Cycle Routes along German Rivers Terje Melheim   2004   Several times I have made cycle tours in Germany. The first time I had planned a route which went straight on, regardless of the landscape. I was soon told that it was wiser to follow rivers. Then I would have more gentle gradients, and the cycle tour would become much more pleasant. In summer 2004 when Turid and I made a cycle tour in Germany, we stuck to river valleys. Since my first cycle tours in the 1960s there has been a tremendous development regarding the infrastructure for cyclists in Germany. You will find cycle routes which go through the most interesting landscapes, and those cycle routes are even sign posted. Thus we could avoid roads with much traffic and stay on pathways where we met other cyclists, and we came closer to the nature. The German cycle routes have been presented in small booklets, which are supplied with detailed maps. It was a pleasure to follow those cycle routes and collect information on the area by means of the booklets. We had bought the booklets in the series called BIKE LINE. We started our tour in Düsseldorf because the flight to that town was less expensive than to e. g. Frankfurt. In Düsseldorf we stayed for the first night at a guest house. The service at a guest house is so personal that we could leave the cycle boxes for the duration of our cycle tour there. The proprietor understood that our tour from the airport to the guest house was complicated because of the cycle boxes, so he offered to collect us at the airport. The name of the guest house is Guest house Schäfer. Next day we started our cycle tour. We cycled along the river Rhine, and our cycle route, Rhine Cycle Route  was well indicated by signs. At the little town of Zons we crossed the river by a ferry and we arrived on the western bank which had once belonged to the Roman Empire. The town Köln (Cologne) where we arrived some hours later had been founded by the Romans. To reach the famous Cathedral of Köln we cycled from the Rhine on a serpentine road which brought us elegantly to the top. We did not have to carry the bikes on the stairs. On the top I was waiting for Turid, when a man chased me away and told me that I was no allowed to stay on that square. I protested, and the man told me that I was staying with my bike on the roof of the Kölner Philharmonie. Every motion could be heard below and would reduce the artistic performance of the musicians. Then I noticed that this guard was not alone he had some colleagues there on the square. Further on we came to the cathedral and the railway station. Strangely enough the two gothic buildings were built almost at the same time. The cathedral in Köln was not built in the middle ages. The start was made at that time, but it remained incomplete for many centuries, and it was not completed until the end of the 19th century. Around the cathedral there was some sort of a festival on this very day. Even some scotsmen were walking around in their kilts. I heard them speaking German. Scottish national costumes are probably a good excuse for men to wear a skirt. Many people at this festival wore buttons with which said, "I want you". Turid and I preferred to cycle on. At the camping place of Remagen we met a Dutch couple who had cycled from Venice and they were on their way back to the Netherlands. I got so impressed of them in the next morning. Already at half past eight they had wrapped up their tent and off they went. "Look at this," I said to Turid, "you are never ready until half past ten." It turned out that the Dutch couple simply cycled off to the restaurant at the camping in order to be served breakfast. I was not so impressed after all.     Intersection between the cycle ways of Rhine and  Ahr.   Among vineyards in the Ahr valley At Remagen we branched off from the cycle way along the Rhine and turned right through the valley of Ahr. And there on the slopes of this valley we saw the first vineyards. In this region red wine is cultivated. That is because the quality of the soil makes conditions better for red wines. Ahr-wines can only be bought locally, and at Rech we had the address of a wine grower where we wanted to buy a typical Ahr-wine. We tried to get only half a bottle because one bottle would be too much while we were cycling. A small bottle could not be obtained, and so we went to another wine producer on the other side of the road. We could not buy any small bottle there either, so we decided for a standard bottle of 750 cl. The wine was consumed and enjoyed outside the tent in the evening. We stayed at a very idyllic camping place at Denntal. If you believe that has anything to do with dentistry, you are wrong. Denn is the name of the valley, and as the German word for valley is Tal, it is logical that the valley is called Denntal. I hate to bring unnecessary weight. This year Turid insisted that I should include a cork opener in my luggage. I was glad we could make use of this additional equipment outside our tent in Denntal, and I did not bring the grams of this equipment in vain.  