We have cycled two legs of our “Cycling Camino” so far and are in Donauworth, Bavaria en route to our eventual destination of Regensburg.

The next leg from Donauworth to Ingolstadt began not on our bikes but on a train. Andre had pre-positioned our bikes at the railway station at Burgheim, a small town further along the trail but first we had to catch a train to get there. The station was a 15 minute walk from our hotel.

Collecting our bikes from the station at Burgheim

Four stops down the line we arrived and were re-united with our bikes. After a quick cycle check and a failed search for a coffee shop we were back on the trail. Leaving Burgheim under low, grey cloud we discovered that the route ahead was closed. This entailed a hastily planned detour to cross the river en-route to our lunch stop, close to a hydro-electric plant about 20 mins ride from Neuburg an der Donau.

Andre leading our group on the river path

Our group on the trail with Lyn in purple on the right of the picture.

A Maypole. Many villages have these highly decorated may-poles. As this one was on a junction of a road, I can’t see much dancing around this particular pole!

Trailside flowers. Many verges are planted with these and other beautiful wild flowers

The archway leading to the cobbles square in the old town. Therefore no images of the square, it was raining and all around the edge cars were parked.

As we finished our lunch, the low dark clouds that had accompanied our ride thus far, turned to rain, not heavy but persistent as we set off for our interim destination of Neuburg an der Donau.

It was raining as we arrived at the entrance to the old town and secured the bikes. We had about half an hour to explore. The old town has a defensive wall around which you can walk to get a better view of this historic quarter. However it was still raining, we were cold and wet, so we decided to find a coffee shop to dry out and warm up! We walked through the arch into a huge sloping cobbled square surrounded by old stone buildings. The square was beautiful, even in the rain and the old architecture was classically Bavarian. Walking up the the square we spied a coffee shop and headed inside. Several others in the group had the same idea so they joined us for a jovial half hour out of the rain.

Top and Centre: Views of the old town as we left Neuburg an der Donau along the cycle path; Bottom: Crossing the Danube once again.

When we emerged a short while later the rain had stopped momentarily, so once the group had re-united at the cycle park at old town entrance we continued our ride.

We came across a large old hunting lodge built by a former ruler of the area but is now an Arts campus of the University of Ingolstadt. We paused here a while to look around, mindful that the rain which had accompanied us all day was still lurking.

Two views of the former hunting lodge, now the Arts campus for Ingolstadt University.

One of our group enjoys Apple Cake during an afternoon coffee stop en-route to Ingolstadt.

The rain accompanied us intermittently through the rest of the day and into the evening when we headed out for our evening meal.

Ingolstadt is a the second largest city in the Upper Bavaria area and home to Audi the car makers, owned by VW. Ingolstadt was granted city status as long ago as 1250 and is surrounded by a medieval defensive wall and the fortress built with the wall is now home to the museum of the Bavarian Army. Nearby 2 military airfields are still active operating a variety of aircraft.

Our next day started with a guided walking tour of Ingolstadt, including a visit to the St. Maria de Victoria church, with its unique fresco showing impressions of the world the world as it was in the 1730s. It is used more as a concert venue now than a church and as we arrived with our guide a musical trio were practicing. It was a magnificent structure and the ceiling was amazing. Other buildings in the old town were equally as good and the tour ended in the main shopping area. We headed off for coffee before returning to the hotel to collect our bikes.

Above the entrance to the St. Maria de Victoria church

Before and After: Left: A musical trio practicing for a concert: After: All tidied away and the church became a church again.

The ceiling fresco’s at Santa Maria Church.

Left: The main church in Ingolstadt and Right: the inside.

Flowers in the city botanical gardens

Grim Reaper or Town Crier? This gentleman is apparently the Town Crier of Ingolstadt. He is also a tour guide (not ours) who was leading a group of American tourists through the town. You would not miss him in a crowd!

The plan for the afternoon was to cycle to the Limes Spa at Bad Goring for a swim in the therapeutic pools. What started as a bright and sunny morning turned wet as we made our way to the spa.

By the time we arrived there the sun was shining again. The spa turned out to be a popular holiday destination with several blocks of apartments and cafe’s, restaurants and a bar on site. Whilst the group went for a swim, I decided that a coffee was in order so sat in a cafe waiting for everyone to finish. As we left the spa the heavens opened again as we cycled the short distance to our overnight stop in Neustadt an der Donau.

