Today was a long hot ride from Hirschau to Nürnberg. We had completed 87km when we reached our Nürnberg hotel. And 100 km after riding around Nürnberg in the evening.

The first part of the bicycle path was not very easy to follow. At one point it seemed to want to take us up and around onto obscure forest paths – we took a more direct and easier (still rural) road.

We passed through Sulzbach-Rosenberg – a bit of a climb up into the town and then back out again, after getting directions from two cyclists.

The bike paths sorted themselves out for a while, as this is the where we joined the Fünf Flüsse (Five Rivers) Radweg. However we lost the signs again soon after town and Kris had to rely on his navigational skills to keep us on track.

The path became really nice after Etzelwang, when we ended up riding in a pretty valley alongside a little river, away from the main roads.

There were horses and lots of wheat fields. There were a number of touring cyclists, obviously a more popular part of the cycleway.

We considered staying in Lauf and looked around for accommodation for a bit. It was extremely hot and we could not find an open tourist office, only a list of places outside an information center. The town was picturesque alongside the Pegnitz river.

It was full of tourists eating and drinking at expensive looking restaurants. Kris decided we should push on to make Nürnberg.

We were very hot and sweaty when we presented ourselves at the Nürnberg Tourist Office. They were helpful and we organised a hotel for two nights, to give us a chance to see the city.

The Tourist Office is just outside the Frauenkirche and market square. Kris spotted an IPA at a market stall for a local brewery. We were offered a taste and it was really good, so we couldn’t resist buying a cold bottle to drink right away – in this part of Germany you may drink on the street, as long as you are standing or walking. Jenny bought a Lebkuchen (German gingerbread) from the stall alongside. It was delicious with the beer – and we were told that we were following a 700 year old tradition – to drink beer and Lebkuchen when arriving in Nürnberg!

The combination of the heat and beer lead to a nice sleep once we had found our hotel room and had a shower.

We set off again in the evening to search for food and drink. We found a supermarket and stocked up on a heap of goodies – we love the packed salads you can buy in German supermarkets at a very reasonable price. We rode around the gardens alongside the river – it was lovely there with lots of people out cycling and walking. We stopped first to eat our ice creams. Then we found a beer garden next to next to a swimming pool and tennis courts, where we had a beer before going back to our hotel room for a late supper.