Plans

This trip is centered around Lynne's presentation of a poster at the International Society of Sexually Transmitted Disease Research (ISSTDR) conference in Amsterdam from 10-13 July 2005. We decided that since we were going all the way to Europe anyhow... why not add a bike trip in the mix?

Plans are coming along nicely! Just got tickets the other day, reservations have been made, and we are pretty much confirmed on about 85%. Amazing how we can do all this stuff over the internet. Years ago in 1984 I remember just flying over to Germany to see my Uncle, then hopping on trains and not really knowing where to go or what I'd see. Nowadays we can search maps, book hotels and trains, see pictures of the rooms in the hotels...even read the menu on a restaurant that we want to visit.

Here's the link for the Heidelberg-Strassbourg bike tour we are taking. This is a "self-guided" tour; we won't have a guide or ride with a group, it'll be just Lynne and I with maps provided by the company. Hopefully this will give us time to explore at our own pace and not have to worry about following a group. Included in the package are pre-booked hotels and luggage transportation from one hotel to the other (leave the bags at the front desk in the morning and a van comes to pick them up, then drop the bags at the next hotel). We get 21-speed bikes with bikebags, and maps of the routes, as well as tourist information. The tour company so far has been really nice and punctual with information.

We are adding one extra day in Heidelberg and not going all the way to Strassbourg (we are taking that last day to go to Karlsruhe to see Stage 7 of the Tour de France), but Bike Tours Direct were really nice about this. Kinda sad to miss Strassbourg, it's a gorgeous city, but that'll give us a good excuse to go back!

Our itinerary:

1 July Arrive in Heidelberg
2 July Heidelberg
3 July Heidelberg - Worms
4 July Worms - Bad Dürkheim
5 July Bad Dürkheim - Germersheim
6 July Germersheim - Bad Bergzabern
7 July Bad Bergzabern - Rastatt (last day of bike trip)

8 July Rastatt - Karlsruhe (Stage 7 TDF)
9 July Karlsruhe - Pforzheim (Stage 8 TDF) - Amsterdam
10 - 17 July - Amsterdam (Lynne at ISSTDR)

We'll try to post our blogs when we get to computers, although I doubt that'll be every day. We really just want to ride, enjoy the countryside, and eat lots of great German & French food.

Meanwhile, here's a link to the Tour de France's official site, and the entire route. We'll be in Karlsruhe for the end of Stage 7, and will get to Pforzheim for the beginning of Stage 8.

Also, while you are surfing the 'net, invest some time learning about German culture.

We'll post up hotel and contact info on another page when we get it.

Some links:


Deutschland Wetter from Spiegel Online
SWR.de, info about Rheinland Pfalz & Baden Württemberg
Map24 Germany, a great map, goes down to pretty good detail

Discover Germany By Bicycle A good bike tourism website
Bicycle Germany, a great website with lots of pictures from a couple who love to bike
Some really great photos by Ken Brown of trips through Germany
Eurobike, bike & walking tours
Radwandern in Rheinland Pfalz
Bike-touring.de, a German bike touring website

Kurpfalz-Tourist, another Rheinland Pfalz tourism website

Babel Fish Translation, does pretty good for basic translations