Germany Motorcycle Tour
Escape from Colitz - 9 Days
If you like your WW2 history or movies, this is a must do tour. Dambusters, Colditz, The Eagles Nest (Band of Brothers), Where Eagles Dare, Nuremburg as well as hitting the Deutche Alpinestrasse and the famous B500 through the Black Forest and clipping some of the best roads in Vosges range.
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Although a 9 day tour, we plan this as a Saturday to Sunday tour, so for some of us, only 5 days off work sandwiched by two weekends.
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The roads are slick and the tarmac smooth. This is a relatively easy tour but we are getting some high mileage to get to our destinations.
Join us on an adventure motorcycle tour through the heart of Belgium and on into Germany.
With many tanks and war relics to be found, this is a good taster to European touring and you'll want to come back and revisit some of these landmarks again.
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You'll be riding your own motorbike to some of the most famous locations in history, including parking your bike up in the parade ground at the POW camp of Oflag IV C, also known as Castle Colditz.
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We will stand on the spot where the Lancaster Bombers came over the Mohne river to breach the dam with the infamous bouncing bombs.
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There will be mixed feelings when we visit Berchtesgaden and the Eagles Nest. The fortified hilltop retreat of Hitler and its opulent golden elevator.
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Imagine being Clint Eastwood filming Where Eagles Dare at Hohenwerfen Castle.
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Ride 'the most beautiful road in the Bavarian Alps'. The German Aplinestrasse with its fairytail castles nestled in the hills.
Sample German hospitality with oversized beer steins and oversized sausages for dinner.
If you want to make your own tracks to our nightly accommodation, you’re more than welcome, otherwise we will guide you all the way with an English speaking biker leading.
It is 100% tarmac with no planned off roading.
Das ist cool, jah?
What's included?
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Return ferry EuroTunnel ticket for you and your bike.
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Local guide for Castle Colditz.
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Stay within Colditz Castle itself (and plan your escape)
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All hotel accommodation in good quality hotels.
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All hotels with private or secure parking.
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All breakfasts in hotels.
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Tour routes and information pack.
What's not included?
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Travel insurance.
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Breakdown cover.
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Hotel parking charges.
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Petrol.
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Drinks.
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Any meals not listed.
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Anything not listed.
Day 1
Folkstone to Spa race circuit
– 250 miles.
Your tour will start early in the morning at a location close to the Folkstone Channel Tunnel, where after filling up we will board Le Shuttle as a group. If you haven’t been on the Euro Tunnel on a bike, it can be a little daunting but your guide will take you through the process and it’s a case of follow the person in front. The crossing is only around 35 minutes. Once in France we will take a boring but practical motorway run through to Belgium with a couple of photo stops at various remains of WW2. This will probably include a King Tiger Tank and maybe a Sherman, as well as other artillery pieces that were abandoned over 80 years ago. Our route takes us through the Wallonia region of Belgium. Belgian roads are a bit Marmite. Some are perfectly smooth and some are as bumpy as cobbled street. Our next stop will be Spa-Francorchamps. This Formula 1 track for the Belgian GP, will probably have someone on the tarmac, but we might be able to sneak a peak through the gates. We will be staying near to the town of Spa this evening and it’ll be our first chance for everyone to get to know each other and chill.
Day 2
Spa to Mohnesee
– 180 miles.
After a good continental breakfast, we will hit the road through the Eifel National Park in Germany. We may go past the vast complex of Ordensburg Vogelsang. This is a bit of lost history but during 1933, Hitler demanded that new schools be built specifically for the children of leaders of the Nazi Party. Three of these huge schools (capable of hosting 2000 students each) were built, and NS-Ordensburgen Vogelsang is one of them. This sprawling complex of fortified buildings was only used as a school for a few years. As war broke out it was conveniently handed over to the German army for billeting troops. It was in essence, a place to condition ordinary young people to convert to the Nazi ideology. Happily moving on, we will stop at one of our favourite biker café’s in the Eifel area, Biker Ranch. This wooden chalet is biker mad and hosts motorcycle meets every week. You can sample your first Currywurst here! A simple snack of fat hotdog, covered in a curry sauce. There is a small motorbike accessories shop next door, which is always dangerous to step into (as it tends to easily lighten the wallet). Now we need to cross through the industrial heartland of the River Rhine. Our route will take us north of Cologne and we will probably hit the autobahn (motorway) to make up some time, as we really want to get to Mohne Dam before rush hour. Here we will stop at the infamous site of Operation Chastise, and depicted in the movie The Dam Busters. It is impossible not to hum the tune in your head whilst approaching the huge reservoir. On the night of 16/17th May 1943, the Mohne and Edersee dams were breached using the specially developed Bouncing Bombs, flying Lancaster bombers at a mere 60ft off the water. The result was catastrophic flooding of the Rhur valley and two hydro electric power stations being destroyed. An estimated 1,600 civilians (600 Germans and 1,000 enslaved Soviet labourers) were killed by the flooding. The RAF lost 56 aircrew, amid losses of 8 aircraft. Heros. Fun fact – Don’t mention the war! Basil Fawlty’s famous words are a bit of a fallacy. In fact, most Germans we’ve met don’t mind talking about the war at all. Nazi and the eradication of the Jews is a different matter but the Germans, like the Allies were mostly made up of conscripted young men who were just doing what they were told. But doing the silly walk across the Mohne Dam will be seen as bad taste. We’re staying near the Mohnesee River this evening. It’s far more peaceful here than it was 80 or so years ago.
