Historic houses beside the Necker in Tuebingen
By Norman D. Ford
Historic houses beside the
Necker in Tuebingen
In spring, 2004, I spent 21 rewarding days exploring the most scenic sections of Germany's Neckar, Rhein and Mosel Rivers. Nearly all the way, I rode on car-free bike paths that were mostly paved and free of big hills.
Each night, I stayed at an inexpensive, family-style hotel, often in the pedestrian-only center of medieval towns full of rambling, cobblestoned streets lined by half-timbered houses with tall rakish roofs. And day after day, I pedaled along riverside bike paths between steep, craggy hills with crenellated castles perched on cliffs high above the sparkling river.
Among bike-touring cognoscenti, this is considered one of Europe's best bike tours for the average cyclist. All 3 rivers connect, and along the way I visited famous university centers like Tuebingen and Heidelberg, historic towns like Koblenz and Trier, and some of Germany's most picturesque villages like Hirschhorn and Bernkastel.
In Germany, people of all ages ride bikes to work, to school, and for shopping and recreation. There are no Drive-In banks, businesses or restaurants, no loose dogs, and almost no gas-guzzling pick-up trucks, duallies or obscene RV juggernauts. Gasoline recently cost $5 a gallon and most cars are smaller than their American counterparts. Becoming increasingly popular is a miniature two- seater gasoline-powered car that does 60 miles per gallon and can squeeze into the most cramped parking space.
Nearly all the people I encountered in hotels, Tourist Offices and train stations spoke some English while people everywhere were friendly, warm and hospitable. Virtually every town was "fahrad freundlich" while drivers were invariably polite and patient to bicyclists.
My trip is designed for 21 days of fairly leisurely cycling but stronger riders could easily do the same trip in 14 days or even less. Almost all my route was paralleled by frequent, bike-carrying trains. And with a train station seldom more than 10 kilometers away, it's easy to cycle to the nearest bahnhof and hop a train to your destination. Along some rivers also, bike-carrying passenger boats offer frequent service between river towns.
As usual, I planned the entire trip myself and booked all hotels by email several months in advance (when inexpensive rooms were still vacant and often available at a 10% discount). And while I cycled alone, I met and talked with many English-speaking cyclists along the way, almost all Swiss, Dutch, German and Austrian but only two from U.S.A.
Despite a few minor hassles getting the bike and panniers on and off trains, this was one of the safest and most pleasant trips I've taken. So if you'd like to duplicate my tour, I've described it all, day-by- day, in the trip log that follows.
In the report below, I identify in red type and with **** all parts of the trip which rank among the most scenic and unique bike travel experiences in Europe. I also name the hotel at which I stayed each night (Abbreviations: H = Hotel, Gasthof or Pension. RD = Recommended. BB = A Best Buy!) Most accommodations were quite good though single rooms (with one twin bed and unknown in America) tend to be small and cramped.
You'll find more about accommodations, weather, maps, rail travel and other practical guidance at the end of the trip log.
Getting There: After flying from Texas to Frankfurt by Lufthansa, I went by train next day to Konstanz, a lakeshore resort in South Germany only two kilometers from the Swiss border. Here, I picked up my bike, which I had left in storage through the winter after cycling around Switzerland the previous fall (See "Around Switzerland by Bike, 2003" on home page menu). The following day, I took my bike by train for the short trip to Rottweil, a historic town on the Neckar River and starting point of my tour.
A DAY-BY-DAY LOG OF THE TRIP
Along The Neckartal Radweg
From Rottweil downstream all the way to Heidelberg, the Neckartal Radweg
(bike path) is almost all paved with only a few short stretches of gravel.
The route is marked by white signs with green letters and a bicycle icon
with a red front wheel. While generally flat, there are occasional low hills
and two bigger climbs over the hills near Lauffen.
DAY ONE: Rottweil to Glatt, 45 kms. It was mid-morning when my train reached Rottweil and time to start cycling down the Neckartal Radweg . That left no time to explore historic Rottweil but I did glimpse the ancient town perched on a hill above the bike path.
This was a rustic ride, actually through a corner of the Black Forest beside the narrow, swiftly-flowing Neckar River. A few low, rolling hills later I pedaled into Sulz, a larger town where I stocked up on fresh fruits and vegetables at the huge Neuhaus supermarket.
Another hour of pedaling led to Glatt, 2 kms from the Neckar up an easy grade. In the village here, I biked over a drawbridge into the Wasser Schloss, a moated, medieval castle.
After buying more supplies at the village lebensmittel (food shop) I pedaled up another easy grade to my hotel, the Pension Himmelrech, RD, BB and possibly the best hotel with the lowest price on the entire trip.
DAY TWO: Glatt to Tuebingen, 50 kms. It was cold next morning as I coasted down from Glatt to rejoin the Neckartal Radweg, and touring cyclists were few. On beside the Neckar, I biked through Dettingen, a town ablaze with flowering lilac and lavender bushes. Then came Horb, another ancient town soaring in tiers of streets lined by medieval houses up a hillside capped by an ancient Stift (abbey).
