Eichstätt is the main town of the Altmühl Valley and the most substantial settlement between Gunzenhausen and Kelheim. It is a bishop's town — the diocese here is one of the oldest in Bavaria — and the centre has a convincingly baroque character: the cathedral, the bishop's palace, and the main square all date from the 17th and 18th centuries, rebuilt after the town was heavily damaged in the Thirty Years' War.
The Jura-Museum in the Willibaldsburg castle above the town has one of the best fossil collections in Bavaria, including several specimens from the Solnhofen limestone. The old town is compact and walkable. Eichstätt is a good place to pause for a night on the cycling route.