Day 6/7 - Miss Out Sinsheim?

Question? "What if I dropped Sinsheim?"  The original Day 6 would have been a longish day starting around Brno and ending in Heilbronn.

The decision to convert Brno to a stop rather than a stopover means that Sunday evening (Day 5) could be in Austria.  I plucked Linz from the air as I have stayed there before, in the Youth Hostel.

That end point was to allow for a shorter journey the next day to Heilbronn on Monday to get to Sinsheim, visit the museum and then head homewards with an overnight stay in Luxembourg. Instead there maybe a different trip planned for later this year or in 2023 that includes Sinsheim.  So it seems a bit daft to go twice!

Dropping Sinsheim would mean cancelling Heilbronn overnight and maybe even the Luxembourg overnight.

So Day 6 from Linz onwards. Maybe incorporate the Romantic Road ending up at the end of that around Würzburg?

Even I am getting confused with what day is what and where I will be!

Day 1 (Wednesday 25/5) - Ferry or Shuttle - Overnight near Coblenz.

Day 2 (Thursday 26/5) - Across Germany - Overnight Plzeň

Day 3 (Friday 27/5) - Cross Czech - Overnight Vernířovice

Day 4 (Saturday 28/5) - Rally - Overnight Vernířovice

Day 5 (Sunday 29/5) - Leave Vernířovice, Brno, Austria - Overnight Linz?

Day 6 (Monday 30/5) - Leave Linz, Romantic Road? - Overnight - Würzburg?

Day 7 (Tuesday 31/5) - Würzburg - Overnight ???

Day 8 (Wednesday 1/6) - ???? to Shuttle/Ferry - Overnight Home!

Routes - Day 3 - Plzeň to Vernířovice

A change I made some weeks ago and didn't update the blog. I added Church of Bones near Kutná Hora to the the route across from Plzeň. 

It is only a short detour off the D11 to the Ossuary and then back to the D11. 

The original route does take a stop off at Rozhledna Doubravka XIV.

It's just a short walk from the main road. 

Plus of course the slight detour to Poland and Boboszów!

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.

Days 1 & 2

Whilst we have been up to our eyeballs in Covid I have been refining some of the routes from Eurotunnel at Coquelles to the stop in Plzeň. 

It's two days on the road and I have been looking to avoid the autoroutes/autobahns as much as possible.

I have added a few extra loops mostly into Day 2.  Plus a few changes to the Day 1 route to make the stops at Bad Münstereifel.

Day 1

Day 2A

Day 2B

Small changes but on Day 1 a nice scenic ride through the Eifel Mountains and then along the Moselle. The route is just short of 7 hours on the road plus lunch and any other stops then we are looking at along day. But at least most of it will be off motorway.

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 3 - Plzeň to Vernířovice

Is this the last update we shall see?  The trip isn't for about 8 months so much could change in that time. Hopefully the overnight stops  have been sorted once and for all.

All there is no do is maybe look out some more places to stop off along the route without making too much deviation.

The hotels I have booked are all on booking.com and apart from Plzeň are either doubles or twins. I don't expect to share with anyone in any case. All I will say ids that is because I not only snore badly, but have a few medical needs that might keep others awake.  Unless of course it is my brother Neill and then that's okay!

To use a phrase I hate, I have already "reached out" to Rosta about a stop off on the way past Hradec Králové to meet face to face for the first time since 2011.  We are so much older that we might recognise each other!

The basic route looks like this:

Plenty of time to add places to stop and be a tourist. 

In fact at one point the route passes less than a kilometre from the Polish border and so maybe I can "bag" Poland on this trip too? And there is a very interesting old church in the village of Boboszów just crying out to be visited. ;)

Routes - Day 2 Part 2 - Würzburg to Plzeň

A change of the second night hotel means this is all change. I had previously booked into a hotel in Königstein in der Oberpfalz but after considering the journey the next day to Vernířovice I decided to make Day 2 a little longer and cross into Czech.

The obvious route would be to stay on the motorway from Würzburg and kill off as many miles as possible.  After a search around booking.com I decided on the Hotel Plzeň in Plzeň. It looks very clean and very modern in the 145 photos on the booking.com page and from their own website.

I have only booked a single room and it works out at about £30 including breakfast. I have asked them about parking the bike.  Even if I have to pay €6 for secure parking that will be okay. 

I  can't remember stopping in Plzeň before for more than a few minutes.  I think once we stopped for petrol and then for lunch along the main road.  Long before the dalnice was built from the border towards Prague the ordinary silnice went right through the city centre. So this time it will be a first.

They have sent some voucher to use on entry.  It looks as though they expect visitors to use an electronic entry system and times mentioned are 2200-0600. I'll be emailing to check that there is a human on site in daylight hours!

So the current route, V4.1 looks like this:

There should be opportunities to stop off on the way somewhere scenic. 

Although not visible in the Würzburg end of the map above, I also added a stop at the Würzburg branch of Louis motorcycle shop.  

Nearby is another bike shop called Polo. On the map there are two waypoints superimposed. I think this company rose from the ashes of Hein Gericke, but maybe just coincidence. 

The local bikers are well serviced as it looks as both are J&S style shops.

The day's mileage is about 350, but a lot of it is on motorway between "sights".