I thought Melbourne was a great gravel cycling city but Munich blew me away as an even better gravel cycling city. Within 30 minutes of the CBD you are riding alongside rivers, through forests and past lakes with the Alps on the horizon. Within 60 minutes by train you can be in the Alpine foothills with serious gravel riding ahead of you.
A gravel bike is the right choice for Munich. The S-Bahn puts incredible terrain within easy reach and the mix of dedicated paths, forest tracks and Alpine gravel means you will use every gear and every tyre you have.
Annie — my 33-year-old daughter — had a conference at Messe Munich for five days. I was her last minute invite as an avid cyclist and tourist it was an offer of a lifetime. We brought our gravel bikes all the way from Australia and they worked a treat.
We planned the whole trip using an app i built TripMonkey which let us map out each day and see the elevation before we left home. Its currently freely and clearly highly recommended.
Here are the four rides we did, two memorable and two worth a mention, plus a few we never got around to.
In this post:
The Train System — Read This First
Munich’s S-Bahn and RB reaches almost everywhere worth riding. Freising to the north, Starnberg to the southwest, Lenggries to the south. It is an excellent system and a game changer for day rides out of the city.
One thing caught us completely off guard. Bike tickets are completely separate from passenger tickets. In Sydney bikes ride free. In Munich they are not, and the inspectors are not sympathetic. We paid €60 each — about AUD$100 — for a 20 minute train ride on Day 0. Download the MVgo app before you arrive and buy both tickets before you board.
Also worth knowing: some trains split at intermediate stations and the rear carriages go to a different destination. More on that below.
The Rides at a Glance
| Ride | Distance | Elevation | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lenggries → Achensee → Tegernsee | 73km | 673m | Moderate–Hard |
| Starnberg Loop and Home | 81km | 464m | Moderate |
| Isar River Shakedown (Day 0) | 37km | 146m | Easy |
| Munich Explorer | 26km | 93m | Easy |
Ride 1: Lenggries to Achensee to Tegernsee — The Gravel Cracker
Distance: 73km | Elevation: 673m | Strava: Link
This was the standout ride of the week and the one I’d recommend to any gravel cyclist visiting Munich. It starts with a train south to Lenggries which sits in the Bavarian Alps about an hour from the city — except we got on the wrong carriage. The train splits and heads in three different directions around halfway through the journey. We discovered this the hard way when we boarded at Munich HBF. We thought we were on the right train then read the sign with a different destination so jumped off… jumped back on again… got off the next stop in a panic. We then found a fellow cyclist who explained what had happened, and caught the next train 30 minutes later. Always double check to make sure you get on the correct carriage for Lenggries.
The ride out of Lenggries is a cracker. You are immediately in the Alps on a well-made bitumen path following the river valley south. You have a lovely and easy climb to Sylvensteinsee. At this point you can choose gravel around the lake or follow the short cut on road. We choose the shortcut. There are plenty of logging trucks on route but we were jetlagged and time poor. You will see on Strava a kink on the road. That kink is a brutal gravel climb. Its worth the detour but optional on the way back.
On the way up we say a sign heading to Tergernee a name that was familar from our early train jumping fun.
We stopped for lunch at Scholastika on the Achensee — a beautiful lake lunch that was not cheap but absolutely worth it. Achensee (aka Achenkirch) is also a ski resort in winter so you know you are somewhere special.
On the return leg we hit the junction with the Tegernsee sign. I suggested the easy option — downhill, bitumen. Annie voted for the hard option — uphill, gravel. She was right of course. The climb is real, it is on gravel, and I walked sections of it. What we found at the top made it completely worthwhile: snow drifts across the gravel path in April that we had to navigate around on foot. Unexpected and brilliant.
Beyond the snow was the village of Rottach-Egern on the southern shore of the Tegernsee. A gorgeous Bavarian village we stumbled onto entirely by accident. We caught the train home from Tegernsee: happy, exhausted, and already talking about doing it again.