Past here, I caught up with a group of men and women cyclists--all middle-aged and members of the same family who meet each spring for a ten-day bike tour. Several spoke English and they invited me to ride with them. This was helpful because the radweg was not signed through the rambling town of Eyrach and even the Germans had to ask for directions.
I left them on the centuries-old Marktplatz in Rothenberg, where they stopped for lunch. From here on, I followed the maps in my Bikeline guide which took me through the heart of ancient Tuebingen right to the Tourist Office door. Inside, the staff gave me a streep map on which they clearly marked my hotel. And 20 minutes later, I was at H. Kuerner, OK but small rooms.
The ancient university town of Tuebingen is not to be missed. In the evening, I biked through the huge Altstadt (Old Town) with its impressive Stiftkirch and the enormous Hohenbingen Schloss, a massive fortress on a hill beside the Neckar.
DAY 3: Tuebingen to Marbach, 20 kms, then by train. To squeeze a bike ride into this day, I cycled early from Tuebingen on the Neckar Radweg past wealthy riverside homes to Kirchentellins, then returned to Tuebingen bahnhof.
Reports of congestion and difficulty finding the way through the heavily industrialized region around Stuttgart prompted me to skip this section of the radweg and take the train. Taking the hourly RE train from Tuebingen to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof was simple enough. But the connecting S-bahn train to Marbach leaves from an underground station accessible only by carrying bike and panniers down 4 flights of stairs. If you try this, be sure to get on the right train for Marbach, a 25-minute ride through heavily-populated riverside towns. Both train rides followed the Neckar, with the bike path visible part of the way.
Since I had no street map of Marbach, I followed a strategy that almost always works. Looking around the station, I quickly discovered a large street map on a display board. Memorizing the turns and the street names en route, I was able to pedal directly through the Altstadt to my hotel and the Tourist Office was next door. H. Gasthof Zum Baeren, RD; office is in a butcher's shop on street floor.
Birthplace of the poet Schiller, Marbach is a fascinating walled town of crooked streets on a low hill near the Neckar.
DAY 4: Marbach to Lauffen, 32 kms. Leaving Marbach, the radweg follows the Neckar past vineyard-striped hills and through several small towns. You cross the river on bridges several times. And I cycled along narrow village streets where houses were built so close together there were hardly any yards.
Instead, the villagers lease vegetable garden tracts on the outskirts. Many tracts lay beside the radweg, all meticulously cared for and bursting with green vegetables. At a guess, I'd say Germans eat twice as many healthful fresh vegetables as Americans, get several times as much exercise, and appear to be fitter and healthier. For example, most houses are two story with the bathroom often upstairs, requiring much more stair climbing then most Americans get.
Eleven kms from Marbach, the radweg climbs a moderate grade and crosses a hilltop area of farms and forests. Watch carefully for signs and keep track of your position. One cyclist I met had somehow circled around and had headed back downhill towards Marbach.
From the top of the hill, I coasted for 3 kms down a very narrow, paved lane into the town of Bettingen. Clearly-visible signs marked every turn through Bettingen's intricate streets. Several times, the radweg tunneled under busy roads jammed with cars and trucks.
At Walheim, I found myself back on the Neckar and the radweg led on, only to end on a busy road in Lauffen. But not to worry! My Bikeline guide showed a car-free bike lane which led up Bahnhofstrasse to my hotel. H. Gasthof Falken, OK for low price but rather basic. Nearby was the Tourist Office, bahnhof and excellent Minimal supermarket.
Nowhere was an English-language newspaper available and at the Tourist Office, I learned that few English-speaking tourists ever come here. Lauffen does have a small Altstadt located across the river. And from the bridge I saw, for the first time, long river barges chugging upstream.
DAY 5: Lauffen: Day Ride to the West and Back, 35 kms. Since it was Sunday, when all food shops and Tourist Offices are closed, I chose to stay an extra night at Lauffen. Leaving my panniers in the hotel, I headed west on local bike paths only to discover this was the date for an annual marathon race that draws over 1,000 competitors. As they ran on bike paths, some paths were closed for a couple of hours.
Even so, I managed to cycle along quiet roads to the west where I found entire rural regions honeycombed by paved farm roads, each 3 metres wide . With a map and compass, a cyclist can head off in almost any direction, over the hills and through the vales. Hundreds of racing cyclists and families with kids were all out on their bikes for a Sunday ride. H. Gasthof Falken.
My hotel at Bad Wimpfen
is built into ancient city gate
DAY SIX: Lauffen to Bad Wimpfen, 30 kms. Today's ride was short to provide a chance to explore and stay at Bad Wimpfen.
Heading out of Lauffen, I was greeted by a powerful sculpture of figures, including a cyclist, all perched on the ends of a structure of poles. From here, the radweg climbs up easy grades and over hilltop farm roads through vineyards and sunflower fields and on down again into Meimsheim. Once out of Lauffen, Neckartal Radweg signs were replaced by signs for the Zuber Radweg. Then past Nordheim, the bike path was marked by "Neckar Alt" signs.
A group of German cyclists I met were irritated by the lack of sign conformity and none had maps as good as my Bikeline guide. At times, I was able to show them the way.
