A British view - giving a strong endorsement of the ADFC Radkarten
It was in the 1990’s that I was first introduced to the whole concept of cyclo-tourism by a work colleague who was employed at the oil refinery in Vohburg in Bavaria and who told me that he and friends cycled every year to Vienna.
The very next year my wife and I timed our annual holiday to start after a meeting at the refinery and we took our bicycles with us on the back of the car. From there on, right up to 2019 I took at least one holiday along the cycleways of Germany, Austria, Hungary, France and the Czech Republic. Our last trip was from Enschede to Höxter then south to Gemünden before following the Main to Frankfurt to catch the train back to Hoek-van-Holland.
At the start we used the excellent Verlag Esterbauer Bikeline Radtourenbuchen which each showed one of the main routes in great detail and provided a list of cycle friendly accommodation along the way. Over the years we have collected more than 40 such books.
However, the very concept of using paper maps and tour guides for planning routes in Germany has now been completely blown away by the introduction, first of the ADFC Radtourenkarten which coupled with large screened smart phones has completely revolutionised the problem of finding one’s way along a planned route.
Not only that, but by covering the whole of an area and allowing access to a wide range of different tracks rather than just the main long distance routes, they allow routine access to a much wider range of largely untraveled routes to explore.
I have the habit when reading a newspaper to look up any unfamiliar places mentioned on a map. For most of the world I use Googlemaps, having already bought most of the ADFC Karten if if a place in Germany is mentioned I always turn to the ADFC App.
To date I have not taken out membership of the ADFC, mainly because I didn’t see any need to but now that I am approaching my 76th birthday I believe it might be prudent to do so if I ever venture another trip. Can I suggest that you nominate a contact within your organisation who can communicate in each of the main European languages; I say this because I tried last year to ascertain how easy it would be to plan another tour in the post-Covid era and found it extremely difficult.
Note that our last trip finished in 2019 and we haven’t returned to Germany since the start of the Covid epidemic, but we do intend to do so and are awaiting brand new Pedelecs for that purpose.
The very next year my wife and I timed our annual holiday to start after a meeting at the refinery and we took our bicycles with us on the back of the car. From there on, right up to 2019 I took at least one holiday along the cycleways of Germany, Austria, Hungary, France and the Czech Republic. Our last trip was from Enschede to Höxter then south to Gemünden before following the Main to Frankfurt to catch the train back to Hoek-van-Holland.
At the start we used the excellent Verlag Esterbauer Bikeline Radtourenbuchen which each showed one of the main routes in great detail and provided a list of cycle friendly accommodation along the way. Over the years we have collected more than 40 such books.
However, the very concept of using paper maps and tour guides for planning routes in Germany has now been completely blown away by the introduction, first of the ADFC Radtourenkarten which coupled with large screened smart phones has completely revolutionised the problem of finding one’s way along a planned route.
Not only that, but by covering the whole of an area and allowing access to a wide range of different tracks rather than just the main long distance routes, they allow routine access to a much wider range of largely untraveled routes to explore.
I have the habit when reading a newspaper to look up any unfamiliar places mentioned on a map. For most of the world I use Googlemaps, having already bought most of the ADFC Karten if if a place in Germany is mentioned I always turn to the ADFC App.
To date I have not taken out membership of the ADFC, mainly because I didn’t see any need to but now that I am approaching my 76th birthday I believe it might be prudent to do so if I ever venture another trip. Can I suggest that you nominate a contact within your organisation who can communicate in each of the main European languages; I say this because I tried last year to ascertain how easy it would be to plan another tour in the post-Covid era and found it extremely difficult.
Note that our last trip finished in 2019 and we haven’t returned to Germany since the start of the Covid epidemic, but we do intend to do so and are awaiting brand new Pedelecs for that purpose.
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