Join me on Day 9 of the Route Napoleon Motorcycle Tour Through Switzerland and Germany's Black Forest and the B500.
- MotoTravelDude
- Jun 9
- 3 min read
310km
Switzerland and Germany.
And then there were 4. We set off from Col du Rangiers in Switzerland. This little nugget of French speaking Switzerland sticks into France. Yesterday I pointed out the witch hanging from the restaurant ceiling. Earlier in the morning I took a wander around the church next door. Turn out that in mediaeval times, the hill where the church sits was a meeting place for druids, witches and other ‘demonic’ cults. In the 1550s more than 200 people were executed from this surrounding area under the pretence of witchcraft. How very un-Swiss like!
Anyway, we left heading north east, our route taking us below Basel, now following the Swiss / German border, touching the Rhine here and there. For the Eurovision fans, I had that ‘Make in Switzerland’ song in my head all morning (you know they invented LSD)?
The Swiss are meticulous at everything, including keeping to the speed limits! It can be a little frustrating, but if there’s a 30 sign on an empty dual carriageway, they stick at 30.
Our target was the southern tip of the B500, then up through the Black Forest. This famous road snakes this way over the hills and forest and is a bit of a Mecca for bikers from around the world.
A lot of bikers complain about the B500 saying that the police and cameras spoil all the fun. Seriously, go get a track day instead. It’s a tourist route and is meant to be enjoyed, but you can still have fun with a heavy wrist.
The southern end is less popular than to the north and Baden Baden, and the road to the south while less wooded, is equally exhilarating. At Lake Tittisee (snigger snigger), we came off the 500 and found one of the many back roads that meander through villages and woodland.
We passed many lumberyards and they were spraying the house size piles of timber with water )presumably to reduce the risk of fire), with giant sprinkler systems. As the dash was showing 32C, every time we went past one of these yards it was quite refreshing.
The building architecture here is fascinating. Ginormous multi story cuckoo clock houses completely made of timber.
We stopped in Hinterzaten for lunch where we had to have the Schwartz Forest burger. Das was gute! Now stuffed to the brim, we continued our journey north.
We somehow managed to miss all of the big popular biker hangouts, which is fine as we were having far too much fun messing around with the locals. The temperature is really getting to us so we stopped for a drink in Bad Peterstal, at a bar with the most miserable barman that you could imagine. He assumed that with 4 burley bikers turning up, he was in for a good total bill, and was massively disappointed when we asked for 4 pints of cold tapwater (as well as two cokes and two coffees).
We were too hot and bothered by now so headed straight for our traditional Gasthaus on the outskirts of Buhl. On the way west you could see darkened clouds on the horizon. The air was heavy and felt close. A storm was coming.
Built in 1672, our Gasthaus is as traditional and family run as you can get, with a third generation family in the kitchen and behind the bar. The service was friendly and the food fantastic.
As we were having dinner, the heavens opened. There was thunder, there was lightning, there were hailstones, there was rain. And 20 minutes later, it was gone. Hopefully the bikes have had a good wash.
Tomorrow we head to Vianden in Luxembourg for a few nights, before heading back to Blighty.
If you’ve enjoyed the blog, check out my website (link in the bio) and join me on my next tour! I’ve got some dates for 2026 already planned in.
Amusingly I didn’t take many photos today!
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