The Freiburg/Marbach area of Germany is famous for its wines made from Riesling (white), Topplinger (red) and Lemberger (rose) grapes. The hills in this region are covered with terraced vineyards between small towns nestled at the water’s edge of the Neckar. One of our favorite stops was at Besigheim. It oozes charms of the old German style with cobbled streets, window boxes and timbered houses all within the old castle wall.

Between Besigheim and Lauffen, we decided to imbibe in some local wine at a conveniently located Weingarten right on the bike path. For some reason, the bike ride seemed more enjoyable after our stop.
Not too far down the trail, the Neckar River flowed through the town of Lauffen flanked by the old castle on one side and a 15th century church on the other.

Neckarsulm was a welcome sight when we finally pulled into our hotel for our third night on the journey. We would’ve been happy to just lay our heads on a clean pillow anywhere but our accommodations far exceeded our imagination. It was easy to see why The Nestor Hotel had earned every one of its four stars. Our stay was beyond comfortable and the stellar breakfast the next morning made it hard to get back on our bikes.
But before we left Neckarsulm, we knew we needed to visit the famous museum dedicated to two wheeler transportation through the centuries.

Our trip north towards Eberbach was highlighted by gentle paths, frequent castle sightings and quintessential little German villages with funny names like Zwingenberg and Bad Wimpfen. (Bad, pronounced “Bod,” actually means bath or spa.)
Our only complaint was the head wind we fought while those “cheaters” on e-bikes breezed past us. But once the path curved into the forest, the quiet enveloped us and we slowed down to breathe in the magic of the deep forest.

And no surprise, we found another little weingarten in a sleepy town that had our names on it. It was the perfect ending to another great day of riding a total of 55 km. Wish we could say the same for our hotel that night. Hotel Krone Post in Eberbach – Noisy room, tired food, grumpy proprietor. Enough said.