The Rhine Cycle Route. Mike Wells
Relevant maps are widely available en route. See Appendix E for more contact information.
Other guidebooks
Bikeline publish a three-volume series of Radtourenbücher und Karte (cycle tour guidebooks with maps) in German covering the route from the source to Rotterdam but excluding the route around Bodensee’s northern shore (Stage 5), that through Karlsruhe (stages 12 and 13) and the long section across the Netherlands from Amerongen to Ablasserdam (stages 24–26). These include strip maps at 1:75,000 with volume 1 covering Andermatt to Basel, volume 2 Basel to Mainz and volume 3 Mainz to Rotterdam. A separate book describes the Bodensee Radweg. (www.esterbauer.com)
Although neither a map nor guidebook, a topographic strip map of the Rhine from Bodensee to Rotterdam produced by Rahmelverlag (www.rahmel-verlag.de) gives a good overall impression of the route and makes an attractive souvenir. It is published in several languages, including English, and is sold in gift shops along the route, particularly in Rüdesheim and Boppard.
Accommodation
Hotels, inns, guest houses and bed & breakfast
For most of the route there is a wide variety of accommodation. Hotels vary from expensive five-star properties to modest local establishments. Hotels and inns usually offer a full meal service, guest houses do sometimes. B&Bs, which in Germany and Switzerland can be recognised by a sign zimmer frei (rooms available), generally offer only breakfast. Tourist information offices will normally telephone for you and make local reservations. After hours, many tourist offices display a sign outside showing local establishments with vacancies. Booking ahead is seldom necessary, except on popular stages in high season, but it is advisable to start looking for accommodation soon after 1600. Most properties are cycle-friendly and will find you a secure overnight place for your pride and joy.
Prices vary between countries, with Switzerland the most expensive. On stages following the Swiss–German border, it is cheaper to cross to the German side of the river for overnight accommodation. Compared with equivalent accommodation in the UK, Swiss and Dutch rooms are more expensive, Austrian, French and German rooms are around the same. One unusual way of overnighting in Switzerland is schlafen im stroh (sleeping in the hay), where you stay in a haybarn, often on a remote farm. To use this facility you need a sleeping bag and torch. It is strictly no smoking of course!
Hay barn in Switzerland used for ‘schlaf im stroh’ (Stage 2)
Bett+Bike
This is a German scheme run by ADFC (German cycling club), which has registered over 5000 establishments providing cycle-friendly accommodation. It includes a wide variety of properties, from major hotels to local B&Bs, listed by state in an annually updated guidebook. Participating establishments display a Bett+Bike sign. For more information visit www.bettundbike.de.
Youth hostels and backpackers
Rüdesheim youth hostel sits among the vineyards of Rheingau (Stage 16)
There are 40 official youth hostels (YH), many in historic buildings, on or near the route (six are in Switzerland, one in Liechtenstein, one in Austria, 29 in Germany, one in France and two in the Netherlands). These are listed in Appendix D. To use a German youth hostel you need to be a member of an association affiliated to Hostelling International. If you are not a member you will be required to join the local association. Rules vary from country to country but generally hostels accept guests of any age, although visitors over 27 may face a small surcharge (€3 in Germany). Rooms vary from single-sex dormitories to family rooms of two to six beds. Unlike British hostels, most continental European hostels do not have self-catering facilities but do provide good-value hot meals. Hostels get very busy, particularly during school holidays, and booking is advised through www.hihostels.com.
In Switzerland there is an independent backpacker hostel in Chur. In Germany, France and the Netherlands major cities have backpacker hostels.
Camping
If you are prepared to carry camping equipment, this is the cheapest way of cycling the Rhine. However, good-quality campsites with all facilities are often only a little cheaper than hostels. The stage descriptions identify many official campsites but the list is by no means exhaustive. Camping may be possible in other locations with the permission of local landowners.
Food and drink
Where to eat
There are thousands of places where cyclists can eat and drink, ranging from snack bars, hotdog stands and local inns to Michelin-starred restaurants. Locations of many places to eat are listed in stage descriptions, but these are by no means exhaustive. Days and times of opening vary. When planning your day, try to be flexible as a number of inns and small restaurants, particularly in German villages, do not open at lunchtime and may have one day a week as a rest day (ruhetag) when they remain closed. A local inn offering food and drink is typically known as a gaststätte in German-speaking countries and an auberge in France. A wienstube in Germany is a winebar, often attached to a vineyard. English-language menus are widely available in Switzerland and the Netherlands, but are less common in Germany and France except in larger towns and cities.
When to eat
Breakfast usually consists of breads, jam and a hot drink with, in Germanic areas, the addition of cold meats and cheese and often a boiled egg. In Switzerland, the breakfast dish birchermuesli, made from rolled oats, nuts and dried fruit, is the forerunner of commercially produced muesli.
In Germany lunch was traditionally the main meal of the day, but this is slowly changing, and is unlikely to prove suitable if you plan an afternoon in the saddle. The most common lunchtime snacks everywhere are soups, and ham or cheese sandwiches. In Germany würst mit senf und brot (sausages with mustard and bread) and würstsalat (thin strips of slicing sausage served with sauerkraut (pickled cabbage)) are popular; while croque monsieur (toasted ham/cheese sandwich) and quiche Lorraine are widely available in France.
For dinner, a wide variety of cuisine is available, including Italian, Greek, Turkish and Chinese. Much of what is available is pan-European and will be easily recognisable. There are, however, some national and regional dishes you may wish try.
What to eat
In Switzerland rösti is finely grated potato, fried and often served with bacon and cheese, while geschnetzeltes are thin slices of veal in a cream and mushroom sauce usually served with noodles or rösti. Zander (fresh water pike-perch) is the most commonly found fish in Switzerland. Cheese is popular and is used in fondue (melted cheese used as dipping sauce) and raclette (grilled slices of cheese drizzled over potatoes and gherkins). Switzerland is rightly famous for chocolate.
Germany is the land of the schwein (pig) and dishes of pork, gammon, bacon and ham dominate German menus. Traditionally pork was pot-roasted or grilled rather than fried. There are over 1500 types of German würst (sausage), the most common being bratwürst (made from minced pork and served grilled or fried), Wienerwürst (smoked sausages served boiled, known as frankfurters in English) and blutwürst (blood sausage). Sauerbraten is marinated roast beef, while fleischkaese and leberkaese are kinds of meat loaf. Forelle (trout) and lachs (salmon) are the most popular fish. The most common vegetable accompaniments are sauerkraut and boiled potatoes. Reibekuchen are potato pancakes, served with apple sauce. Spargel (white asparagus) is consumed in huge quantities during Spargelzeit between mid-April and 24 June. Germans tend to eat cakes mid-morning or mid-afternoon. The most famous German cake is Schwarzwalder kirschtorte (Black Forest gateau), a chocolate and cherry cake.
In France, the route is entirely in Alsace, which has a cuisine markedly different to France as a whole, showing strong Germanic influence. Pork is the