Halfway to Bad Wimpfen, the radweg passed a monstrous nuclear power plant along with several large but smokeless factories. Yet the wayside villages were immaculate and the houses hung with scarlet geraniums.
Bad Wimpfen (Witches' Baths) turned out to be a picturesque medieval hilltop town and my hotel was built into the side of the city watchtower. H. Gasthof Zur Traube, RD, arty and quiet. (Tip: rail timetables may not show it but Bad Wimpfen can be reached by train through Bad Freidrichshall.)
DAY 7: Bad Wimpfen to Eberbach, 45 kms. Today's ride was superbly scenic as the Neckar serpentined between the steep, pineclad hills of the Neckarhalden Forest. Instead of following the main radweg route shown in the Bikeline guide, I switched at Neckarzimmern to the alternate route for 8, all-paved kilometers along the left bank. I stayed on the alternate route to Obrigheim, then rejoined the main radweg.
Alternate routes like this are clearly shown in Bikeline guides and, as in this case, may be far better than taking the main radweg. Many signs here don't even mention the Neckar Radweg but simply show arrows under a bicycle icon.
At Zwingenberg, all cyclists must cross the Neckar on a small ferry. When I reached the other side, I realized I had dropped my gloves on the road while boarding the ferry. In fact, they were clearly visible. The ferryman spoke no English but understood my reference to "Hand Schuen" ( hand-shoes) . He took me back over and then back again, all for the original one-way fare.
That wasn't the only act of kindness I received today. When I stopped at a newsstand in Eberbach to buy a Herald Tribune, I asked the English-speaking woman if I could buy a street map. Immediately, she handed me one, marked 3 Euros, but refused any payment.
The map revealed that my hotel was two kms out of town with a gradual climb all the way. Once there, I had to bike down back to the center to shop at a supermarket and pedal back up once more with my purchases. H. Gasthof Lange, RD and OK except for location.
DAY 8: Eberbach to Neckargemuende, 30 kms. From the Gasthof Lange, I coasted back down to the Neckar Radweg (a name rarely seen here) and began a quiet and beautiful ride beside the river as it wound its way between the pineclad mountains of the Oberer Neckarburg Forest.
Then suddenly, rounding a bend, the ancient village of Hirschhorn appeared on the opposite bank. Its streets of half-timbered houses border the river below a massive hilltop Schloss. Be sure to cycle across the bridge and explore the narrow streets of this outstanding village.
Barge traffic was more numerous now as I pedaled on a partly- paved trail to Disberg. My map-guide showed the radweg crossing the bridge here to the right bank for a ride past Neckarstein, famed for its four castles linked by a footpath. The castles seemed rather small and difficult to photograph. So I crossed back to the left bank on a bike bridge suspended below a railway bridge.
Entering Neckargemuende on the left bank avoids much of the horrifying traffic that continually pours through this crossroads town. I found the Tourist Office near the bahnhof. And the friendly folks within gave me a street map marked with the route to my hotel. Within a minute, I had left the hideous traffic behind and was pedaling up a quiet lane to my hotel, located on a hillside overlooking the hills and town. H. Schuetzenhaus, RD, quiet and simple but good value for price.
Picturesque village of
Hirschhorn on the Neckar, passed on Day
8
DAY 9: Neckargemuende to Heidelberg and back, 15 kms. Because hotels in Neckargemuende cost half as much as those in pricey Heidelberg, I stayed two nights at the Hotel Schuetzenhaus and commuted back and forth the 10 kms to Heidelberg.
From Neckargemuende, the Bikeline guide showed bike routes on both banks of the Neckar River to Heidelberg. But the people at Neckargemuende Tourist Office advised taking the train instead. This I did, getting off at Karlstrasse, the closest station to Heidelberg's huge Altstadt. During the train ride, I saw many cyclists riding towards Heidelberg on a sidewalk bike path.
****Heidelberg Altstadt, the Mother of all Altstadts. From Karlstrasse station, I rode the same sidewalk bike path to the Tourist Office at the eastern edge of the historic city. Actually, it's a snack place with toilets but hands out street maps and answers queries. Though cycling is banned in the Altstadt, it was still early and there were few walkers about. So I pedaled down the Haupstrasse which runs for 1,600 meters through the heart of the Old Town. (By midday, the Haupstrasse was jammed with walkers and cyclists had to dismount and walk. )
The Haupstrasse and its side streets are a vibrant showplace, lined by brightly painted houses and by squares filled with the umbrellas of sidewalk cafes. The booming bells of two massive churches ring out regular carillons and chimes. High above, the stark, roofless walls of a partly ruined castle peer down from a ridge. There were more Americans than I saw anywhere else on the trip plus marching battalions of Japanese tourists.
Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof was close to the Altstadt's west end, so I dropped by to purchase a rail ticket for tomorrow's trip from a live booking clerk rather than from a machine at Neckargemuende's unmanned station. Another short ride led to the city's ancient gate at the Altbruecke. Here, I found the same sidewalk radweg I had seen from the train. And I biked it for the full ten kms back to Neckargemuende, all without any significant exposure to traffic. H. Schuetzenhaus.
