Photograph above: West end of Untersee - Stein am Rhein by Alan J Cook©
Part of the
Rhine cycle path is visible on the left of the photograph.
This is a tour length of about 764 miles (by bicycle! - read on) from the top of the Oberalppass in Switzerland, very near to the source of the River Rhine, until it exits into the North Sea at the Hoek van Holland in The Netherlands. Add another 580 miles for the journey from Calais to the starting point and roughly 210 miles from the Hoek van Holland to Calais (although you can catch a ferry back to England from 'the Hook' to Harwich, instead of returning to Calais. The route used for the bicycle tour is EuroVelo 15. Alternatively, you can travel from Harwich to Hoek van Holland and back via the same port, which, for many people, would be the most sensible option. At this stage, I would like to point out what may be an important factor for your tour; you can ride the full length of the tour following the course of the River Rhine on your bicycle as well as by whatever motorised vehicle you may use - albeit by using different roads. In fact, there is a button below that will take you to the blog I wrote when I rode much of this route with my young son a few years ago. As this route is designated EuroVelo 15, there is also a button below that will take you to their site. For our tour by bicycle, we flew to Zurich, then caught a series of trains to the top of the Oberalppass where we started our trip with the most amazing descent amidst stunning mountain scenery. We returned to the UK on the ferry to Harwich. As you can see on the map below this amazing river threads its way between the mountains of the Alps before arriving at much flatter ground for the remaining part of it's journey across Europe. This means there isn't much hill-climbing to do after the first few stages which makes it an easy ride for most of the route if you're riding your bicycle. As is the case with all rivers, it's downill (almost!) all the way to the sea. I will endeavour to cover the River Rhine route for both cyclists and for those with vehicles by giving you links that will cover both types of tour as you may well want to include some cycling in your otherwise motoring tour. I know many caravanners and motorhomers like to take their bicycles with them and on this tour there is no excuse not to ride them. Map showing the course of the River Rhine: |
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Map above courtesy of Wikipedia at URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine#/media/File:Flusssystemkarte_Rhein_04.jpg |
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Cities and TownsThe River Rhine passes through four countries and includes six different country borders: Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Germany, Austria, France, The Netherlands.
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List above courtesy of Wikipedia at URL: Rhine - Wikipedia |
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Other Useful Links: |
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Books and Maps |
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The Rhine Cycle Route - by Mike Wells - Published by Cicerone ISBN-10 : 9781852848996 |
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Site Details and other Information |
Notes |
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Other routes shown courtesy of TomTom © at URL: TomTom MyDrive
Background image from: <a href="https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/wall">Wall Vectors by Vecteezy</a>