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The Moselle Cycle Route

From the source to the Rhine at Koblenz

ISBN

9781852847210

Availability

Published

22 Aug 2014

Edition

First

Pages

208

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.20cm

Weight

230g

Delivery & Returns

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A guidebook to the Moselle Cycle Route. Cycle the entire length of the Moselle river, from its source in the Vosges Mountains in eastern France to its confluence with the Rhine at the west German city of Koblenz. Suitable for cyclists of all experience levels, the 512km route is well-waymarked and the route is mostly on well-surfaced cycle tracks.

Seasons

route can be cycled at any time of year, but best between April and October

Centres

route from Col de Bussang to Koblenz, passing through Nancy, Metz and Trier, with extra excursions from Konz and Koblenz

Difficulty

a straightforward cycle ride, mostly off-road on well-surfaced (mainly asphalt) cycle tracks with little ascent; suitable for all levels of cyclist, on all types of bike, although racing cyclists may wish to use the alternative routes described in the guide to avoid a few short sections of gravel.

Must See

the Vosges Mountains; Lorraine; Luxembourg; the German Rheinland; the great cities of Nancy and Metz; the spectacular Mosel gorge; the Hunsrück and Eiffel Mountains.

ISBN

9781852847210

Availability

Published

22 Aug 2014

Edition

First

Pages

208

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.20cm

Weight

230g

Delivery & Returns

Overview

This guidebook provides 14 stages of route description to cycling along the Moselle river, a route that offers stunning scenery, plentiful accommodation and places to eat and drink, and straightforward cycling throughout. A well-waymarked, generally downhill 512km route, it is mostly off-road and on well-surfaced cycle tracks (mainly asphalt) with virtually no gradients, and the majority is along the riverbank or on canal towpaths. From its source in the Vosges Mountains of eastern France, the Moselle flows through the French region of Lorraine and crosses into Luxembourg then into the German Rheinland region before it reaches its confluence with the Rhine at the west German city of Koblenz. Suitable for both veteran long-distance cyclists and for newcomers to cycle touring who wish to start with an easy-to-follow journey, the route can be completed in a week by fit cyclists, cycling two stages per day. Two weeks allow for alternative stages and optional excursions through the Saar and Rhine gorges and to visit the Boucles de Moselle and the city of Luxembourg, and give enough time for sightseeing and a leisurely riding pace.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Map key

Overview map

Introduction

Background

The route

Natural environment

Preparation

Getting there and back

Navigation

Accommodation

Food and drink

Amenities and services

What to take

Safety and emergencies

About this guide

The route

Stage 1 Col de Bussang to Remiremont

Stage 2 Remiremont to Épinal

Stage 3 Épinal to Charmes

Stage 4 Charmes to Nancy

Stage 4A Charmes to Toul

Stage 5A Toul to Pont-à-Mousson

Stage 5 Nancy to Pont-à-Mousson

Stage 6 Pont-à-Mousson to Metz

Stage 7 Metz to Thionville

Stage 8 Thionville to Remich

Stage 9 Remich to Trier

Stage 9A Remich to Trier via Luxembourg City

Excursion 1 Konz to Merzig: the Saar Valley

Stage 10 Trier to Leiwen

Stage 11 Leiwen to Bernkastel-Kues

Stage 12 Bernkastel-Kues to Zell

Stage 13 Zell to Cochem

Stage 14 Cochem to Koblenz

Excursion 2 Koblenz to St Goar: the Rhine Gorge

Appendix A Route summary table

Appendix B Language glossary

Appendix C Useful contacts

Appendix D Principal tourist offices

Appendix E Youth hostels

Maps

There is no specific series of maps that provides comprehensive coverage of the whole route. For France, sheet 516 of the Michelin map Alsace, Lorraine (at a scale of 1:200,000) or sheets 314 and 307 (at a scale of 1:150,000) give an overview of the route across Lorraine without specifically showing cycle routes. As the route is under development, things change frequently and the best way to ascertain the up-to-date position is via the Lorraine tourist office, which publishes a map showing sections open, those under construction and those planned (http://lorraine.voie.verte.free.fr).