Ride 2: Starnberg Loop and Home — The Nostalgic One
Distance: 81km | Elevation: 464m | Strava: Link
Annie was back in conference sessions. I caught the S-Bahn south to Starnberg — correct carriage, correct bike ticket this time — and spent the day riding around the Starnberger See on the gravel bike.
I had taken my kids to Starnberg over 25 years ago. Coming back on a bike felt like the right way to see it again. It is a beautiful lake in the Alpine foothills with the mountains visible to the south on a clear day. The cycling path follows the shore closely for much of the route and the views across the water are genuinely special. The surface is a mix of sealed path and gravel — the gravel bike is perfect for it.
The signage around the lake was occasionally confusing. A bike in a red circle means something specific in the German system — I think it means you are good to go — but it took me a while to trust that. Use my Strava route as indicative rather than gospel and you’ll be fine.
There are plenty of food options around the lake. I tried a hot dog from a bakery and a chocolate milk. I will go back for the chocolate milk. I will not go back for the hot dog.
At the northern end of the lake I had a choice: S-Bahn back to Munich (30 minutes, sensible) or ride back to Munich (30km, mostly downhill). I rode back. The route follows the Würm river valley north and links into Munich’s bike path network. It is 30km of predominantly downhill which after 50km around the lake feels almost effortless. A section runs alongside a motorway — completely safe but not scenic. The reward at the end is arriving back in the city feeling like you’ve gotten away with something.
Worth a Mention: Day 0 Isar River Shakedown
Distance: 37km | Elevation: 146m | Strava: Link
We landed from Sydney that morning. By the afternoon we had unpacked the bikes and were riding north towards Freising along the Isar river path. This is the correct approach to long haul jet lag: don’t sleep, get moving, let the bike do the work.
The Isar path runs north–south through Munich and out into the countryside. It’s well-maintained and largely traffic free. A few sections near Freising were closed which required some bush-bashing to rejoin the route — the gravel bikes were the right call for Munich generally.
Freising is a pleasant town with a cathedral on a hill. We didn’t stay long. The S-Bahn fine happened on this day Fortunately at the beginning of the ride by the end of the ride it was another story to tell.. See above.
Worth a Mention: Munich Explorer — The Early Morning One
Distance: 26km | Elevation: 93m | Strava: Link
Before breakfast. Before the city woke up. I headed out with no plan other than to extend the reach of my Strava map feature..
Munich before 7am on a weekday is a lovely place to cycle. There were dog walkers, trees chewed by beavers and across the river the last oof oof off of a rave that was happening in an industrial site.
I would have gone further but the cycle path appeared to be closed ahead and I turned back rather than push my luck a second time. A longer version of this heading further south along the river would be excellent. One for next time.
Rides We Never Got To
Munich has more cycling within reach than a week can cover. These were on the list and didn’t happen.
Ammersee — A larger lake than Starnberg, slightly further west and reportedly quieter with more gravel track options. Given how good the Starnberg loop was this feels like a guaranteed good day out.
Chiemsee — East of Munich, Bavaria’s largest lake with a castle on an island built by Ludwig II as a tribute to Versailles. The cycling around the lake is reportedly excellent with good gravel sections.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen — South of Munich at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak. Serious Alpine gravel territory for when the legs are ready. This would be a destination ride in its own right.
Salzburg by bike — The route from Munich to Salzburg following the Inn and Salzach river valleys is doable as a one-way ride with a train return. We effectively started this route from Burghausen on our EuroVelo 7 leg. Doing it from Munich would make for a brilliant multi-day gravel adventure.
Planning Your Munich Rides
- Train tickets: MVgo app — buy both passenger and bike tickets before boarding
- Trip planning: TripMonkey — used this to plan the whole trip including the Munich days
- Navigation: Garmin or phone with Strava routes loaded. Google Maps for the urban sections when things get confusing.
And if the Munich rides leave you wanting more — which they will — the EuroVelo 7 route south through Austria to Italy starts practically from the city’s doorstep.
While in Europe I have also completed a 7 day Bordeaux and Dordogne ride
If you are ever in Melbourne Australia consider some of the great bike rides on the cities doorstep or just a short drive away. These are some of my favourite rides.