****The Rhein Radweg
Below Heidelberg, the Neckar traverses a major industrial zone to join the Rhine River. To skip this congested area, I took a train around it to the town of Bingen on the Rhine. The 75 kms bike ride along the Rhine from Bingen to Koblenz takes you through the most scenic section of the Rhine as it serpentines through forested mountains and past an almost unbroken succession of medieval castles perched on cliffs above the river.
DAY 10: Neckargemuende to Bingen, by train. At Neckargemuende, I had my first experience of getting on a crowded train with a bike. Three of us cyclists managed to squeeze into the bike compartment which was already filled with people standing. Fortunately, they all got off about 45 minutes later and the S-bahn (fast local train) arrived on time at Kaiserslauten bahnhof.
Here, I changed to another train for Bingen which left from the same platform. Like most trains in Germany, it was uncrowded with ample space for bikes and plenty of seats. At Bingen, there are two stations and I was not sure which one I had arrived at. So I asked a man, "Wo bin ich? (Where am I?) He took me over to a large street map on a display board and pointed to the Hauptbahnhof.
My location, established, it took only a few minutes to find my hotel on the map and just a few more minutes to cycle there. H. Roemerhof, OK but low on shelves.
Later, while biking to the Tourist Office, I dropped my gloves. While looking for a pair in a department store, I met a German businessman who spoke perfect English. He took me around the corner to a surplus store where I bought replacement gloves for just 1.29 Euros.
DAY 11. Bingen: Day ride on Nahe River Radweg to Bad Kreuzach and back. Bingen is where the Nahe River flows down from the Hunsrucke Hills and joins the Rhine. There's a bike path the length of the river and Bikeline publishes a map-guide to the Nahe Radweg.
However, it was Sunday and I had no map but decided to bike for 20 kms along the Nahe to Bad Kreuzach and back. It turned out to be a very pleasant ride through woods, fields and villages along the Nahe River and a map wasn't needed. That's because the Nahe was the best-signed bike path I've seen in Germany. Every turn was clearly marked including through the streets of small towns like picturesque Bretzenheim.
Along the way, I passed at least 200 other cyclists, mostly middle- aged, all out pedaling on this rather chilly day. But at the edge of Bad Kreuzach, a larger town, all signs disappeared. And without a Bikeline map-guide to the Nahe, I was unable to find my way through the town. H. Roemerhof, Bingen.
DAY 12. Bingen: Day ride towards Mainz and back, 50 kms. This being a Monday holiday, with all shops and Tourist Offices closed, I stayed another night at Bingen and took a day ride, free of panniers, up the Rhine towards Mainz and back. For a major bike path, the Rhein Radweg was poorly marked. Occasional green signposts pointed to the next town alternated by small square signs with a bike icon and arrow. It wasn't surprising that I missed the main radweg and took a six kilometer detour through a nature preserve beside the Rhine.
For most of the way, the Rhein Radweg hugs the west side of the Rhine levee. Though unexciting, the ride--past flowering trees, yellow gorse and wild roses--was pleasant enough while the call of the European cuckoo drifted across the meadows. After cycling 25 kms through Budenheim and a couple of other small river towns, I turned around and returned to Bingen. H. Roemerhof, Bingen.
DAY `13. Bingen: Day ride to St.Goar on the Rhein Radweg, 30 kms., returning by train. In order to mimimize changing hotels and cycling with a loaded touring bike, I left the panniers in the hotel at Bingen and cycled up the Rhine for 30 kms to St. Goar. Then I returned by train to Bingen for another night at the Hotel Roemerhof.
The spectacularly scenic Rhine between Bingen-St.Goar-Koblenz is called the Romantic Rhein by Germans and here the river flows wide and swift, sweeping around bends between high, wooded hills. En route, I passed about 70 touring cyclists, including four from the Czech Republic. They seemed delighted to meet an American who had biked in their country (see Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, on Home Page)
Castles glided by on hilltops, and one on an island. And a constant procession of barges and cruise boats passed by, some barely moving upstream against the swift current. Not to be missed is Bacharach, just 50 meters off the radweg, another charming village with centuries-old half-timbered houses lining the cobblestoned streets. Americans and Britons were among the tourists who thronged the streets. But there were none on bicycles.
Then suddenly, back on the radweg, I noticed two cyclists on Bike Fridays, a strong clue that the riders were American. Each was towing a trailer formed from the suitcase in which these bikes can be folded.
The riders turned out to be Judy and Ralph McCarroll, "young" retirees from Frisco, Colorado. Frisco is one of America's most bike-friendly towns (see Biking and Kayaking at Frisco, Colo., on Home Page). They had just biked down the Mosel and were heading for Switzerland to join a group tour organized by the Bicycle Adventure Club (see listing under "Helpful Websites for Bicycle Touring" on Home Page).
On again, the famous Lorely Rock slipped by on the opposite bank and within minutes I was in St. Goar, a popular tourist stop. Then it was time to catch one of the frequent trains back to Bingen, a 15- minutes ride costing just 3 Euros. H. Roemerhof, Bingen.
