonable price, I will be a pensioner after all, with breakfast and parking onsite is quite rare these days.

Hotel Stadt Coblenz

It doesn't look as though MyRouteApp has a "merge routes" function. Otherwise I could merge Part 2 and Part 3 into one route! So I will have to stuck with them.  There are too many waypoints to manually change.

Part 2 is only about 30 miles and Part 3 less than a 100 even with the changes.