at Nancy, where you can catch a train to Basel, or Mâcon for trains to Geneva. Details and bookings are available at www.bike-express.co.uk.
Intermediate access
There are international airports at Friedrichshafen (Stage 5), Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg (Stage 9), Strasbourg (Stage 10), Karlsruhe/Baden (Stage 12), Köln/Bonn (Stage 19) and Düsseldorf (Stage 21). Zürich airport is 14km from Teufen (Stage 7) and Frankfurt airport 24km from Mainz (Stage 16) (note: Frankfurt Hahn airport is in the Hunsrück mountains 50km west of Bacharach and is not close to the route). Düsseldorf Weeze is 18km from Kalkar (Stage 23). Amsterdam Schiphol airport can be reached by train from Arnhem or Rhenen.
Much of the route through Switzerland and Germany is closely followed by railway lines. In France between Basel and Strasbourg the railway is some distance from the route, while in the Netherlands there are no lines following the river and stations are only encountered at Arnhem, Rhenen and between Rotterdam and Hoek van Holland. Stations close to the route are listed in the text.
Onward travel from Hoek van Holland
Trains from Hoek van Holland run to Rotterdam, where frequent connections serve Amsterdam Schiphol, a major international airport with flights to worldwide destinations.
Stena Line runs two ferries daily from Hoek van Holland to Harwich in the UK, in the afternoon and overnight (www.stenaline.co.uk). On overnight sailings, passengers must reserve cabins. From Harwich, trains with cycle provision run to London (Liverpool Street) and to Cambridge, where connections are available to the rest of the UK. P&O ferries sail nightly from Rotterdam (Europoort) to Hull (www.poferries.com). The route to the P&O terminal is described in Stage 27.
Navigation
Waymarking and signposting
Waymarks on EV15 (clockwise from top right): Swiss R2 and Bodensee radweg sign; Dutch Landelijkefiets sign; French EV15 sign; German Rheinradweg sign; German D8 sign
The route described in this guide is made up from various national waymarked cycle routes that have been adopted by the ECF (European Cyclists’ Federation) as EuroVélo route 15 (EV15), plus some locally signposted stretches to link these together. A programme is in place to incorporate the EV15 logo into national signs and this is more or less complete in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. In a few places, the route varies from that waymarked where the author believes an alternative route is preferable. In the introduction to each stage an indication is given of the predominant waymarks encountered.
| Summary of national cycle routes followed | ||
| EV15 | EuroVèlo 15 | throughout |
| R2 | Radweg 2 (Rhein route) | Switzerland |
| BR | Bodensee Radweg | Switzerland/Austria/Germany |
| D8 | Deutsche Radweg 8 | Germany |
| VR | Vèloroute Rhin | France (mostly replaced with EV15) |
| RR | Rhein Radweg | Germany |
| LF+number | Landelijkefiets | Netherlands |
In Switzerland, waymarking is excellent and ubiquitous with a well-developed national system integrating cycle routes, mountain bike trails and footpaths. The letter R for radweg (cycle way) and colour maroon indicate cycle routes. Full details and maps of all Swiss waymarked routes can be found at www.schweizmobil.ch. Judith and Neil Forsyth’s Cycle Touring in Switzerland (Cicerone Press) describes the nine national routes R1 to R9. In Switzerland, this guide closely follows R2 ‘Rhein route’ from Oberalppass to Basel (stages 1–4 and 6–8) except for some deviations to visit places of interest across the river. This is waymarked R2 and EV15 throughout.
In Germany, local waymarking is excellent but national waymarking variable. This is influenced by Germany’s federal structure of semi-independent lände (states), each of which has its own system. A national cycle network is in existence, although this often plays second fiddle to regional and local routes, with some signposts carrying the badges of many different routes. National route D8 follows the Rhine, mostly on the eastern (right) bank, and on some stages this is followed. The Rhein Radweg (RR) is waymarked using the Rheinradler symbol, a stylised yellow cyclist on a blue background with the wheels formed from the yellow stars of the European flag. In most lände, generic cycle route signposts have a white background, but the text colour varies (green in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz and Hessen; red in Nordrhein-Westfalen).
French waymarking originally also used the Rheinradler to identify the Véloroute Rhin (VR), but almost all Rheinradler signposts have been replaced with EV15 waymarks.
Unsurprisingly, the Netherlands, a country with more cycles than people, has an excellent waymarked national cycle network known as Landelijkefiets routes (LF). Full details can be found at www.nederlandfietsland.nl. This guide uses parts of LF3 (Millingen to Arnhem, Stage 23), LF4 (Arnhem to Amerongen, Stage 24), LF11 (Ablasserdam to Rotterdam, Stage 26) and LF12 (Rotterdam to Hoek van Holland, Stage 27). Signposts include a or b after the route number to indicate direction. Where this guide does not use LF routes (Amerongen to Ablasserdam, stages 24–26), local signposting is excellent. In addition, there is a system of numbered knooppunten (nodal waypoints) with local maps on location boards throughout the country.
German cycle route sign with eight different routes shown
Maps
The only stand-alone maps of the whole route from source to Rotterdam plus Bodensee Radweg are published by Publicpress (www.publicpress.de), who produce a series of five laminated folding strip maps: 199, 302, 368, 333 and 569.
For Switzerland, including the part of the route across the river in Germany and the northern side of Bodensee, detailed maps of R2, at any scale you wish, can be downloaded from www.veloland.ch.
For France, Esterbauer Bikeline publish two sheets at 1:75,000 (Radkarte Elsass Süd and Elsass Nord) covering the route from Basel to north of Karlsruhe.
For Germany, Bikeline publish a map at 1:75,000 covering Bodensee, one covering Konstanz to Basel, three maps covering the stretch from Karlsruhe to Koblenz and one covering Düsseldorf to Millingen: sheets BW08, BW13, BW03, RPF06, HES4 and NRW3. Publicpress publish six sheets at 1:100,000 covering the route from Karlsruhe to Millingen: sheets 168, 120, 576, 157, 228 and 166. Bikeline maps contain more detail and are more accurate.
For the Netherlands both ANWB (Dutch automobile association) and Falk/VVV (Dutch tourist office) publish a series of 1:50,000 fietskaarten (cycle maps) covering the whole country. The route between Millingen and Hoek van Holland is covered by ANWB sheets 10, 15 and 14, with a very short section on sheet 11; or Falk/VVV sheets 11 and 15. Both sets of maps provide good coverage. The ANWB maps are the most recommended.
Most of these maps as well as the guidebooks below are available from leading bookshops including Stanfords in London (www.stanfords.co.uk) and the Map Shop, Upton upon Severn (