Alsatian dish is choucroute garnie, a dish of various cuts of pork meat and sausages served with sauerkraut heated in white wine. A typical snack is tarte flambée or flammekueche, a thin pizza-style base covered with white cheese, onions and bacon and cooked in a wood oven.
Tarte flambée, a speciality of Alsace, served with Gewurztraminer white wine (Stage 10)
Although the variety of dishes offered in Dutch restaurants is generally wider than in Germany, cooking is usually pan-European and traditional Dutch cooking is fairly hard to find. The Dutch eat a lot of fish, including maatjes (raw marinated herring), kibbeling (deep-fried cod nuggets) and mosselen (mussels), the latter two often served with patats (chips/French fries) and mayonnaise. The Netherlands is a country of dairy farming and produces a large amount of cheese, the best known varieties being Edam (red, round like a ball) and Gouda (yellow, round like a wheel). Dutch apple cake is a popular dessert.
Drinks
Switzerland, Austria and Germany are predominantly beer-drinking nations, but also produce considerable quantities of wine, while France is a wine-drinking nation where consumption of beer is increasing. The Netherlands produces beer, but no wine.
Switzerland’s largest brewery is Feldschlossen, which is passed at Rheinfelden (Stage 8). In Germany, purity laws controlling the production and content of beer have limited the mass consolidation of brewing compared to other European countries, and beer is still brewed in a large number of local breweries. Pilsener, a pale lager, is the most widely drunk form, although weizenbier (wheat beer), found in both helles (pale) and dunkles (dark) varieties, is growing in popularity. Very refreshing and slightly sweet tasting, wheat beer is unfiltered and thus naturally cloudy. Distinct local beers are produced in Köln (kölsch) and Düsseldorf (alt). Glass sizes vary, but common sizes are kleines (small, 300ml) and grosses (large, half litre). Weizenbier is traditionally served in half litre vase-shaped glasses. Radler in Germany is shandy, a 50/50 mix of beer and carbonated lemonade. With a long history of German influence, Alsace is the main beer-producing region of France, with Kronenbourg the largest brewery. The Netherlands has a number or breweries, but is dominated by the Heineken and Amstel lager brands.
Swiss wine is one of the wine-drinking world’s great secrets. Substantial quantities of good-quality wine are produced but 98 per cent of this is consumed within the country. Most production is in the Vaud and Valais cantons in the west of the country, although on our route there are vineyards in the Maienfeld hills (Stage 3) and between Schaffhausen and Waldshut (Stage 7). Principal grape varieties are chasselas (white) used for Fendant wine, and pinot noir or blauburgunder (red) used for Dôle wine. German wine production is usually characterised by white wine from the Rhine Valley between Worms and Koblenz, including the side valleys of Nahe and Mosel. The finest German wine comes from the Rheingau, a south-facing ridge between Eltville and Rüdesheim (Stage 16). Reisling grapes are used for the best wines with müller-thurgau for the less distinguished ones. Trochen (dry) and halb-trochen (medium) varieties are available. Other wine-growing regions passed include the north side of Bodensee around Meersburg (Stage 5), which produces white and rosé wines, and the Ahr Valley (Stage 18), producing some of the world’s most northerly red wines. In France, the east-facing Vosges slopes looking across the Rhine Valley from above Colmar produce strong full-bodied Alsatian white wine from gewürztraminer grapes.
All the usual soft drinks (colas, lemonade, fruit juices) are widely available. Local specialities include Rivella, a Swiss drink sweetened with lactose (milk sugars), available in a number of varieties. Apple juice mixed 50/50 with carbonated water and known as apfelschorle is widely consumed. Apfelwein and most are cider-like alcoholic drinks produced from apples, particularly around Bodensee.
Amenities and services
St Goarshausen seen from Loreley rock (Stage 17)
Grocery shops and pharmacies
All cities, towns and larger villages passed through have grocery stores, often supermarkets, and most have pharmacies. Germany has strict laws restricting weekend opening with grocers closing at 1300 on Saturdays and remaining closed all day Sunday. In France they may be closed from 1300 to 1600 daily.
Cycle shops
The route is well provided with cycle shops, most with repair facilities. Locations are listed in the stage descriptions, although this is not exhaustive. In Switzerland, a list of cycle shops can be found at www.veloland.ch. Many cycle shops will adjust brakes and gears, or lubricate your chain, while you wait, often not seeking reimbursement for minor repairs. Touring cyclists should not abuse this generosity and always offer to pay, even if payment is refused.
Currency and banks
Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands switched from national currencies to the Euro (€) in 2002. Switzerland and Liechtenstein use Swiss Francs (CHF). Almost every town has a bank and most have ATM machines that enable you to make transactions in English. Travellers from outside the Euro area should contact their banks to confirm activation of bank cards for use in continental Europe. In Switzerland, the best exchange rates are often found at exchange windows in station ticket offices. Travellers cheques are seldom used.
Telephone and internet
The whole route has mobile phone (handy in German) coverage. Contact your network provider to ensure your phone is enabled for foreign use with the optimum price package. To make an international call dial the international access code of the country you are in (00 for the UK) followed by the dialling code for the country you wish to reach:
Switzerland +41
Liechtenstein +423
Austria +43
Germany +49
France +33
Netherlands +31
Almost all hotels, guest houses and hostels make wi-fi available to guests, usually free but sometimes for a small fee.
Electricity
Voltage is 220v, 50Hz AC. Plugs are mostly standard European two-pin round, sometimes with a third central earth pin. However, standard two-pin adaptors will work in all countries.
What to take
Clothing and personal items
Although the route is predominantly downhill, weight should be kept to a minimum. You will need clothes for cycling (shoes, socks, shorts or trousers, shirt, fleece, waterproofs) and clothes for evenings and days off. The best maxim is two of each, ‘one to wear, one to wash’. Time of year makes a difference as you need more and warmer clothing in April/May and September/October. All of this clothing should be washable en route, and a small tube or bottle of travel wash is useful. A sun hat and sunglasses are essential, while gloves and a woolly hat are advisable, except in high summer.
In addition to your usual toiletries you will need sun cream and lip salve. You should take a simple first-aid kit. If staying in hostels you will need a towel and torch (your cycle light should suffice).
A fully equipped cycle
Cycle equipment
Everything you take needs to be carried on your cycle. If overnighting in accommodation, a pair of rear panniers should be sufficient to carry all your clothing and equipment, although if camping, you may also need front panniers. Panniers should be 100 per cent watertight. If in doubt, pack everything inside a strong polythene lining bag. Rubble bags, obtainable from builders’ merchants, are ideal for this purpose. A bar-bag is a useful way of carrying items you need to access quickly such as maps, sunglasses, camera, spare tubes, puncture kit and tools. A transparent map case attached to the top of your bar-bag is an ideal way of displaying maps and guide