The cycle way through the Ahr valley is very idyllic. It lead us through the vineyards in close contact with the grapes. It partly went on an old railway line, and at one place the cycle track made its way through a tunnel. How could that be possible as the railway line through the valley is still in operation? The answer is quite simple; the railway had previously double track. Now one track had been used for the cycle way, and thus the tunnel was wide enough both for the railway  and for the cycle way.     From the cycle route in the Ahr valley we wanted to progress to the next cycle route. The easiest way to do so, was to stay on ordinary roads with motor vehicles. We crossed the heights of the Eifel area and cycled down to the river Kyll. We reached the  Kylltal cycle route at Bolsdorf, and there we were met by bad weather. It was raining heavily when we arrived at the town of Gerolstein. In the park outside the tourist office there was a spring of natural mineral water. Because of the rainy and cold weather neither Turid nor I were particularly thirsty. The natural mineral water of this area can be had all over Germany. If you buy a bottle of mineral water in Germany, it is very likely that it comes from Gerolstein. After a rainy night in the tent we continued on the Kylltal cycle route down hill along the river Kyll. According to our Bikeline cycle guide the castle we saw at Mürlenbach is probably the birth place of Charlemagne. Further on a monastery at St. Thomas had been founded to honour St. Thomas Becket, who was archbishop of Canterbury and murdered in 1170. Just like in Ahr-Tal, the cycle way in the Kyll-Tal had taken over the second track of a railway line and lead us through a railway tunnel. Unfortunately my picture of this tunnel became too dark, so I have chosen to use a picture from the cycle tour of Martin Wittram. On his long distance cycle tour of 2004 he had cycled through the Kylltal just some weeks before we did. If you want to read his story, you can click here. Martin Wittram writes that this was one of two tunnels on the Kylltal cycle route. We did not encounter the second tunnel, for we soon left this cycle route and headed towards the west, to Bitburg. I had believed that in order to reach Bitburg, we would have to cycle on ordinary roads which we had to share with the motor traffic. In Germany there are so many small field roads and forest roads. Those roads have been sign posted for cyclists, and therefore Germany is an excellent country for cycle tours.   Kylltal cycle route This castle is probably the birth place of Charlemagne The cycle way goes through a tunnel, which is shared with the railway. Bitburg is the starting point of another cycle route. Here begins the Nimstal cycle route. It has been allocated on an abandoned railway line. A special attraction along this route were various stone sculptures, that had been erected at certain intervals close to the cycle way. At Minden the cycle route comes to an end, because the river Nims also comes to an end. It reaches the river Sauer. Of course we could continue on another cycle way: The Sauertal Cycle Route. The river Sauer makes the border to Luxembourg, and the cycle way goes partly in Luxembourg and partly in Germany. First we had to cross on a foot bridge in order to reach the cycle way because on the Luxembourg side there had been a railway which could now accommodate the cycle way. It is rather strange with the language in Luxembourg. All official traffic signs have their text in French. Local signs concerning events in the villages have the text in lëtzeburgisch. This language is not so different from German, and there is a discussion going on whether lëtzeburgisch is a language or a German dialect. After 10 kilometres in Luxembourg the cycle way crossed the river and continued on the German side to the point where the Sauer empties its waters into the Mosel river. Here we met with the Mosel cycle route . We could cycle along the banks of the river on small roads well suited for cycling. The weather was not so good, but a westerly wind pushed us forward. We crossed the river and arrived in the town of Trier. We were lucky that just half an hour after we came to the tourist office a guided tour through the town was to begin. I had never known Trier is so impressive. Can you imagine that Trier was once the fourth largest city of the world? Buildings and remnants from the Roman age were plentiful in this town. We were guided to the Porta Nigra, which was part of the fortification around the city. The gate had of course originally been white but throughout the centuries it had turned black and has for some centuries been called Porta Nigra. Then we visited the large Roman basilica. When we were sightseeing in Trier, we were thinking of our bicycles which we had left locked with all our luggage on them outside the tourist office. We were guided to the remnants of the Roman Thermes. We could very well understand that the Romans needed those hot baths, because when we were there the weather was not so good. We had a cold wind from the west with rain. After the sight seeing Turid did not want to start cycling at once, she wanted a hot soup. Outside the tourist office our bicycles were OK and nothing of our luggage was gone. We could continue for another 15 km down the river where we found a camping place for the night.     