Day 3
Mohnesee to Colditz Oflag IV-C
– 270 miles.
This is your mission, to escape to Colditz. Breakfast had, we hit the road eastbound. A mix if wooded countryside and autobahn today as we need to munch the miles. We will probably get onto the derestricted section of the autobahn early on. Derestricted motorway. No speed limits. Scary stuff! We won’t go silly here, as it’s very easy to get a wobble on, next you know you’re in full tank slapper mode (you’ve got to wear those armoured jeans for the rest of the week). You can be charging along at +100mph and there will inevitably be a VW Golf charging past you at twice the speed. So we will take it easy(ish) on the derestricted sections (or will catch up with you if you want to give it some welly). Here you’ll notice just how vast Germany is. There is a lot of woodland that stretches to the horizon, and not a lot else. Lunch will be one of convenience, as we need to get to Colditz in good time. Having left the motorways, the relatively flat countryside will lead us to the medieval town of Colditz. The castle (schloss) isn’t that imposing but if you know your history, it can be quite special crossing the river and seeing a building that you’ve only visualised in black and white off the old TV series! We plan to have permission to ride up and park in the parade ground within the castle itself. Riding up the cobbles that hundreds of POW officers have trodden on before and parking in the grounds is something special. In fairness, we will be parking in the ‘guards’ side of the parade ground. The POW side is over the wall and we will see that tomorrow. We will have rooms booked within the Castle itself! It is currently run as a Youth Hostel but they accept ‘older’ youth as well. Don’t worry about it being a hostel though. No shared bunks here. Ensuite rooms are in order, but they will give you a bedding pack at reception for you to make your own bed! It is difficult to resist the temptation to make a rope to throw out of the window to attempt your own escape from Colditz! Colditz Castle is one of the most beautiful Central German architectural monuments of the 16th century. It served as an important POW-camp for high-ranking officers of the Western Allies during World War II; Winston Churchill's nephew and the nephew of the then British King George VI were also among its prisoners. Secret radio rooms, tunnels broken through the masonry and a secretly built glider are examples of the many tales told of the numerous creative escape attempts. All these attempts were recorded by the German Army in the Escape Museum, to educate themselves and other POW prisons of the elaborate things to look out for. There is little to do within the hostel itself. The bar consists of one brand of beer and soft drinks but a short walk into town and you can find several eateries. Tonight you sleep in a cell within Colditz Castle. Das is cool, jah?
Day 4
Colditz to Nuremburg
– 190 miles.
Rause! Rause! All biker prisoners report to the parade ground for inspection! And then you wake up from a brilliant dream. A simple buffet continental breakfast at the castle first and pack our bikes, then meet our English speaking guide for a tour of Schloss Colditz. The tour is fantastic. Learning first how the castle was used in medieval times, then a lunatic asylum and then to its darker period of an early concentration camp and euthanasia site for anti-fascists and communists. Then how it was taken over by the German Army and managed as a POW camp, in accordance to the rules of the Geneva Convention. You’ll see the remains of tunnels dug by escapees such as Major Pat Reid, Group Captain Douglas Bader (depicted in the film Reach For The Skys) and Lt Col David Stirling (founder of the SAS), as well as the Escape Museum which houses the radios and escape equipment that was confiscated. At the top of the building is a replica of the glider that was built in secret to attempt an aerial escape over the roof tops of the town. It truly is a testament to the ingenuity of British soldiers and a fascinating place to visit. Tour over we hop on the bikes and now head south to Nuremburg. Depending how long we spend on the castle tour, we may autobahn it straight down to the city of Nuremburg. Nuremburg has a dark history. It was the nerve centre of Nazi Germany, with the Nuremberg Party Rally in 1934 where Hitler (just a jumped up little politician) told the world his rambling narrative of how the Third Reich could restore order and power and blah blah blah. You get the jist. 700,000 Nazi party supporters were in attendance, with thousands of stormtroopers stomping past Hitler’s imposing podium and grandstand, at the Kingresshalle. Quite fitting that the Nuremburg Trials (International Military Tribunals) were held by the Allied Commanders during 1945-1946 at the same site, which found 177 indicted and tried for war crimes. We may have time to explore the city but the Kingresshalle is still standing and can be viewed from outside.
