Its impossible to overlook, the people of Freiburg are cyclists. There are apparently more bicycles than residents in the city.

Housewives and househusbands with vegetables in their cycle baskets, mud splattered mountain bikers returning from the Schauinsland, or groups of students cycling to their next lecture.

For many visitors to the city the masses of bicycles parked around the University and the historic town centre are a typical memory of Freiburg which they take away with them.

The fact that students favour an economical form of transportation and that an emission free form of travel is preferred in German’s ecology city don’t, however, explain the phenomenon completely.

A decisive factor is that it is possible to cycle through the city in any direction within half an hour - and that, without encountering any hills worth mentioning. 160 km of signposted cycle paths make navigation easy.

The city has even created cycle streets with restricted vehicle traffic, one-way roads which permit cyclists to ride in both directions and so-called cycle queuing strips at some junctions.