Poised above St.Goarshausen, this
is one of many similar castles along
the Rhein
DAY 14: St.Goar to Koblenz, 36 kms. Today, I simply put my bike on a train at Bingen for the short ride to St.Goar, then started cycling up the Rhine from exactly where I had left off yesterday.
The ten kilometers north of St. Goar offer the most impressive scenery on the Rhine. At many points, the valley is so narrow that there is barely room for road, rail and radweg to squeeze through. Thus the radweg runs close to, or even next to, the road. It was all paved and fairly well signed. Even so, I still missed a couple of turns as did several German cyclists.
At several places, the radweg turns away from the river and follows narrow, twisting streets through medieval villages like Spey. Once in Koblenz, I followed my Bikeline map down Bahnhofstrasse to the Hauptbahnhof and Tourist Office. From here, it was just 500 meters on quiet streets to my hotel. H. Jan Van Werth, a bit cramped but RD, quiet, well-located.
Koblenz is webbed by easy-to-follow bike paths and in the afternoon, I explored the extensive Altstadt and biked along the Mosel to Deutche Ecke, a point where the Rhine and Mosel meet.
****The Mosel Radweg
For 198 kilometers, from Koblenz to the big city of Trier, the Mosel resembles a miniature Rhine. Steep, rocky hills alternate with smoother slopes striped with the vines from which the famous Mosel wines are made. Bernkastel, in particular, is surrounded by rugged river scenes. For long stretches, the radweg runs next to the highway but is always separate. Apart from an occasional low hill, it's almost all paved and flat. Mosel Radweg signs are rare and it's all too easy to miss the way through riverside towns. Beyond Trier, the Mosel Radweg continues upstream to Luxembourg and France and ends at the large French town of Metz.
DAY 15: Koblenz to Cochem, 50 kms. Leaving Koblenz is easy if you take the ahorter alternate route (shown in Bikeline maps) along Beafustrasse and across a rail bridge to Goels on the left bank. Here, I joined the longer and more indirect main radweg from Koblenz. Worth mentioning is that many German rail bridges that cross rivers now have bike-pedestrian paths attached to one side, some so new they are not shown on maps.
Staying close to the river, I pedaled on past steep hills to the traditional villages of Kobern and Gondolf. All the way to Cochem, bike-carrying trains stop at most larger villages. Most villages cater to bicyclists with wine taverns and cafe terraces overlooking the Mosel and I saw plenty of small hotels and gasthof with vacancies. In places, it was such a tight squeeze for river, road and rail that the a special bike path has been built out over and above the river.
There was just one great river view and panorama after another. Scores of touring cyclists passed by, both men and women, the majority over 50 and riding in groups of up to 25.
Entering Cochem, I easily found the way to my hotel because the street was marked on the Bikeline map. H. Pension Rademacher am Herrenberg, RD, BB, quiet, in own winery at town edge.
It took just a few minutes to cycle from the hotel to the supermarket and Tourist Office. Cochem (pron. Kockem), and its twin town of Cond on the other bank, are major tourist centers and a popular stopover for touring cyclists.
DAY 16. Cochem: Day ride to Bullay and back, 30kms. It's a longish ride of 80 kms to cycle direct from Cochem to Bernkastel on a loaded touring bike. So here again, I left the panniers in the hotel at Cochem and cycled only part of the way, actually to Bullay, a distance of only 30 kms.
Again, this was an exceptionally scenic ride, flat and paved almost all the way and similar to yesterday's ride from Koblenz. For the last six kms into Bullay, it seemed best to ride on the left bank and cross to Bullay on a ferry. The ride back to Cochem by train took a mere ten minutes. H. Rademacher am Herrenberg, Cochem.
Tip: If cycling 80 kms on a loaded touring bike sounds strenuous--or if the weather is bad or you have a strong headwind--it is possible to go all, or part, of the way from Cochem to Bernkastel by bike- carrying trains and riverboats. Stage 1: by train from Cochem to Bullay; Stage 2, from Bullay bahnhof to Traben-Trarbach by hourly Pfalz Rhein rail line; Stage 3, from Traben bahnhof, cycle across river bridge to twin town Trarbach , turn right and go 300 metres to Mosel boat dock. Here 3 different boat companies each operate a riverboat to Bernkastel every 75 minutes.
DAY 17: Cochem to Bullay by train then by bike to Bernkastel- Wehlen, 49 kms. Today began with a ten minute ride on the hourly train from Cochem to Bullay and I started cycling exactly where I had left off the previous day.
Heading upstream on the Mosel's right bank, the radweg circles a peninsula and after cycling ten kms., I was still only 2 kms from Bullay. En route, historic Zell is worth a look. I stayed on the right bank radweg the entire way to Trarbach and on to Wehlen (across a bridge). Wehlen, site of my hotel, is a suburb of Bernkastel and is just 2 kms from Bernkastel by bike routes on either side of the Mosel. H. Gaestehaus Halfenhof, OK, inexpensive.
