Mountain biking is one of the most extreme ways to enjoy cycling, whether you're scrambling at speed down a steep incline, negotiating a bumpy track or working your way up a hillside. If you practice hard enough and you have a good level of fitness, it can almost feel as if your all-terrain bike is an extension of your body.


Variety is the hallmark of Germany's mountain-bike regions, where beginners, professionals and everyone in-between can really let themselves loose. The seven trails in the Franconian Forest nature reserve, for example, cover only 300 kilometres but the total climbs and drops come to around 8,000 metres. You don't have to be super fit either. Although mountain biking is primarily an extreme sport, it can also take the form of gentle exercise that leaves plenty of scope for admiring the scenery. But if you are looking for fiendish trails that demand high levels of fitness and put lots of obstacles in your path, head to the Bavarian Forest National Park. Also known as the "green roof of Germany", it is one of the largest areas of woodland in Germany and provides an impressive backdrop for challenging climbs and devilish descents.