WESTERN EUROPE - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 43

Need to know Several German cities have bike-
hire schemes similar to the Paris V é lib (see p.50
& p.374). Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich and
Karlsruhe all run a scheme known as “Call a Bike”.
You first have to register with a credit card at W www.
callabike.de (German only, though has an English
summary in menu bar), after which you're given a
customer number and charged E 5. When you've
spotted a locked bike that you want to hire, you then
call the number shown on the cycle's lock to get the
code to release it. When you're done cycling, lock
the bike to a traffic sign or cycle stand and call the
service centre to let them know where you've left it.

056 See Germany on two
wheelS

Cycling in Germany is a national obsession.
There are more than 150 long-distance cycle
routes throughout the country (as well as
numerous mountain-biking trails), while
many of the country's major cities have a well-
developed cycling infrastructure. The following
three routes are among the best.
1) The 370km Green Metropolis Leisure Route
is predominantly flat and mostly away from
busy roads, running from Düren in North Rhine-
Westphalia via Limburg in the Netherlands to
Beringen in Belgium. For a map of the route
(including a PDA-downloadable format) see
W www.gruenmetropole.eu. A whopping 63-page
book of the circuit is available free from Aachen
Tourist Service ( T [phone]).
2) The Tour de Fries is a 250km trail in
Ostfriesland in the far northwest of Germany.
It begins at Wilhelmshaven, where you cross by
boat over Jadebusen and continue in the saddle
to Bockhorn, Friedeburg, Wittmund, Schillig,
Horumersiel and Hooksiel before stopping for a
well-deserved beer in the brewery town of Jever.
A six-day tour costs E 259 per person, including
B&B, maps, luggage transfer and a boat trip
across Jadebusen Bay. For maps and detailed
itineraries see W www.friesland-touristik.de;
T [phone].
3) If off-road biking is more your thing,
head to the Solling Vogler Nature Reserve in
northern Germany, where the terrain varies
from valleys crisscrossed with streams and
forested trails up to exposed wide ridges of the
Grosse Blösse peak (528m). There are fifteen
different circuits along 600km of trails (varying
from easy to challenging) and one 160km trail
around the entire park, which includes 2700m
of climbing over two to four days. For itineraries
and reservations contact the local tourist office:
W www.hochsolling.de (German only). There's
also some info in English at W www.germany-
tourism.de.

057 explore aviGnon and
ardèche

Avignon is regarded as one of Europe's loveliest
medieval cities: flanked by the Rhône and
approached through tall stone ramparts, it has
cobbled, shady squares, covered markets and
quirky museums, the famous Palais des Papes
(home to medieval popes), as well as the twelfth-
century Pont St-Benezet, the fabled bridge
featured in the French children's song Sur le
Pont d'Avignon .
Avignon is also a bridge to the south of France:
it is well connected by train and is the gateway
to Provence and the Côte d'Azur. The direct TGV
service from Paris takes just 2hr 40min and
there's a direct Eurostar service from London
to Avignon in the summer (5hr 53min; Sat only;
W www.eurostar.com). There's also a Eurostar
service from London to Avignon year-round,
which involves an easy platform change at Lille.
The TGV station is about 3km to the south of
the town, where you can pick up pre-ordered hire
bikes from Holiday Bikes ( W www.holiday-bikes.
com; T [phone]) or if you don't fancy
negotiating the traffic-choked roads surrounding
the city, a shuttle bus runs every 15min into
town. In Avignon you can also hire bikes at
Provence Bikes on Boulevard St Roch ( W www.
provence-bike.com [French only]; T +33 (0) 490
279 261).