German Bike Tour: Saarbrücken-Trier-Koblenz

Anybody followed any part of or all the river streches (Saar and
Mosel) between these cities? My understanding is that the scnery for
the most part is gorgeous (maybe not so right around Saarbrücken), but
what about the roads? Are the roads any good for bicycles?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Nick

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Hey you know something people? They won't go for no more
I'm not black, but there's a whole lotsa times Great Midwestern hardware store
I wish I could say I'm not white. Philosophy that turns away
(1965, Frank Zappa in Trouble Every Day From those who aren't afraid to say
- Freak Out) What's on their mind -- The left behinds
Of The Great Society.
(1965, Frank Zappa in Hungry Freaks, Daddy
- Freak Out)

I've cycled from Trier to Koblenz twice. It's very nice and you can do
it all, practically on the bike paths which are for the most part on
both sides of the river. Trier is well-worth a look at and there are
several famous towns on the route.

A must-see is the famous Burg Eltz Schloss. A fabulous castle. You have
a bit of a climb to get to it. Koblenz is not upto much.
After than I cycled the Lahn Valley which comes into the Rhine just
above Koblenz. This is a very nice cycle also. I've also cycled all of
the Rhine down to Mannheim and then the Neckar to Stuttgart.

The Mosel from Koblenz to Trier is as nice a stretch as I have ever biked.
In fact, I rate it my single best. The road/paths are near the river and
fairly flat. The surrounding countryside is high hills on each side, with
many vineyards and nice old buildings. There are picturesque towns along
the way. The river itself winds around with a number of locks, but no
industry and no barges I can recall. It takes about 125 miles to go 60
miles as the bird flies, but that's hardly an issue. Trier itself has Roman
ruins that a worth a look and a big outdoor plaza/eating area like the Place
Plumereau in Tours. An added bonus for me is that after I got a room in a
nice little Gasthaus a few miles from Koblenz, had a bottle of the local
white wine together with my pork whatever, and gone to bed, I was soon
awakened by a 20 piece band playing marches and other songs on the street in
celebration of a local guy's 80th birthday. So I went out and enjoyed that.

Upstream from Trier, the magic dissipates rapidly. The hills flatten out,
the vineyards turn into corn fields and woodlots, and the route picks up
some definite hills. I took the river route to Thionville France, before
turning north to go through Luxembourg and beyond.


"Nicholas Dreyer" wrote in message
...
Anybody followed any part of or all the river streches (Saar and
Mosel) between these cities? My understanding is that the scnery for
the most part is gorgeous (maybe not so right around Saarbrücken), but
what about the roads? Are the roads any good for bicycles?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Nick

|\|.

================================================== ==============================

Hey you know something people? They won't go for no
more
I'm not black, but there's a whole lotsa times Great Midwestern
hardware store
I wish I could say I'm not white. Philosophy that turns
away
(1965, Frank Zappa in Trouble Every Day From those who aren't
afraid to say
- Freak Out) What's on their mind --
The left behinds
Of The Great Society.
(1965, Frank Zappa in
Hungry Freaks, Daddy
- Freak Out)

Nicholas Dreyer wrote:
Anybody followed any part of or all the river streches (Saar and
Mosel) between these cities? My understanding is that the scnery for
the most part is gorgeous (maybe not so right around Saarbrücken), but
what about the roads? Are the roads any good for bicycles?

There is a bike path along the Saar almost all the way from Saarbruecken
down to point where the Saar flows into the Mosel. The first part is
not as scenic as the Mosel, but you can make side-trips, e.g., to the
interesting UNESCO-World Cultural Heritage Voelklinger ironworks
(http://www.voelklinger-huette.org/), to the nice old town Saarlouis and
the Saarschlauffe in the second part is quite scenic.

Unfortunately, I do not have pointers to english sites, but following
links together google translate might help you further:

http://www.adfc-saar.de/alt_hp/r_saarradw.html
http://www.adfc-saar.de/alt_hp/r_saarradland.html
http://www.voelklingen.de/index.php?id=443

-michael-

Great feedback from all who responded. I now know the trip is worth
doing. If all works out, I'll be doing it this summer.

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On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 07:02:43 GMT, (Nicholas Dreyer)
wrote:

Anybody followed any part of or all the river streches (Saar and
Mosel) between these cities? My understanding is that the scnery for
the most part is gorgeous (maybe not so right around Saarbrücken), but
what about the roads? Are the roads any good for bicycles?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Nick

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