Eurovelo 15 north to south from Wiesbaden to Andermatt

[Sarah]

Looking at cycling Eurovelo 15 from Wiesbaden to Andermatt in late September. I can only find information from south to north. I’m assuming it’s also easy to navigate from north to south? Any comments on cycling the route from north to south?

[Jdsk]

Just ridden Alps to North Sea.

I used the GPX courses from the Cicerone guide. That also has a pretty good text description but if I were going the wrong way I'd rewrite it for my own use.

Signposting mostly good. But you need to understand the national names for the EV15 etc.

It's very flat between Rotterdam and Basel. Both ways! Wind was mostly against us.

Jonathan

[yutkoxpo]

Nothing wrong with going in either direction, except for the fact that you're facing into a climb to get to Andermatt.
Practically the whole route is on dedicated cycling paths. All you have to do is choose which side of the river to cycle on in most areas.

However, by starting in Wiesbaden and heading south you are missing out some of the most scenic parts of the whole route. Personally, I have found the sections from Cologne heading south to be the most picturesque, but even taking a detour as far north as Koblenz, then back to Wiesbaden would be worthwhile, I believe. The river towns, the Rhine Gorge, Lorelei rock are all worth cycling past - twice. Different directions expose different views.

South of Strasbourg the French side is pretty far from the river, the German side is closer.

How do you plan on getting back? If Wiesbaden is also your end destination, I'd strongly consider catching a train(s) to Andermatt and cycling back - simply because I'd prefer the descent to the ascent. Advance booking will save on the cost. You can bring your bike whole.

Good luck!

[Slowroad]

Just using the search facility and got this - wonder if any of you could comment on the Rhine south of Strasbourg? I've heard that it is possibly rather dull compared with north of Strasbourg.
I'm planning a week doing Speyer to Basle and whilst the first half is straightforward, I'm wavering re which side to do on the second half, plus I'd like to visit Freiburg again...
Thanks!

[Jdsk]

Lots of interest in that area, including quiet canal towpaths, battle sites and muskrats. I wouldn't try to avoid it.

The European Parliament is worth visiting, even if only in regret. We had breakfast there.

Jonathan

[Slowroad]

Thanks! I do like quiet details like that.

[goosegog]

For cycling the Rhine south of Strasbourg I recommend the French Wine Route through Alsace. At Colmar cross the river at Neuf-Brisach (a fortified Vauban town) and Breisach to Freiburg.

[Slowroad]

For cycling the Rhine south of Strasbourg I recommend the French Wine Route through Alsace. At Colmar cross the river at Neuf-Brisach (a fortified Vauban town) and Breisach to Freiburg.
Top

Sounds good - one of my options is to hop on the train from Strasbourg to Selestat, cycle to Colmar, then to Breisach where I've booked a couple of days in the youth hostel so I can visit Freiburg. (The hostel there was full).

[mjr]

Some cycle-friendly hotel suggestions on/near this route, from experience:

Strasbourg Hotel Diana Dauphine, cycle park in the bottom of their underground gated car park.

Barr À La Moulin Rouge, cycle and bin store (not great but it's a smallish town).

Colmar Arc-en-Ciel, locked cycle parking with steep ramp and steps.

Guebwiller Hotel de l'Ange, cycles behind reception in a corner.

Mulhouse La Maison Mulhouse Centre, cycles in a function room.

[Galactic]

I second what has been said above about the Rhine being rather boring between Basel and Strasbourg (ie samey, going down a track for miles and miles with the river on one side, forest and gravel pits on the other). It's nice for a bit, then you've seen it all. There are parallel routes in Alsace that look interesting on the map (never done them), and Strasbourg is well worth a visit.

Also second about the Rhine gorge, particularly between Bingen and Koblenz. Dramatic.

And the Rhine between Basel and Lake Constance / Bodensee is also rather lovely.

