Rhine: long tour: Mainz – Arnhem/Netherlands

In Mainz you should be well on time! Not just the Roman-Germanic central museum, the Gutenberg museum, the emperors cathedral and the electors castle are worth a visit.

The beautiful first cycle route leads you through the gentle vineyards and famous winegrowers of the Rheingau. Here the Rhine still flows gently, forms small romantic islands and extends its bed up to 800 m wide! On the way, you can take a break in Eltville and plan a detour to Eberbach Abbey (+ 14 km). In Rüdesheim you should take the opportunity to stroll through the world famous Drosselgasse or to take a relaxing ride with the cable car up to the Niederwald monument. From Rüdesheim to Bingen you take the Rhine ferry and then you continue to cycle along best-developed cycle path to Bacharach. On these 16 km you pass the Mäuseturm, the Castles Rheinstein and Reichenstein as well as Burg Sooneck and Hohneck and the ruins of Fürstenberg. In Bacharach you should climb the city wall before you finally cycle to Oberwesel.

In the morning you reach St. Goar and here you can climb the Loreley. A hiking trail leads up and gives you the beautiful view of the narrowest place in the romantic Rhine valley. Here is the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Upper Middle Rhine Valley. The worthwhile visitor center on the Loreley offers interesting insights into the history, nature and culture of the region as well as the myth of the Loreley. Back on the shore the cycle path continues to Boppard. Here it is turbulent, but you can also use the chairlift to the Vierseenblick to escape in woody quiet heights. Or visit the well-preserved Marksburg and Castle Stolzenfels on the way to the Deutsche Eck (German corner) in Koblenz where you will finish this day.

Relaxed spa resorts and inviting vine villages are competing for your visit today. Also thermal baths and beer gardens want to spoil the cyclists. Or take a break from the bike and the saddle and enjoy a piece of the Rhine from a boat from the water. Between Koblenz and Bad Honnef everything is possible for you! For those interested in history, a visit to the museum "Brücke von Remagen" is worth a visit before strolling comfortably through the pedestrian zone of Bad Honnef. Enjoy nice cafes and pretty half-timbered houses.

At the foot of the Siebengebirge you will pass Bad Godesberg today. You will be amazed by the Drachenfelsen, 250m over the Rhine. Here you can take an exciting trip to the summit with the Drachenfelsbahn, the oldest cogwheel railway in Germany. The old capital of Bonn is also on your way and attracts a lot of sightseeing, before the Cologne cathedral is in the field of view. The tour today is not too long, so you can reach your hotel in the city center at an early stage and still have time to admire the many sights of Cologne.

With Cologne humor in the baggage you leave the cathedral city and cycle along the banks of the Rhine till you reach the medieval town of Zons. This fortress city with a city wall still entirely preserved is also called the Rothenburg of the Rhineland'. It features the mighty Rhine Tower from 1388, the Juddeturm with baroque dome and a windmill with a wooden mill from the 17th century. You continue cycling the Rhine cycle path and in the afternoon you reach Düsseldorf's Old Town, also known as "the longest bar in the world'. Relax with a real Düsseldorf Altbier at Castle Square and enjoy a wonderful view of the Rhine. This square was named as one of the most beautiful squares in Germany.

Again directly on the Rhine you cycle first to Kaiserswerth with the picturesque ruins of "Kaiserpfalz". Shortly after you take the ferry to cross the river to the left side of the Rhine. Here you take a short sidetrip to see the Moated Castle Linn. The green floodplains drain away and make space for impressive industrial architecture until the cycle path leads on the right side of the Rhine to the river mouth of the Ruhr. From here it is only a short distance to downtown Duisburg. Here it is worthwhile to take a boat tour of the largest inland port in Europe before you let the evening fade away in one of the many bars and restaurants at the harbor and waterfront.

With a short transfer (6 minutes) you get to the district Duisburg Meiderich and from here you can cycle directly to the Landscape Park "Landschaftspark Duisburg Nord" , a 200-hectare disused steelwork. It is possible to take a guided tour about industrial history and climb the blast furnace. Visitors can walk through the former ore bunkers and get explanation about casthouse, Gasometer and Gebläsehalle. After this impressive visit, which certainly is considered a highlight of this bike trip, you follow a comfortable bike path on an old railway line to the River Rhine. After a few kilometers you cycle on the left side of the river through rural idyll and nature reserves at the Lower Rhine to the Hanseatic city of Wesel with his Prussian Museum. A day of biking can not be more varied!

Today the Rhine cycle path leads first to Xanten with the historic downtown, the splendidly decorated St. Victor's Cathedral and the Archaeological Park and Roman Museum, which is by itself worth a trip. From here you continue the route along inviting bathing lakes and enjoy beautiful views of the wild Rhine-current to the amusement park "Wunderland Kalkar". Finally you reach the longest suspension bridge in Germany, also called as Golden Gate on the Lower Rhine. Your destination is the old Hanseatic city of Emmerich with the beautiful Rhine promenade, which still invites to an end-of-day stroll.

Also today's stage holds new impressions ready. Already in the morning you cross by ferry the Rhine to the Dutch side and cycle past the point where the river divides into Waal and Niederrijn. Here one speaks of the Rhine Delta, which extends until the North Sea. Follow the Niederrijn on raised causeways, through locks and bridges to the old city of Arnhem, where you not only enjoy a varied shopping offer. In the Information Centre „Brücke von Arnheim“ you can indulge in history and in the open air museum you can visit more than 80 historic Dutch houses and windmills.

All too soon the time passed and your trip ends after breakfast in Arnhem. There are convenient train connections back to Cologne. Or you can continue your trip Rotterdam (230 km) and follow the last section of the Rhine cycle path on his way from Switzerland to the North Sea.