With its castle, ancient Marktplatz, St. Michaels Kirche and the crooked houses along Roemerstrasse, Bernkastel is a 13th century gem. The castle is on a hilltop with stunning views of the Mosel Bend. Many hotels are also up on the plateau and distant from town. They are best avoided by cycling tourists. More hotels exist in Bernkastel's twin town of Kues on the Mosel's left bank. Both towns are thronged with tourists and an advance reservation is recommended. I stayed at Wehlen because I was unable to book a room in Bernkastel-Kues.
DAY 18: Bernkastel-Wehlen to Trier-Rufer, 66 kms. Save for a few kilometers on the left bank, I covered the entire distance on the right bank radweg. It was nearly all paved, with a few kilometers separated from, but close to the edge of a busy road. The ride was wildly scenic in some places, just average in others.
At Piesport, I crossed the Mosel by bridge for a few kilometers on the left bank; and I returned to the right bank at Neumagen Dhron. The radweg stays close to the river as it winds around the bends of the Detzemmer Wald. But at Kowerich, a sign pointed inland and I rode over a vineyard-clad hill down into the wine town of Detzem. Much of the way could have been better signed and I spent around 10% of the time today checking on the route.
Because I had been unable to book an inexpensive hotel in central Trier, I had reserved a room at the suburb of Ruwer. Which was really fortunate. For not only is Ruwer several kilometers closer to Bernkastel. But it turned out next day that the bike route from Ruwer into Trier is unsigned and very difficult to find.
From Detzem, the radweg follows the Mosel through the poorly marked streets of Kirsch and Kenn before continuing on a very good radweg into Ruwer. (Perhaps this route was poorly marked because Bikeline classifies it as an alternative route.) But it led right through Rufer village to my hotel. H. Maximin, OK (or next door is the pricier but better H. Zur Poste).
Caution: there is no bike-carrying public transport between Bernkastel and Trier but there is overnight accommodation along the way. It's possible to go by boat to Traban-Trarbach, rail to Bullay and rail to Trier.
DAY 19: Ruwer to Trier, 10 kms by bike and on to Palzem by train. The bike route from Ruwer to Trier was unsigned. Without a decent street map, it could have taken two hours or more to find the way. Luckily, I was able to ride with a group of German cycle-tourists for 9 kilometers along the bike route to the ancient Roman gate called Porta Nigra in the center of Trier. The Hauptbahnof was close by and right next to the station I found the Hotel Monopol (0651- 71409; www.Hotel-Monopol-Trier.de) and here I booked a room for the night of Day 21.
Originally, I had planned to cycle up the Mosel Radweg to Palzem (Germany) and stay there two nights. But by now it was too late to go by bike. So I caught a train (every two hours) to Palzem. The village of Palzem slopes up from the Mosel and my hotel was part way up the main street. H. Rebenhof, OK.
DAY 20. Palzem: Day ride to Remich, Luxembourg and Sierck-les- bains, France and return, 32 kms. From Palzem, the Mosel Radweg continues through France to the city of Metz. It's just 3 kms to the highway bridge across the river to Remich, a pleasant riverside town in Luxembourg. None of Remich's hotels answered my emails which is why I stayed at less expensive Palzem.
As everywhere in the European Union, one can pass freely from one country to another without checkpoints and the only indication I was entering Luxembourg was its red, white and blue flag on the bridge. Once in France, the radweg was marked by white "Chemin de La Moselle" bike signs. Historic Sierck-les-Bains merited more exploring than I had time for. Then it was time to head back to Palzem for another night. H. Rebenhof.
DAY 21: Palzem to Trier, 37 kms. From Palzem, the mostly-paved Mosel Radweg stays close to the rail line past Nittel to Oberbillig. Here, a friendly cyclist recommended a detour to avoid a complicated bike route over the Saar River bridge. It began with a brief ferry ride across to Wasserbilling in Luxembourg. From this small town, I followed the Alternative Route in the Bikeline guide, a pleasant all-paved ride through woods and fields with clear views of the Saar River as it joins the Mosel. Finally, I cycled back across the Mosel on a railway bridge to rejoin the main radweg.
From here, it was just 8 all-paved kilometers back to Trier and the big Tourist Office next to Porta Nigra.
Between recent tours, I was able to store my bike in Europe by paying to leave it at a large rental bike shop. But no one at the Trier Tourist Office knew of such a shop. Without a box, I could not take the bike back to the States. So I sold it to a small bike shop instead. (Though the bike had everything I needed for touring Europe, it was an inexpensive Specialized Hardrock mountain bike over ten years old and worth about $150 on the U.S. secondhand market.)
That left time for a quick walk around the huge Trier Altstadt and a short walk back to the Hotel Monopol. H. Monopol, fair, main attraction is its bahnhof location also close to Altstadt and Tourist Office. Another hotel near the hauptbahnhof is H. Hochwald, 0651- 75803, better but often full. With its many Roman-era monuments, Trier is jammed with tourists and hotels tend to be full and pricey.
And so the tour ended. Next morning, I took a train back to Frankfurt and the following day, flew back to the U.S.
SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE
Rather than duplicate the wealth of information already on this website, I suggest returning to the Home Page and scrolling down the menu to HELPFUL WEBSITES FOR BICYCLE TOURING and clicking on it. Scroll down this page and, under the following headings, you will find links that supply most of the info you need for planning this tour.
EUROPE
>Deutches Bahn Timetables, German Rail Timetables.
>Bikeline Cycling Maps.
GERMANY
>Reisen mit Preisen, lists most of Germany's hotels-gasthof- pensions with on-line booking.
>Deutches Bahn Timetables, German Rail Timetables with on-line ticket sales and hotel booking.
>Bicycle Germany: Trains, Hotels, everything you need to know.
>German National Tourist Office bike touring site.
To prepare yourself for the experience of biking in the world's safest and most popular bike-touring countries, I also recommend reading the report on BIKELANDIA, listed in Home Page menu.
Rail Travel
In Germany, all but the fastest international expresses carry bikes, often 20-40 or more. Almost every German town is accessible by frequent trains, with hourly service in both directions on most main lines. If possible, buy a ticket in advance to save waiting in line later. You can also buy tickets on-line through the German Train Timetable. Many small stations are no longer manned and all facilities, including toilets, are closed. Most have machines, with instructions in English, which dispense tickets. Or you can buy a ticket on the train (also, perhaps, from a machine). I'd hesitate to buy a ticket costing more than 10-15 Euros from a machine in case something went wrong. If you know on what dates you will be traveling by train, you can buy all your train tickets in advance from a live clerk at a larger station.
The easy-to-use English language German Train Timetable (http:bahn.hafas,de/english.html) covers all trains--not only in Germany but in neighboring countries-- indicating which carry bikes, and it also offers hotel booking at hotels near the hauptbahnhof in larger cities, including cities outside Germany.
A drawback to rail travel are the frequent groups of youngsters and students who, even with adult leaders, can be noisy and boisterous. While I have never seen them bother adults, one solution is to move up to first class. Or to move to a non-smoking compartment, since many kids smoke.
On R or regional trains, bike wagons are usually at front or rear, or both, and often in the center on EC trains. For EC trains, the bike wagon location is shown on a consist plan displayed in the booking hall and/or on departure platforms. On older trains in Germany, bike wagons are identified by a large bike sign but in new wagons, the sign may be smaller and harder to see.
Best strategy is to stand in the center of the platform. If you don't see a bike wagon sign as the train draws in, it's likely to be in the rear half of the train. Trains may not stop long, so be ready to get in or out swiftly.
When buying a ticket, ask for a printed schedule listing the last station the train stops at before your destination. You can also look it up on the German Train Timetable. After passing this station, move your bags next to the exit and be ready to get out quickly and go to the bike wagon. In R trains, you can usually go into the bike wagon and have both bike and bags ready for a quick exit. Try to sit in a wagon as close as possible to your bike.
Large stations may have a board on which train departures are posted, including the platform (gleis) number and also showing if the train is late. On most platforms, an illuminated sign indicates the train number, departure time, destination and intermediate stops. The sign refers to the train already at that platform or to the next train to arrive. At larger stations, the platform may be divided into sections (A,B,C and D). Your bike wagon may stop in section B. Or a small train may leave from gleis 5, section A.
Remove all bags from your bike before boarding plus pump and computer and empty water bottles. Then get your bike and bags on the train (or off it) as quickly as possible. If you can't find a bike wagon, just get in anywhere. Getting on and off trains is easier when two cyclists work together. If possible, I avoid using any form of public transportation. You never know what to expect when a train pulls in: older wagons with door handles or more modern ones on which you push a button to open the door. Or the train may be a double decker which is usually easier to get in and out.
To cross from one platform to another may require removing your bags and carrying bags and bike separately up and down a flight of stairs. Or there may be a moving ramp beside the stairs which will take your bike up and down while you walk on the stairs. Better yet, there may be an elevator (aufzug) which will take bike and bags up and down.
HOTELS
The difference between hotels, gasthof and pensions is rather one of size, facilities and price rather than any significant difference in the comfort of rooms. Expect European hotel rooms to be smaller than American motel units with air conditioning (seldom needed) available only in the most expensive hotels. It doesn't hurt to ask for a room with fan or a ceiling fan in summer (when it's also best to avoid west-facing rooms). There are few American style motels in Europe and parking in the center of towns is often a problem.
Most radfahrers (touring cyclists) find pensions offer the best value while if you don't mind being away from the center, privat-zimmer or Zimmer-frei (B&Bs) are cheapest and usually quite comfortable. All take reservations by phone and many pensions can be booked by email.
On this trip, I booked all accommodation in advance, estimating how far I could travel each day. If I was unable to cycle, I could usually reach the day's destination by train or, perhaps, river boat.
Many cyclists still prefer to find a place to stay each night without reserving ahead. Out of season and on weekdays, this may work well but on weekdays and holidays, especially in season, the least expensive rooms are mostly all booked solid by motorists and tour companies. Rooms are particularly hard to get at major tourist centers and resorts in season. Most Tourist Offices will find you a room if one is available but they are often closed at weekends and the room they find you could be far from the center with its supermarkets, info office and bahnhof.