I was looking at the bit between the source and Bodensee on the map the other day, pondering whether I would want to do it. The bit up by the source looks superb, but a motorway joins the route just before Chur (if you're going downstream), and stays close all the way to the Bodensee. That sort of puts me off, although the valley widens out a lot, so there are other options if you don't want to cycle beside a motorway for 60km, and I do like the Swiss cycle routes. They put our Sustrans NCN to shame.

[pal]

I was looking at the bit between the source and Bodensee on the map the other day, pondering whether I would want to do it. The bit up by the source looks superb, but a motorway joins the route just before Chur (if you're going downstream), and stays close all the way to the Bodensee. That sort of puts me off, although the valley widens out a lot, so there are other options if you don't want to cycle beside a motorway for 60km, and I do like the Swiss cycle routes. They put our Sustrans NCN to shame.

It's true that you're quite close to the motorway immediately south of Chur, but being a Polite Swiss Motorway it isn't too bad, and that stretch doesn't last too long. Otherwise, it's generally very pleasant cycling along wide towpaths alongside the river, with some potential for short detours through vineyards, into Liechtenstein, etc. North of Chur to the source is indeed spectacular (and hilly!).

[Galactic]

It's true that you're quite close to the motorway immediately south of Chur, but being a Polite Swiss Motorway it isn't too bad, and that stretch doesn't last too long. Otherwise, it's generally very pleasant cycling along wide towpaths alongside the river, with some potential for short detours through vineyards, into Liechtenstein, etc. North of Chur to the source is indeed spectacular (and hilly!).

That's very helpful, thank you. The fact that most routes through the Alps are along narrow valleys and accompanied by motorways/big roads puts me off touring there despite the spectacular views. Perhaps I ought to try out some Swiss valleys and their polite motorways.

[Jdsk]

I was looking at the bit between the source and Bodensee on the map the other day, pondering whether I would want to do it. The bit up by the source looks superb, but a motorway joins the route just before Chur (if you're going downstream), and stays close all the way to the Bodensee. That sort of puts me off, although the valley widens out a lot, so there are other options if you don't want to cycle beside a motorway for 60km, and I do like the Swiss cycle routes. They put our Sustrans NCN to shame.

It's true that you're quite close to the motorway immediately south of Chur, but being a Polite Swiss Motorway it isn't too bad, and that stretch doesn't last too long. Otherwise, it's generally very pleasant cycling along wide towpaths alongside the river, with some potential for short detours through vineyards, into Liechtenstein, etc. North of Chur to the source is indeed spectacular (and hilly!).

Agreed.

And you can look for Zeppelins.

Jonathan

[foxyrider]

and I do like the Swiss cycle routes. They put our Sustrans NCN to shame.

lets face it, a donkey track in the Balkans puts most of the NCN network to shame!

I've ridden between Sargans (just along the road from Chur) and Bodensee, can't remember riding alongside the motorway at any point, railway and river yes. There are a host of field roads you can use on the Austrian side if you fancy a change from the featureless Rhein 'canal'.

The Basel - Bodensee stretch is great too, some lovely towns and you flit from Germany to Switzerland several times even if you don't cross the river!

[pal]

I was looking at the bit between the source and Bodensee on the map the other day, pondering whether I would want to do it. The bit up by the source looks superb, but a motorway joins the route just before Chur (if you're going downstream), and stays close all the way to the Bodensee. That sort of puts me off, although the valley widens out a lot, so there are other options if you don't want to cycle beside a motorway for 60km, and I do like the Swiss cycle routes. They put our Sustrans NCN to shame.

It's true that you're quite close to the motorway immediately south of Chur, but being a Polite Swiss Motorway it isn't too bad, and that stretch doesn't last too long. Otherwise, it's generally very pleasant cycling along wide towpaths alongside the river, with some potential for short detours through vineyards, into Liechtenstein, etc. North of Chur to the source is indeed spectacular (and hilly!).

Others will have worked this out already, but the map that lives in my head had obviously flipped upsidedown: it's north of Chur that there's the brief motorway-adjacent stretch (though, as foxyrider rightly says, that's over before you get to Sargans); south (and west) of Chur you head into the hills, and through the very fun gorge of the Anterior Rhine.