Day 5
Nuremburg to Berchtesgaden
– 200 miles.
Earlier than normal start today as after breakfast, we head out Nuremberg south towards Munich. Again it will be a mix of motorway and local roads, but the going is quite flat as we head towards the Alps. We will try to avoid the Munich ring road, only stopping for a light lunch somewhere on route to Berchtesgaden. This part of Germany ‘sticks’ into Austria on the map but it is most definitely Apline in looks. Our target for this afternoon is Kehlsteinhaus - The Eagles Nest. Perched high up on an inaccessible peak of the Kehlstein, and overlooking the town of Berchtesgaden, the Nazi’s constructed this building for exclusive use by members of their party, for both government and social meetings. Normal vehicles are not allowed up the steep road up the Kehlstein, so we will park up at the bottom and will take the special tourist bus up to the base. From there we will take the 124m high elevator (lift) which is mirrored and clad in brass. This takes a mere 41 seconds! The Eagles Nest was a phrase coined by the French Ambassador in 1938 (prior to invasion) and was thought to be the planned final stronghold for the Nazis in the event of a retreat. It was a target that the Allied commanders wanted to capture and is depicted in an episode of Band Of Brothers (well worth a watch before you come on this tour). The Eagles Nest shows off the opulence and greed of the Nazis and it’s sobering to think that so many bad things were planned in the rooms here. We will head over the border into Austria for tonight’s accommodation.
Day 6
Berchtesgaden to Buching
- 250 miles.
Deutche Alpinestrasse. The most beautiful road in the Bavaria Alps. But a quick detour into Austria for an hour, to see the setting of the fictional film Where Eagles Dare. It’s going to be a long day in the saddle today on some AMAZING roads. After breakfast in Berchtesgaden we have the option to head south into Austria. No vignette required as we will just be on the backroads heading to Burg Hohenwerfen, the location of Where Eagles Dare was filmed, staring Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton. This detour will take around 2 ½ hours and we will have another 5-6 hours of saddle time to get to this evenings hotel, so we will take a vote on if we are going, the evening before. Fun fact – The castle can be seen in the background of Do-Re-Me picnic scene in The Sound of Music (not whilst Clint was traversing the cliff face). A stop for photos only and back north to Berchtesgaden where we will join the Deutche Alpinestrasse (German Alpine Road). This picturesque route skirts the northern Alps. Lots of twists and turns. Really good fun. Our route will take us past fairytale castles, crystal clear lakes and dense woodlands. We will stop for lunch at a traditional eatery but get back on the bikes pronto to munch up those miles. Our hotel this evening is a traditional Pension Pizzeria! A pizza restaurant with a bar! What more can you want?
Day 7
Buching to Baden Baden
– 210 miles.
B500 day! We leave Buching after breakfast and continue west along the Deutche Alpinestrasse towards Lake Constance. Passing the magnificent Neuschwanstein castle, as well as several other fairytale castles (full of tourists), we will reach Lindau im Bodensee, the end of the Deutche Alphinestrasse! After a lunch stop, we then head north towards the Black Forest. No cake here but instead the fantastic B500. Some say this road is a little overrated with speed cameras abound, but we will dart off the main B500 onto equally brilliant roads that run adjacent. The northern end of the B500 is full of tight sweeping turns and it’s a chance to round off those square tires after trundling the motorways earlier in the week. That’s another bucket list road ticked off! The weather can be unpredictable with sudden Black Forest rain showers, but when the sun is shining, the roads are perfectly sticky. Tonight we are in a traditional hotel for our last night of German hospitality. Prost! (cheers in German).
Day 8
Baden Baden to Clervaux
– 190 miles.
Vosges mountains and Luxembourg! Don’t say we don’t treat you but after ticking off so many of northern Europe’s famous roads, we’re now crossing the Rhine and heading through the northern Vosges national park. The roads are typically French and the quality varies but the scenery is fantastic! We now nip back into Germany heading North towards Trier. There will probably be a bit of a motorway stretch here as we want to get into Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a bikers paradise. The roads are racetrack quality with fast twists and turns around every corner. We will only have a chance to sample a few of the best riding roads in Europe here, passing multiple castles on hills. We will end up near Clervaux in the north of the country, for our final evening in Europe.
Day 9
Clervaux to Folkstone
– 250 miles.
Homeward bound! We head east through Belgium heading back to the Channel Tunnel, but not without getting in a couple more twisties in the Luxembourg side. We will probably stop for an early lunch in Dinant, famous for being the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone! Now it’s a relatively straight motorway run back to Coquelles, for your last chance of a bit of duty free, after which we will take an early evening Le Shuttle back to Folkstone. During the 35 minute crossing, we will reminisce about our favourite bits of the week, swap contacts and start planning your next motorbike adventure!