German Alpine Road
The Deutsche Alpenstrasse along the foot of the Bavarian Alps, from Lindau on Lake Constance through Fussen, Oberammergau, Garmisch, Tegernsee and Ruhpolding to Berchtesgaden.
- Distance
- 276 miles (444 km)
- Type
- Point to point
- Where
- Bavarian Alps
At 150 to 300 miles a day, this is 1 or 2 days of riding. Set your own daily distance and add rest days.
83% on the official route
Click a dot for details. White dots are the stops, each with a bed search. Yellow dots are places to see.
Main roads
From the map
- Longest gap between fuel
- 14 miles
- Fuel stations near the line
- 85
- Curvature
- 177 ° a mile
- Campsites within 2 km
- 75
- The longest stretch with no fuel station within 1 km of the line runs from mile 129 to mile 144. Check it against your range with the fuel range calculator.
- The twistiest 20 miles run from mile 125 to mile 145, at 303 degrees of turning a mile.
- Passes: Wasserscheide Wertach/Iller (1,156 m, mile 51).
- Countries: Germany.
- 8 motorcycle shops are within 3 km of the line.
Measured on the route line from OpenStreetMap data, which can be missing or out of date. Curvature is degrees of turning a mile, measured every 100 metres. On our routes they run from 6 on the E19 to 701 on the SP638.
Before you go
- Busy with tourist traffic on summer weekends, especially around Fussen, Garmisch and the lakes.
- German motorways need no vignette, but a short stretch into Austria does. This line stays in Germany.
- Some Bavarian roads have weekend motorcycle restrictions. Look for the signs.
On the way
- Lindau
- Oberstaufen
- Immenstadt
- Sonthofen
- Oberjoch
- Pfronten
- Fussen
- Steingaden
- Oberammergau
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen
- Bad Tolz
- Schliersee
- Aschau
- Reit im Winkl
- Ruhpolding
- Berchtesgaden
Split it into days
Pick the miles you like to ride in a day. Each day ends at the named place on the route nearest that distance, and you get a GPX file for each day.
This is your pace, not our estimate of how long the riding takes. Day lengths vary because each day ends at a named place.
Book this trip
1Getting there
Most riders cross to Calais by Le Shuttle or a Dover ferry, or take a longer ferry nearer the route.
Compare every crossing2Places to stay
- Find a bed in LindauWhere the route starts
- Find a bed in BerchtesgadenWhere the route ends
Split the route into days above and each day gets its own bed search for where it ends.
Back to the days3Cover
Check your bike insurance covers riding abroad, get travel insurance that covers motorcycling at your engine size, and breakdown cover that recovers a motorcycle in every country on the route.
What to check before you buy coverThe country on this route
What GOV.UK says riders need for it, checked 05/11/2026. Rules change, so read the official page before you go.
Germany
- Money
- Euro
- Ride on the
- Right
- Some city centres are low emission zones (Umweltzone): check whether your bike needs a sticker to enter
- Riding a bike that is not yours? You may need written permission from the registered owner
- GOV.UK travel adviceSafety, road travel and local laws
- Entry requirementsPassport and visa rules
- Riding in GermanyOur routes, passes and fuel gaps there
On every trip abroad: your licence, insurance that covers riding abroad, the V5C and travel insurance with medical cover. The tour planner turns all of this into a checklist each rider in your group can tick off.
Places to see on the way
Castles, passes, viewpoints and more within easy reach of the line, in the order you reach them. Yellow dots on the map.
St. Mang's Abbey
Monastery in Bavaria, Germany.
Read about it on Wikipedia Photo: Carsten Steger, CC BY-SA 4.0.jpg){kind=link}
Neuschwanstein Castle
Castle in Bavaria, Germany, Europe.
Read about it on Wikipedia Photo: Wilfredor, CC0
Steingaden Abbey
Former Premonstratensian abbey in Steingaden, Germany.
Read about it on Wikipedia Photo: Joooo at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Scharnitz Abbey
Benedictine monastery in Mittenwald in Bavaria, Germany.
Read about it on Wikipedia Photo: Derbrauni, CC BY-SA 3.0
Benediktbeuern Abbey
Abbey.
Read about it on Wikipedia Photo: User:Fb78, CC BY-SA 3.0
Hohenaschau Castle
Palace in Bavaria, Germany.
Photo: WerWil, CC BY-SA 3.0
Berchtesgaden Provostry
Monastery in Bavaria.
Read about it on Wikipedia
Schloss Berchtesgaden
Museum in Berchtesgaden, Germany.
Photo: Rosephantom, Public domain
Place details from Wikidata. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each card.