The black Porta in Trier The Romans had their Roman ways along the river Mosel. May be parts of the cycle route had been placed on an old Roman way. Archeological finds with reference to the Romans have been made. Modern place names are clearly Roman in their origin like Bernkastel. And last, but not least: It was the Romans who brought the grapes to the Mosel valley. Mosel is famous for its white wines, and the vineyards give the landscape its distinct character.         The wine along the Mosel is very tasty. If the sun is shining, it is a nice way of getting rid of the thirst, and if it is raining and it is cold, it is a nice way of getting rid of the cold. Fortunately the Mosel river does not float straight on. It twists its way and makes several bends. I have taken the liberty to copy a map from the Bikeline  booklet called Mosel-Radweg. With all the wine we consumed along this river it was rather easy to follow the course of the river because in our condtion we would not have been able to cycle straight forward.   At Koblenz, which originates from latin Confluentes, the rivers Mosel and Rhine confluence. We arrived in this town in a terrible rain. Turid refused to go to the camping and insisted upon staying at a hotel. The next morning we found the Rhine-Cycle-Route and continued along the most interesting part of the Rhine. The picture down to the left, where both Turid and I appear, has been taken by Horst from Varel in Northern Germany. He was on his way by bike to Geneva and Tunisia. We cycled with him for some kilometres along the Rhine.       Drink the golden wine in Bacharach on the Rhine. Along this section of the Rhine we came to the Rock at Loreley. At this location the current of the Rhine is rather hard and navigation is difficult. An old story says that the skippers could hear the singing of a young maiden and instead of steering the ships they would listen to the song, the ships ran aground and many people lost their lives. The song about these incidents is probably the most known German song, both in Germany and abroad.   Another legend along this part of the Rhine is the mouse tower at Bingen. An archbishop was brutal to people, and the mice started to gnaw at his body. He fled to a tower on an island in the Rhine, but the mice swam across the river and ate him, finally there was just a skeleton left of him. The tower is an old toll collecting tower. The German word for toll is Maut. It is probably this word that has been changed to Maus, and that is most likely the background for this story.   Der Mäuseturm bei Bingen At the camping place of Bingen we met Horst again, but the camping place was so bad with hardly any grass on the ground that we did not want to stay. Horst, who had already put up his tent, preferred to stay. We took the ferry to the other bank, and at the tourist town of Rüdesheim we found a very good camping place. There we met a Dutch couple who was cycling towards the south, to Venice and the French riviera. Apparently the Rhine valley with no hills offers a very good corridor for cyclists who are going north-south in Germany. In order to avoid the heavy traffic of the Frankfurt area, we decided to take the S-Bahn through the town. From Friedberg, the last station of the S-Bahn in the north of Frankfurt, we continued our cycle tour. On minor roads and on field roads with special signs for cyclists we cycled on further to the north. We even landed on a road which had been an old Roman road. Roman roads went straight forward with no bends. It was all right to cycle on it because we had not had any wine that day, and we were able to keep a course straight on.  We were now at the border of the Roman empire, and we soon crossed that border, or Limes, which that border was called. At Münzenberg we passed an old ruin of a medieval castle. The two towers are very distinct, and they can be spotted from quite a distance away. Popularly the ruin is called the ink pots.     The ruins of the castle at Münzenberg. Near Gießen we visited friends, whom we know well because of a students' exchange between a school where we live and a school in Germany. We had visited our friends before, but this time we had the pleasure of arriving there by bicycles. It was a nice feeling to stand outside their door and ring the bell. We had reached their home by our own muscles and by a nice mode of transport: Bicycles.  