For the latter stages between Metz and Koblenz, Esterbauer Bikeline publish a cycling guide (see below), which includes strip maps of the route along both sides of the river at 1:75,000. The stretch from Schengen, on the Franco–Luxembourg–German border, to Koblenz, is also covered by a laminated folding strip map of the Mosel-Radweg (sheet 198), published by Publicpress publications (www.publicpress.de). They publish a similar map for the Saar-Radweg (sheet 617). Although these are at 1:50,000, they contain less detail and are less accurate than Bikeline guides.

Various online maps are available to download, at a scale of your choice. Particularly useful is Open Street Map (www.openstreetmap.org) which has a cycle route option showing the route in its entirety, including the planned but not yet constructed stages. This can be a little misleading, as when a track is built it does not always take the exact route originally proposed, and moreover it leaves you to make your own choice of alternative road routes to bypass missing sections.

Updates

November 2022

Travelling with a cycle on Eurostar

After 3 years since they ‘temporarily’ ceased carrying cycles because of covid, Eurostar have begun carrying them again, but with a very limited service and with conditions of carriage that are not attractive to touring cyclists. Before covid, all trains to Paris and Brussels carried up to six cycles, two fully assembled and four dismantled, in specially designed fibreglass bike cases. Eurostar provided the cases and tools to dismantle/reassemble bikes in an area dedicated to this procedure.

The reinstated service carries bikes only on trains to Paris (not Brussels) on selected departures from London between 07.55 and 15.31 or from Paris between 11.13 and 18.13. Fully assembled bikes are not being carried. Four dismantled bikes can be carried, but cyclists must deliver their bikes already boxed to the baggage counter in either London or Paris. Pre-booking is compulsory and riders must now travel on the same train as their bikes. After completing the journey, boxes must be collected directly from the train and cycles reassembled on the platform.

This is far from ideal, and until Eurostar fully reinstate their previous cycle carriage policy, cyclists are recommended to take their bikes by plane, ferry or Euroshuttle when heading to the European mainland. The situation could potentially change.

The Cycling UK website www.cyclinguk.org has a page dedicated to Eurostar cycle carriage policy, which is updated regularly to contain any new information.

December 2020

Author updates

Mike Wells has provided these updates

Moselle route update Nov20 (128.927 KB)

October 2020

Doing the route on a tandem

The main thing you may struggle with on a tandem are the offset barriers that are used in France to slow down cyclists and prevent them from emerging too fast onto vehicular roads. The author has had difficulty sometimes negotiating them on his ordinary cycle with panniers sticking out, which restrict clearance. With a tandem you may need to dismount to get the bike through. Pictures of such barriers can be found in the guide on p47 and p99.

The other problem is transporting a tandem to and from the start and end of the route. Neither flying nor taking a train is easy with a tandem and research will need to be undertaken.

Downloads

The Moselle Cycle Route - GPX File

By Mike Wells

After a career in marketing, culminating as marketing director of a leading supermarket group, Mike Wells started to write walking and cycling guides in his fifties. He has been a keen cyclist for over 25 years. After completing various UK Sustrans routes, such as Lôn Las Cymru in Wales and the C2C route across northern England, he then moved on to cycling long-distance routes in continental Europe and beyond. These include cycling both the Camino and Ruta de la Plata to Santiago de la Compostela, a traverse of Cuba from end to end, a circumnavigation of Iceland and a trip across Lapland to the North Cape. Even further afield he has ridden the Congo-Nile trail from the Congo basin to the source of the Nile in Rwanda's Nyungwe national park. On all these trips he was accompanied by his partner Christine, who sadly died in 2020.He has written 10 cycling guides for Cicerone, including a series following the great rivers of Europe. For a full list of Cicerone books and articles by Mike Wells, visit his author page.

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