We start our stage at the Imperial Palace Goslar, which was built between 1040 and 1050 under Henry III. A comprehensive exhibition on the Imperial Realm attracts many visitors annually to the historic building, which is also a popular photo subject from the outside. We quickly leave the old town behind and are guided along Siemensstraße past the Osterfelder clay pits towards Bleiche, where we soon enjoy a fantastic view over Goslar. On wide driving paths, we leave the height and gently roll downhill into the Okertal. Half a kilometer after the Hallesche Höhe rest point, we turn sharp left onto the main street Okertal, which we follow for about a kilometer towards the Goslar district of Oker. We cross the river of the same name and travel through side streets on the European Cycling Route R1, which soon leads back along wider paths through the northern Harz mixed forest. We pass the Bad Harzburg district of Göttingerode by Café Goldberg, where a break with coffee and cake is worthwhile. At the junction to Silberbornbad and the gallop racecourse at Weißen Stein, we keep right to turn left after 200 meters towards Bad Harzburg. We then turn left onto Kurhausstraße and ride along the city park towards the Bad Harzburg city center, whose restaurants and shops invite you for a pit stop or stroll. At the Luther Church, we cross Herzog-Julius-Straße, ride leisurely through residential areas, and at Wolfstein turn onto the R1 again, which takes us on the Ilsenburger Stieg over the former inner-German border through Eckertal to Ilsenburg. There, we cross the small town on the Ilse river towards the Ilsenburg castle and monastery, where we meet the Harz Monastery Hiking Trail. We pass the castle park on its northwest side and ride past several dolines, witnesses of the former gypsum mining, above the former Benedictine nuns' abbey Evangelical Center Monastery Drübeck. The monastery and monastery café are worth a visit for a stopover and exploration of the beautiful garden. We continue above the Wernigerode district of Darlingerode and pass the convenient path past the now non-existent Augustinian hermit monastery Himmelpforte. Several trout ponds and remains of a monastery wall are still preserved today. Shortly after, we reach Wernigerode, the colorful town in the Harz, and follow the Holtemme river towards the historic marketplace, where today's stage ends.
