From Meiningen, the route first runs south through the Werra valley. It leaves Thuringia via Sülzfeld and Mühlfeld and reaches Lower Franconia near Mellrichstadt. A long section through Rhön-Grabfeld follows: the Streu valley, open fields, small towns and the hills of the Rhön to the west. Via Heustreu and Bad Neustadt, the riding stays mostly smooth, but never completely flat. Around Münnerstadt, the stage becomes more rolling again before the route continues toward the Schweinfurt basin. Beyond Poppenhausen and Euerbach, the terrain opens up, villages sit closer together and the landscape becomes clearly Franconian. Via Werneck and Bergtheim, the final section leads into Würzburg, where the route shifts from open countryside into the Main valley and the city.