During the next days we did not do so much of cycling. However I made a cycle tour to Amöneburg. I used unofficial roads, and this time I learnt that in spite of good cycle ways in Germany it could be possible to lose the direction in the forests, so that I came out of the forest at quite a different place from where I was heading to. Anyway, it was a good experience to find my way through a landscape where I hardly met another human being, not even a wolf as Little Red Riding Hood did. One morning it was time to leave our friends. We cycled down hill and reached a cycle way to Gießen. We crossed the river Lahn, and on the western bank we were already on the Lahn Cycle Route. We did not visit the interesting town of Wetzlar because we had already been there during the students' exchanges. The cycle way followed the river Lahn unfortunately in close contact with roads and Autobahn. After Weilburg, where boats and canoes on the river Lahn use a tunnel, the cycle way becomes very idyllic as it follows the river, and the roads are further away. However at one place we had to leave the river and had to climb hard to reach a road. In this hill, which is part of the Lahn cycle Route, we suddenly observed a sign saying cold drinks ahead. We were very thirsty, and it was quite a relief to see a refrigerator on a lawn outside a house. We could take soft drinks from the refrigerator and put one Euro in a box for each bottle. The people in that house had really got a good idea, and we appreciated this gesture towards us cyclists very much.   On the Lahn Cycle Route Runkel Dietkirchen Limburg   We passed the interesting towns of Runkel, Dietkirchen and Limburg. The cycle way followed the Lahn, and we could cycle with pleasure on the quiet Lahn Cycle Route. Trees gave shadow and protected us from the hot sun. Not even in Germany is everything perfect. At Balduinstein we were met by a sign saying that the Lahn Cycle Way had come to an end. Ahead of us was a protected natural area, and in order to protect the nature, the cycle way had not been built through this area. How have other cyclists overcome this obstacle and how did we manage it?       Ms Lightfoot and Mr Bornslow Janice and Reinhard Turid and Terje From Balduinstein the two Norwegian cyclists who had given themselves strange English names in their cycle report, took the train to Obernhof. There they crossed the river Lahn and contiued along a steep cycle way pass the monastary Arnstein. The cycle way went on through the forest  towards Nassau with many ups and downs.  On the Internet you can read Esten Olav Nytrøen's report about the Lahn cycle tour.      After Balduinstein the two German cyclists continued on ordinary roads along the river Lahn until they came to a lock for lifting and lowering boats. The road ended there. From the man operating the lock they heard that they could push their bikes on a track to the heights above the river. They had a very hard job until they came down to the river again. Further on they they stayed on roads with motor traffic. At Obernhof they crossed the river. They passed the monastary Arnstein and continued on a cycle way through forests to Nassau. From there the cycle way is good and they cycled on along the river Lahn.  On the internet you could read Reinhard Karpowitz's  cycle report in German. Unfortunately this report has left the internet We cycled on along the river on roads which we had to share with the motor traffic. At Geilnau we had to climb a 12 % incline, which was very hard. At Holzappel on the heights above the river we turned left and after Scheidt we cycled down a serpentine road to the river Lahn. We continued on ordinary roads to Obernhof, where we crossed the river in order to reach the cycle way again, but that way was poorly marked and just before the monastary Arnstein we encountered a very steep hill. After consulting with a local cyclist we decided to go back to the road with motor traffic again. We followed that road to Nassau. From there the cycle way was good and we continued down along the river Lahn. When we finally reached the good cycle way at Nassau we soon came to Bad Ems. In that town were very lucky to pass a spring where we could fill our drinking bottles with natural mineral water. It tasted so good in the hot weather with almost 30 centdigrades. The river Lahn empties its waters into the Rhine, just some kilometres south of Koblenz. According to my information the distance from Runkel, where we had started that day and to Koblenz should be 67 km. When we reached Koblenz in the evening, we had already cycled 90 km. I believe the distance where cyclists were told to use the train had not been calculated. As we had cycled all the way, we got 90 km on that day, which was the last day of our cycle tour. This time in Koblenz we stayed at the camping place, and because we had just one day more to reach Düsseldorf before our flight back home, we took the train from Koblenz to Düsseldorf. I am impressed how easy it is to take the bike in the "Regio-trains" in Germany. In Düsseldorf we packed our bicycles in the boxes, and early the next morning the proprietor of the guesthouse Schäfer brought us to the airport. Another nice cycle tour had come to an end.     In this text I have established the following links (mostly in German):  Bikeline  Guest house Schäfer  Rhine Cycle Way  Ahr Cycle Way  Kylltal Cycle Way  Cycle tour "Old Europe"  by Martin Wittram  Nimstal Cycle Way  Mosel Cycle Way   Lahn Cycle Tour by Esten Olav Nytrøen   Links to collections of cycle tours: http://www.velofahren.de/e_index.html  Trento Bike Page         HOMEPAGE