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RIESLING

Touring the wine country of Germany

By Erik Plankton

June 11^th, 2015

destination frankfurt

Warning! This post is long - so sit back and grab a cup of coffee or even better: a glass of riesling.

This time it was time for a week long tour of the wine country and its rivers. Flew with my wife Johanna to Frankfurt and built the bikes in the airport right next to the baggage storage, where we left the bike bags. During the week we rode along five rivers: Main, Rhein, Saar, Mosel and Lahn.

ALong the main and rhein

We managed to get slightly lost when riding out of the airport area, but soon we found the river and navigation was simple.

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ASSMANNsHAUSEN

This time we didn’t have a tent, so we relied on local bed & breakfast places to stay the night. Should not be a problem to find a room for the same night in late May, when the season has not really started yet. Our first overnight place was a small town called Assmannshausen - just too good of a name to pass by. Hotel Schön was actually great with good food and very friendly service.

The Rhein

The second day was nice and warm with great views of the river from the wine yards up on the hill. Countless castles on the slopes.

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Towards koblenz

The Rhein meets Mosel in Koblenz, which is a bigger city. We stayed the night there and hopped on a train in the morning that took us to Saarlouis.

Along the SAar

We hopped of the train in Saarlouis and started to ride towards Trier along the Saar river. The sign posts were excellent and it was easy to find and follow the Saar Radweg cycle route.

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SAAR RADWEG

The Saar river is a bit smaller than the Mosel or Rhein. The bike paths along this route were the best of the trip in my opinion. Riding in the solitude of the forests without any traffic was a bliss.

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conditions

Weather was pretty nice for the majority of the week with temperatures just below 20°c. Had some rain showers, but they were usually quite short.

villages

The bike routes go through the villages and offer a good place to stop for coffee or get something to eat. You don’t really have to worry about water or food anywhere along the route. All the towns have small privately owned hotels, which I highly recommend in stead of normal multinational hotel chains.

lunchtime

You can always stop at a restaurant for lunch during the day, but we preferred grabbing a few sandwiches and pastries from the bakery each morning and eating them during the day. They are really inexpensive and very good.

HELLO!

You never know who you will meet when having a break. This old fellow joined out lunch break to have his daily wine and we had a little chat in German.

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Wine. WINE. WINE.

When cycling along you really understand that this region lives of the wine. All of the Southern slopes along the river are covered with wine yards. Really nice to ride amongst them.

SUPPORTING LOCAL

When travelling in wine country you can get amazingly good Rieslings for about 7-9€ per bottle directly from the makers. Every village has terraces to sample them and they sell directly. So grab a bottle to go with your lunch and enjoy! But maybe not the whole bottle. Pro tip: Some of the wine bottles fit perfectly into your bottle cage. So buy a bottle closer from the super market and save the rest for later.

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VIEWS OF MOSEl

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steep hills and flat roads

In some parts the wine is grown on really steep slopes and it is still harvested by hand. However riding along the river is almost completely flat with no to very little hills during the days. This is great place to ride without breaking a sweat.

life along the river

Some of the houses along the riverbanks have record floods marked on the walls. Looks like there have been three different major floods in the 1990’s. Some the houses were from 1300.

LAhn

When riding from Koblenz to Limburg along the Lahn river there is a section that actually has some hills. There is also a 10km section that is advised to go by train, since there is a major climb on a narrow road without a cycle path. There are plans to create an alternative route for cyclists in the future.

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new friends

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Final leg

From Limburg we took the train towards Frankfurt airport. We got off early to enjoy some last day riding before going to the airport. Really nice countryside roads just 10km from the busy airport.

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about riding in germany

The riding in Germany is excellent. Really good cycle paths with great sign posts. The routes are flat and suit everyone. Most of the cyclist where elderly people and most of them had an electric aided bike. Germans are known for their punctuality and organised way of doing things. Apparently this does not apply to people riding bikes. The going is really slow and they ride 2-4 by side. So add “Bitte Achtung!” to your vocabulary, since you will need to use it often.

Tips for the trip

HIGHLIGHTS

Riding in the quiet forests by the river. Excellent local wine and produce. Friendly people.

Accomodation

Plenty of options in almost all the villages and towns. Privately owned small hotels 60-80€ for a double room (May 2015), including breakfast.

FOOD & WATER

Plenty of places to fill up during the day. Most towns have a bakery to get sandwiches (around 2€). Wine terraces, beer gardens and restaurants along the way. Local wines directly from the producer 7-9€ per bottle.

The Route

Day 1 Frankfurt - Assmansshausen https://www.strava.com/activities/310182305

Day 2 Assmannshausen - Koblenz https://www.strava.com/activities/310911194

Day 3 Saarlouis - Saarburg https://www.strava.com/activities/311670818

Day 4 Saarburg - Trier - Neumagen-Dhron https://www.strava.com/activities/312213754

Day 5 Neumagen-Dhron - Bullay https://www.strava.com/activities/312900254

Day 6 Bullay - Lahnstein https://www.strava.com/activities/313585262

Day 7 Lahnstein - Limburg https://www.strava.com/activities/314202802

On day 8 we took to train from Limburg towards Frankfurt Airport and rode the last 20km or so. Total for the trip around 500km. Very easy riding along the rivers with great scenery. About 90% on cycle paths and 10% on the road shared with cars. 75% paved, 25% gravel. Roads generally in great condition.