Our last days riding started in glorious sunshine as we made our way to our first stop, the ferry close by Weltenburg Abbey. Before the ferry we had the chance for a coffee and a quick look around the Abbey.

Top: Getting Ready to Depart. Lyn and the group gathers outside our hotel in Neustadt an der Donau; Bottom: Leaving the town on a glorious morning.

Taking a short break among the hop fields

Every tour has to have group photo – this is ours!

There has been a church/abbey on this site since the 5th Century, making it the oldest monastery in Bavaria. The cobbled courtyard in front of the current Abbey had cafe’s and small shops and the whole area was crowded with people arriving on the ferry.

Top: A trail side memorial. These are dotted all though the countryside; Centre and bottom: The cycle track getting closer to Weltenburg Abbey.

Always enjoy a boat trip! On the ferry down the gorge.

A selection of images taken as we sailed through the Donauduchbruck Gorge

The ferries mentioned above were best way to travel through the Donaudurchbruck Gorge, a massive long channel in the rock through which the Danube flows. This ferry provided a lovely, peaceful and relaxing 45 minute break in the cycling.

More churches – and a rotunda. Some of the buildings seen on the trip down the Donauduchbruck Gorge

We sat outside on the top deck taking in the sunshine, listening to the informative multi-lingual commentary, before being dropped off at landing stage on the outskirts of the town of Kelheim.

Back on our bikes, it was a very short ride to our lunch stop, in a car park near the ferry terminal.

During a lengthy lunch break Andre talked us through a beer tasting session featuring local ales of increasing strength. They ranged in strength from 3.8% abv to 13% abv. I passed on the last one as it far was too strong. What were the others like? I would not rush out to buy any of them, but they were okay.

The colourful labels on the bottles Andre bought for the beer tasting. They ranged in strength from 3.8% abv to 13% abv. I passed on the last one as it far was too strong.

Eventually we got the rallying call “Prepare to Cycle” and we slowly left the car park and made our way through Kelheim on the last leg of our journey to Regensburg.

Kelheim was a quaint market town in Bavaria with a town square. As we passed through the main square various temporary stands and viewing areas were being prepared as part of the local “Fanzone” for the European Football championship game between Germany and Spain to be held that night. We would see more of these preparations in Regensburg later on.

Scenes from Kelheim as we cycled through.

Leaving Kelheim on a very photogenic curved bridge

.The remaining journey to Regensburg was along rural riverside paths, many of which had sustained damage during recent flooding. Gradually, the real scene turned more suburban as we rode into the outskirts of Regensburg

Top: The gravel track alongside the river; Bottom: Another river crossing

Top centre and bottom: Evidence of the flood damage and debris several weeks after the Danube burst its banks

The sun shone as we crossed the last weir and rode into the outskirts of Regensburg. It got busier with people, couples out walking, people with dogs and children and folk heading home or to the pub to watch the football. (Just like home).

Our cycling journey ended at a lovely stone bridge which led us into old Regensburg. At this point it was impossible to ride due to the crowds, so we pushed our bikes across the bridge and under the old brick archway at the other end, marking the entrance to the old town. From here, it took us a few minutes to walk through the busy streets to our hotel and journeys end.

Crossing the weir towards the end of our journey.

An original Fiat 500 classic car parked close to the bridge

Top: “We walk from here.” The bridge was too crowded for cyclists although one or two locals did try! Bottom: Busking on the bridge

Top: The crowded bridge from the old town archway. It was impossible to cycle. Bottom: Journey’s end….finally. Outside our final hotel as the crowds make their way to watch the football in bars and the main square.

A footnote to our last evening in Regensburg. Early on, the streets were thronged with people, many wearing Germany colours on the way to watch the football. When we left the restaurant after our meal, the place was deserted. Most had gone home, Germany lost.

I started this blog writing about a cycling Camino. A Camino is a spiritual pilgrimage usually done on foot, and although there was no spiritual context to my ride (others may disagree), it felt a little like a pilgrimage.

We were following in the tyre tracks of thousands of others who have ridden this way, en route to wherever and we knew that others would follow our tracks.