Vienna, headed back to the UK, mostly on road - ideas?

[jameso]

Never one to miss a bit of opportunistic riding, I'm planning a ride home from a work-related visit to Vienna in July. Hoping to ride some of the way back (all would be nice but it's a long way east) depending on time and route inspiration. Got up to 8-9 days though and can average 250km a day on a road trip so 2000km feels possible.

Anything you'd do in the Austria/Southern Germany corridor? (aside from enjoying good beer)

Any ideas for getting back to UK from the Vosges or Ardennes area without heading NW towards Calais? (nice but done it a few times heading in the other direction - and riding towards N France is unlikely to feel inspiring after a number of days on the road)

Thinking of heading from Vienna towards Lake Constance through S Germany, then into the northern Schwartzwald, then the Vosges and up towards the Ardennes. So much good beer potential though I've ridden through the Avesnois-Ardennes area of the France-Belgium border a number of times and it's lovely, I wouldn't mind either skipping it (or the flat bits northern France) to save time for the S Germany area, or finding another way to a ferry back to UK.

[PaulB2]

You've always got the option of heading up to liege via luxemburg to catch the chunnel train.

[pistonbroke]

Depends on how hilly you want. I assume you know about the Danube Cycle Route or Eurovelo 6, this will take you up into the Black Forest. I'd then pick up the Rhine Cycle Route or Eurovelo 15 to Hook of Holland and back to Harwich on an overnight ferry. Bavarian beer, Schwartzwaldkirchtorte, followed by the vinyards of the Rhine, Moselle Ahr etc, what's not to like.

[jameso]

You've always got the option of heading up to liege via luxemburg to catch the chunnel train.

Liege-Calais via train, then Chunnel or ferry, do you mean? Or is there a direct linked train? Had a quick look and only found Liege to Calais with a couple of changes.

Depends on how hilly you want. I assume you know about the Danube Cycle Route or Eurovelo 6, this will take you up into the Black Forest. I'd then pick up the Rhine Cycle Route or Eurovelo 15 to Hook of Holland and back to Harwich on an overnight ferry. Bavarian beer, Schwartzwaldkirchtorte, followed by the vinyards of the Rhine, Moselle Ahr etc, what's not to like.

Timely reminder of the Eurovelo routes, thanks. I like hills, Austria has a few.. but after a few days of that the Rhine valley would be welcome. Ridden alongside the Rhine in the Shaffhausen area after riding through the Colmar-Freiburg valley and over the Black Forest hills there. Really nice. Could make good links,
Any idea what EV15 is like up towards Koblenz or Cologne? I'd be wary of wide rivers on the plains near big cities, can get a bit urban or industrialised? I think that's why I end up on really hilly routes, just avoiding the busy valleys.

[PaulB2]

Sorry, I mixed up Lille and Liege. Disregard

[pistonbroke]

Sorry James I've no specific info on EV15 around Cologne, I used to work for a company based right by the Danube near Ulm and remember the cycle path being a traffic free tarmac road. Given the infrastructure in Germany, I'd be surprised if the route is covered in broken glass and dog poo. The Rhine around Koblenz is the chocolate-box section with Lorelei rock, Bingen, Boppard tourist honeypots. Further north around Dusseldorf and Duisburg is more industrial but has the attraction of visiting the home town of Herr Lipp from League of Gentlemen (how sad am I? )

[jameso]

Sorry, I mixed up Lille and Liege. Disregard

I could do that after a week's riding

[jameso]

Sorry James I've no specific info on EV15 around Cologne, I used to work for a company based right by the Danube near Ulm and remember the cycle path being a traffic free tarmac road. Given the infrastructure in Germany, I'd be surprised if the route is covered in broken glass and dog poo. The Rhine around Koblenz is the chocolate-box section with Lorelei rock, Bingen, Boppard tourist honeypots. Further north around Dusseldorf and Duisburg is more industrial but has the attraction of visiting the home town of Herr Lipp from League of Gentlemen (how sad am I? )

He was real?

OK, Koblenz sounds relaxing enough, where I'll get dropped by 75 year olds on Gazelle E-bikes . Didn't expect any of it to be too ghetto. Quite a fan of the gothic-scripted, colourful plaster and beam buildings and spires of southern Germany but would head into the hills if it started to look more like French retail parks or Crawley.

[pistonbroke]

Of course Herr Lipp was real , when you live in Penistone as I did, League of Gentlemen was a documentary, it was actually filmed just on the other side of the Pennines in Hadfield. We used to frequent a LoG themed cafe who served "special stuff" rolls, just down the road from the roundabout zoo.
https://leagueofgentlemen.fandom.com/wiki/Herr_Lipp

[jameso]

Wasn't an avid LoG fan, kind of passed me by somehow but here's our local pub's sign