A five-day, 498 km bikepacking route from Frankfurt to Zürich, with 6,630 m of climbing through the Black Forest in the middle of summer.
The route is split into five stages - Frankfurt to Heidelberg, then Calw, Wolfach, Aufen and Zürich. Find the full collection on Komoot.
Preface
Adri had been already pedalling for some days, coming from Hamburg and was waiting for me in Frankfurt.
I took the train in Zurich on Friday after work and was headed to Frankfurt after a connection in Basel. The lovely and reliable DB cancelled my train in Basel and it became a small nightmare of trying to get a spot for me and the bike in any train that went to Franfurt.
Eventually, with more than an hour of delay, I got on a train to Frankfurt airport. From there, another regional train to Frankfurt main station, an interesting place at 11pm in the night.
With a delay of more than 2 hours, I finally made it to our hotel.
Day 1 - Frankfurt to Heidelberg
We woke up early, got a decent breakfast and started rolling. In the middle of a heatwave across Europe it did make a difference to get some hours in not-so-hot weather.
Day 2 - Heidelberg to Calw - an overnight at the nicest people thanks to warmshowers
Day 3 - Calw to Wolfach
Day 4 - Wolfach to Aufen - a cozy camping with not so friendly hosts
Day 5 - Aufen to Zürich
Practical notes
The route has long climbing days and was ridden in high summer. Plan water stops in advance, start early when temperatures rise, and check conditions before heading into the forest.