The Rhine Cycle Route. Mike Wells
to attractive locations on the right bank. The total distance cycled by the route described is 1372km. For a breakdown of the stages, see Appendix A.
Where possible, rural or parkland routes are preferred to urban ones. Although several large cities are traversed, few require significant lengths of urban street cycling. In three cities, dedicated cycle tracks along canal banks (Strasbourg), linear city parks (Karlsruhe) or through urban woodland (Mannheim) take the route into the heart of the city without encountering traffic. In eight others (Bregenz, Konstanz, Schaffhausen, Mainz, Koblenz, Bonn, Köln and Düsseldorf), the route sticks to the river as it passes close by the city centres.
Between cities, traffic-free routes are preferred over road ones, surfaced tracks over dirt ones, scenic tracks over dull ones and tracks that stay true to the river over those cutting off significant chunks for the sake of it. Deviations are made to visit places of significant interest, such as ‘Heidiland’ (Stage 3), the north side of Bodensee (Stage 5), Waldshut (Stage 7) and Bad Säckingen (Stage 8), Neuf-Brisach (Stage 9), Karlsruhe (Stage 12), the Rheingau (Stage 16), Oosterbeek (Stage 24) and Kinderdijk (Stage 26).
Switzerland
From Oberalppass to the Bodensee Rhein Delta, the Swiss national cycle route Radweg 2 (R2) is closely followed through Ilanz and Chur. R2 passes Vaduz in Liechtenstein on the opposite side of the river, but the route in this guide crosses over to visit Europe’s third-smallest country. R2 is left for a long deviation following Bodensee Radweg around the northern side of Bodensee, visiting Friedrichshafen, home of the Zeppelin, and the medieval cities of Lindau and Meersburg. Between Bodensee and Basel, where the Rhine mostly provides the border between Switzerland and Germany, R2 is followed through quaint Stein am Rhein, the German enclave of Büsingen, Schaffhausen, and the spectacular Rheinfall. We briefly leave R2, crossing into Germany to visit Waldshut and Bad Säckingen. Regaining the Swiss bank through Rheinfelden and Roman Augusta Raurica, R2 ends in Basel.
Meersburg harbour with Neues Schloss on the hill above (Stage 5)
France
From Basel to Strasbourg (France) and its sister town of Kehl (Germany) there are three alternative routes. This guide follows the French Vèloroute Rhin (VR, but now re-waymarked as EV15), leaving the river to follow canal towpaths, forest trails and a disused railway line through Alsace, passing Neuf-Brisach en route to Strasbourg. There is another waymarked route (D8) closely following the German (right) bank through Breisach to Kehl. This is shorter, but is a dusty, bumpy unsurfaced track for most of its length and is not recommended. The third alternative is to follow quiet former military roads along the French bank of the Rhine.
Germany
After Strasbourg, the route continues following EV15, now along the riverbank, through the French/German border area before crossing the river to visit the model fan-shaped city of Karlsruhe. EV15 continues along the left bank through Wörth, but major works are going on in this area to create flood relief polders and deviations take the track away from the river. Returning to the left bank after Karlsruhe, the route passes through the cathedral city of Speyer, then crosses over briefly to visit Mannheim (and miss the duller part of Ludwigshafen). Then it is back on the left bank through Worms and Nierstein to Mainz, the most attractive ‘big city’ on the Rhine. For most of the stretch between Karlsruhe and Mainz through Mannheim it is possible to follow D8 along the right bank, but while this is a quiet route along surfaced tracks, it is far less interesting than the preferred left bank route.
The river is crossed at Mainz for a short ride through the Rheingau to Rüdesheim. From Bingen, the route stays on the left bank through the Rhine Gorge, passing romantic castles and the Loreley rock opposite. The route continues north, crossing the Mosel at Koblenz then past the Eifel mountains through Andernach and Remagen to reach Bonn. Here there is a major change in the landscape as the mountains are left behind for the plains of Nordrhein-Westfalen. From Bonn, through Köln and Düsseldorf to Duisburg you pass through the industrial heart of Germany. However, apart from the approach to Duisburg past a series of steelworks, the stretches between cities are surprisingly rural. Beyond Köln, we cross the river to visit attractive Düsseldorf and industrial Duisburg. The final stretch in Germany crosses wide open agricultural plains following a series of flood dykes on the left bank with occasional glimpses of the river as it meanders widely towards the Dutch border at Millingen.
The Netherlands
After reaching the Netherlands, the Rhine divides into different channels to reach the sea. The route described in this guide crosses the Waal, then follows the Neder Rijn past Arnhem and below the wooded sandy ridge of Utrechtse Heuvelrug national park. After Amerongen the route is along the top of Lekdijk, the main flood dyke of the river Lek, with the surrounding land below sea level. The Lek is followed through Wijk bij Duurstede and Schoonhoven to reach Rotterdam, Holland’s second city. It then follows the Nieuwe Mass river past the huge industrial complex of Europoort to end at the North Sea ferry port of Hoek van Holland, near the river mouth.
The cycle track past the Kinderdijk windmills is very popular (Stage 26)
Natural environment
Physical geography
Two major geomorphic events shaped the Rhine basin. The Alps were formed approximately 30 million years ago, pushed up by the collision of the African and European tectonic plates. This caused rippling of the landmass to the north, creating successive ridges that form the limestone Jura (northern Switzerland) and combined Vosges (France)/Black Forest (Germany). Further north, pre-existing harder slate mountains (Hunsrück and Taunus) and volcanic remnants (Eifel, Siebengebirge and Westerwald) were raised further. The Rhine, flowing north from the Alps, was forced west by the barrier of the Black Forest, then turned north, cutting a wide valley between Vosges and the Black Forest (from modern-day Basel to Karlsruhe). Flowing slowly across the basin between the ridges (Karlsruhe to Mainz), the river deposited much of its sediment, creating an extensive flood plain. Upon reaching the Taunus, it turned west then north again, cutting a narrow gorge through the older, harder rocks between Taunus and Hunsrück (forming the Rhine Gorge from Bingen to Koblenz). Emerging from the mountains, the Rhine flows out onto the North German plain.
The second event was a period of repeated glaciation known as the ice ages, ending around 14,000 years ago. This had three effects upon the Rhine basin. In the Alps great glaciers formed, cutting deep, straight valleys from Oberalp to Chur and below Chur to Bodensee, where a lake formed at the end of the glacier. Further north, ice sheets covered the North German plain, which when they retreated left a flat landscape covered with glacial and wind-blown loess (sedimentary) deposits. Furthermore, when the ice sheets melted, the sea rose, leaving the western end of the plain (modern-day Netherlands) below sea level.
Wildlife
While several small mammals (including rabbits, hares, red squirrels, voles, water rats and weasels) may be seen scuttling across the track and deer may be glimpsed in forests, this is not a route for observing animals. However, there is a wide range of interesting birdlife. White swans, geese and many varieties of ducks inhabit the river and its banks. Cruising above, raptors, particularly buzzards and kites, are frequently seen hunting small mammals. Birds that live by fishing include cormorants, noticeable when perched on rocks with their wings spread out to dry and grey herons. Common all along the Rhine, and particularly numerous in the Netherlands, herons can be seen standing in shallow water waiting to strike or stalking purposefully along the banks.
Storks’ nest in Willige Langerak (Stage 25)
Perhaps the most noticeable birds are white storks. These huge birds, with wingspan of two metres, nest in trees or on man-made platforms. They feed on small mammals and reptiles, which they catch in water meadows or on short grassland. Populations along the Rhine dropped to unsustainable levels by the 1980s, but conservation programmes in France, Germany and the Netherlands have led to significant growth in