Major flows are from the huge ports of Rotterdam and Europoort to Duisburg, Köln, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Strasbourg and Basel. Canals linking the Rhine with the neighbouring river catchments of the Elbe, Danube, Marne and Rhône enable trans-European waterway transport. All along the Rhine, large black-on-white number boards show kilometre distance from Konstanz bridge where the river leaves Bodensee.
Ease of transportation has encouraged industrial development all along the navigable river. Most noticeable is the chemical industry, with 20 per cent of the world’s chemicals produced at a number of huge integrated chemical works, including BASF at Ludwigshafen, the world’s largest single company chemical plant.
The leisure Rhine
Petite France in Strasbourg (Stage 10)
Millions of tourists visit the Rhine every year. Many come by road to see great tourist sights such as Köln, the Rhine Gorge, Rüdesheim, Speyer, Strasbourg and the Rheinfall. Others come to cycle round, sail on, swim in or just laze beside Bodensee, southern Germany’s principal resort area.
Rhine cruising in large all-inclusive boats is big business and many companies operate in this area. Cruises typically follow seven-day itineraries between Amsterdam and Basel (or back), stopping at principal cities along the way. At popular locations such as Rüdesheim, up to 10 boats may call every day. Short-trip and day excursion boats operate on a few stretches, particularly between Köln and Mainz, Schaffhausen and Konstanz and on Bodensee.
Leisure activities are numerous. Almost every town has a public swimming pool, often beside the river. White-water rafting is possible through Ruinaulta (Stage 2), while Huningue (Stage 9) has a canoe slalom course. Rowing and sailing clubs abound.
Cycling is one of the most popular leisure activities in all the countries of the Rhine, particularly in places such as Bodensee, the Rhine Gorge and Kinderdijk, where cyclists of all ages and degrees of fitness can be seen. Cycling as a family holiday is popular in Germany.
The route
For much of its 1232km length it is possible to cycle along either bank of the Rhine. In preparing this book, the author followed both banks and explored some alternative routes away from the river. While the route described mostly follows the left (southern or western) bank, various deviations are made 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
