Baden Württemberg cycling tours & bike holidays

The Black Forest is the headline act — deep spruce valleys, waterfalls and hilltop farms, with gentle riverside routes along its edges for anyone who’d rather admire the climbs than ride them. To the east, the limestone hills of the Swabian Alb carry you past Hohenzollern and Lichtenstein, castles that appear around bends like scenes from a storybook.

The towns are just as much of a draw. Heidelberg’s castle rises above the Neckar, Tübingen and Freiburg mix cobbled lanes with student energy, and Baden-Baden has been perfecting the post-ride spa for two centuries. In late summer, look out for a Straußwirtschaft — the seasonal taverns where growers pour their own Trollinger and Riesling alongside regional cooking.

Two great waterways begin or border here too: the young Danube starts at Donaueschingen before winding east, and the Rhine traces the region’s western edge down towards Lake Constance. It’s the wine-and-wellness corner of our Germany cycling holidays collection — as happy at a spa as it is on a climb.

Baden-Württemberg enjoys one of the warmest climates in the country — the Upper Rhine plain is among its sunniest corners — with settled riding weather from May to September (18–25°C) and a long, golden autumn that suits the wine harvest perfectly.

The terrain is the most varied of any region we ride here: flat, easy paths along the Rhine and the young Danube, gentle vineyard slopes in the Neckar valley, and honest climbs in the Black Forest for those who want them. Our routes stick mainly to the valleys, so the forest stays scenery rather than suffering on our Baden-Württemberg cycling holidays.