Tired of all those easy, inviting routes beside rivers? No, us neither. But if you’re aching (literally) for a bit of climbing, this east-west ride is one of Germany’s most challenging national routes.

The Mittelland (Midland) Route is an A-Z of Germany… literally. It starts in Aachen, by the Belgian and Dutch borders, and ends at Zittau, by the Czech and Polish borders. This is Germany at its widest point, just over 1000km in all.

Bonn and Dresden are the best-known cities en route. Others, such as Erfurt, Jena and Chemnitz are decidedly off the tourist trail, but no less interesting for that – Chemnitz is Europe’s Capital of Culture 2025.

The route is roughly 50% on-road, 50% traffic-free. It does have a few gravel sections which road bikers may want to route around.

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