Bavarian Swabia between the Ries, river landscapes and culture

In Bavarian Swabia, extraordinary cultural heritage meets a landscape to explore by bike or on foot. The Nördlinger Ries in the north, the river valleys and Augsburg’s history each add a distinctive touch. When choosing a holiday apartment, it may therefore help to consider whether you are mainly planning to enjoy culture in Augsburg, nature in the Ries or active days on the cycling and hiking trails.

Augsburg’s history and distinctive cultural sites

The Augsburg Water Management System is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bavarian Swabia. It consists of 22 functionally connected and interdependent elements. Exploring the individual components as one connected system offers a different perspective on the World Heritage Site than viewing a single structure on its own.

The Fuggerei is another of Augsburg’s notable sites: Jakob Fugger founded the social housing complex in 1521, and it is considered the oldest in the world. The Augsburg Puppet Theatre offers another way to experience culture. Marionette performances have been staged there for decades, and the puppet theatre museum “Die Kiste” is located on the floor above. If you are travelling with children, you can consider this theatrical and museum perspective alongside the city’s historical attractions when planning your stay.

Official guided tours of Harburg Castle focus on 900 years of history. The tour includes the castle church, the battlements, prison towers and the courtroom. It thus connects different aspects of the castle complex and its history. Kloster Holzen, meanwhile, is a former Benedictine nunnery in the northern part of Augsburg–Western Forests Nature Park; its abbey church is notable for its magnificent Baroque furnishings.

The Ries, nature park and trails across the region

The Nördlinger Ries is a crater about 25 km across, formed by a meteorite impact around 15 million years ago. The Ries Panorama Trail is a seven-day hiking route that circles the meteorite crater in the UNESCO Global Geopark Ries. If you are interested in the landscape and how it was formed, this makes for a specific hiking focus when planning your trip.

Augsburg–Western Forests Nature Park offers another natural setting. At 1,225 km², it is the only nature park in Bavarian Swabia. Along with the Swabian Danube Valley and the Ries Geopark, it is one of the regional areas inviting visitors to cycle, hike and enjoy nature with the family. The Lauschtour audio guide app adds 23 free audio tours through Bavarian Swabia to your excursion planning. They can be used flexibly without booking in advance.

Cycling and hiking at your own pace

There are several routes to choose from for cycling trips: the DonauTäler Cycle Route covers a total of 14 tributary valleys of the Danube over around 300 km. The Danube Cycle Path runs for 100 km between Neu-Ulm and Donauwörth through the Swabian Danube Valley. In Bavarian Swabia, both routes—as well as the Via Claudia Augusta—are ADFC-quality cycle routes, each with four stars.

The riverside cycle network includes easy loops for families and leisure cyclists as well as more challenging options. When choosing your destination, you can consider the kind of cycling days you have in mind without committing to just one type of tour. If you prefer hiking, the DonAUwald Hiking Trail is just under 60 kilometres long and runs between Günzburg and Schwenningen. It is connected to the region’s rail network and was the first hiking trail in Bavarian Swabia to be classified as a premium hiking trail.

The 7-Kapellen circular route is another long cycling route, connecting seven chapels over a distance of approximately 153 km. For a trip with more of a road-tour feel, the Romantic Road links seven towns in Bavarian Swabia between the Ries and the Wittelsbacher Land.

Regional specialities and the right base

The Rieser Bauerntorte is part of the Ries region’s culinary character. This speciality is a covered yeast cake filled with apples, with a tradition dating back to the 16th century. Swabian Maultaschen are also a speciality of Bavarian Swabia. A typical filling is made with meat or vegetable forcemeat and a distinctive amount of spinach. These regional dishes add their own touch alongside excursions to cultural sites and into the countryside.

The tourism region includes the districts of Aichach-Friedberg, Augsburg, Dillingen, Donau-Ries, Günzburg and Neu-Ulm, as well as the independent city of Augsburg. It is located at the A7/A8 motorway interchange and can be reached by car or train. The Bayern-Takt offers hourly train services every day, from morning until late at night, including Saturdays and Sundays. When choosing your holiday apartment, it is worth first considering which experiences you want to shape your trip: Augsburg’s culture, the landscape of the Ries, trails in the Danube Valley or hikes in the nature park each offer a different focus within the region.

Discover more destinations: Kulmbach, Donau-Ries, Eichstätt, Chiemsee, Hof, Nuremberg Land, Berchtesgadener Land, Coburg.

Return to the main travel overview: Bavaria.