First, I used the Deutsches Bahn Timetable on-line booking service to reserve a room at Frankfurt, Konstanz and Koblenz. Just type in a request for a schedule to the city you wish to stay at on the date you'll be there, and fill in the booking form. A printable confirmation is immediate. European dates are written day/month/year, not month/day/year and you may have to quote times the metric 24-hour way.
The rest of my German hotels I booked either direct or through Reisen-mit-Preisen. They cover pensions and gasthof at almost every town in Germany. If the pension you request is full, they will try to get you a comparable room elsewhere.
Otherwise, you can usually find a list of accommodations for each town on its website. To contact the website of almost any town in Germany, simple type in its URL thus: www.cochem.de or www.trier.de . Hopefully, the accommodations listing will also give the website and email address for each hotel,etc. But larger towns often have their own On-Line booking service and prefer not to quote hotel websites and email addresses. In this case, I would use the Reisen mit Preisen agency (which adds a 10% booking fee.)
By contrast, smaller hotels, pensions etc are generally cheaper and many offer a discount of 10 percent or so for booking on-line or by email and paying in cash. Accommodations also tend to be cheaper in smaller towns. However, I seldom stay at any accommodation with fewer than ten rooms. It's best to phone in morning or evening and to make sure the reception will be open at the time you arrive.
About telephones. Since almost everyone in Germany seems to have a cell phone, many hotels no longer have room phones and even public phone booths which accept phone cards are hard to find. Instead, if you're calling within Germany or to an 800 number like AT&T, most hotels will loan you a cell phone. American cell phones will not work in Europe but cell phones can be rented.
In case I lose travelers checks, I keep duplicate lists with photocopies of the purchase receipts. I also have the address and phone numbers of Amexco offices nearest my route, in this case Stuttgart and Heidelberg.
MAPS
I used the following Bikeline 1:50,000 map-guides.
<Neckar-Radweg (Von der Quelle nach Mannheim)
<Rhein-Radweg, teil 3 (Von Mainz nach Rotterdam)
<Mosel-Radweg (Von Metz an den Rhein)
Look up the Bikeline Website listed above. You can also buy bike maps for my route from other sources listed on Helpful Websites for Bicycle Touring. Some are in the U.S. Some cyclists were using ADFC maps but I found the Bikeline series best, even though they are not always completely up-to-date..
Street maps can often be obtained in advance by mail from some Tourist Offices when you send a request by email. Others may have websites with street maps you can download and print. They may also have a street map of the next town you plan to stay at. When you arrive, Tourist Offices invariably have street maps and area biking maps. But some Tourist Offices close on weekends. You can usually find a large street map on display at rail stations.
WHEN TO GO
Never in July or August and book well in advance if you will need a room in Frankfurt during trade fair periods, usually September 15- 25 and October 7-15. During these periods, you could continue direct by train from Frankfurt airport to other German cities.
Best period to go is from September 7 to October 30 when risk of floods or snow is usually slight and there is only one public holiday. Otherwise, May 1 through mid-June is OK but there are several public holidays with long weekends when rooms may be hard to find and food shops may be closed from mid-day Saturday to Tuesday morning.
During my tour, on average, one day in 4 was sunny, one partly cloudy, one overcast, and one rainy. Late afternoon thunderstorms may occur near mountains with rain continuing into the night. While cycling, I experienced only 90 minutes of actual rain. But good raingear is essential.
BIKE DESCRIPTION
On the Home Page menu, click on " Through the Alps of France, Switzerland and Austria, 2001" and scroll down to "Bicycle Specifications." If you rent, specify you want a mountain bike with quick-releases, a pannier rack and mudguards (wrongly called fenders). Pay to change the tires from knobbies to 1.5 inch size if needed. Add toeclips and straps plus a pump, tire levers and two spare tubes. Bike rental shops also rent touring bags. You must return a rental bike to the same place you rented it. Make sure your rear derailleur is not worn. If the outer guidewheel pops out, you could be stranded.
YOUR OWN ITINERARY
Duplicating my itinerary takes 21 days of cycling plus an additional 5 days for traveling from and to North America. You can add more by cycling from Remich to Luxembourg City; or by cycling to Metz, France, taking the one daily bike-carrying train to Dijon, and then starting a tour of Burgundy.
You can shorten my itinerary by omitting some or all of the day rides. In many cases, fast cyclists can also cover the same distance in one day that I rode in two. It should be fairly easy to shave several days off my itinerary.
Because I'm a self-catering cyclist, and buy all my food in supermarkets, I try to stay in the same town on long, 4-day weekends, when all food shops may close from mid-day Saturday till Tuesday morning. I also try to stay in the same hotel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. During these days, I make out-and- back day rides without panniers. This concept, called Base Touring, is becoming increasily popular since it minimizes the number pf hotel bookings and finding a new hotel, Tourist Office, and restaurant or supermaket each night. Most lodgings provide a free breakfast, though in cheaper places it may be only bread, butter, jam and coffee.
Route Outline Map
