Rhine Route

The Rhine Route spans the east of Switzerland in a large arc. It begins with a hearty pass ride over the Oberalp, the headwaters of the Rhine, leads through the Romansh-speaking Surselva, offers impressive views of the wild Ruinaulta gorge and visits the Rhaetian capital of Chur. With the grape cooker wind through the Bündner Herrschaft and on the Rhine dam hurries to the wide Lake Constance, where orchards, castles and cheerful tourist chatter adorn the shores of the green and silver shimmering "Swabian Sea". This is followed by a quiet, wooded section, then a populated old town of Schaffhausen, before the waters of the Rhine Falls thunder into the depths with a roar.

The powerful river – called the High Rhine between Schaffhausen and Basel – is tamed by eleven power plants. The impressions along the way come together like a puzzle: romantic riverside paths, dead straight asparagus fields, cute half-timbered houses, endless electricity pylons, stoic fishermen, sunburnt salt towers, unequal German-Swiss bridge towns and sensational Roman ruins. Finally, it goes through busy agglomeration bustle, past huge production halls of the chemical industry and cargo ships to the border triangle around Basel.

Cycling far beyond Switzerland's borders? The Rhine route is just the beginning. Embedded in the EuroVelo 15, Rhine Cycle Route and the popular EuroVelo 6 - Atlantic-Black Sea, the journey from Basel continues through the most beautiful corners of Europe.