Bike Hire in the Moselle Valley

Schaltwerk in Cochem on the Moselle offers a wide range of reasonably priced hire bikes.

Schaltwerk

Ravenestraße 18-20

56812 COCHEM

T: +49(0)2671 60 35 00

info@schaltwerk-bikes.de

www.schaltwerk-bikes.de (In German, use a translation app)

Ten days on an e-bike

For a number of reasons we decided recently to hire e-bikes to follow the Rhine, Moselle, Marne-Rhine Canal, Rhine loop we have christened the "Riesling Route". There were three of us all on sturdy touring e-bikes hired from Bellorange in Edenkoben, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.

Sturdy touring e-bikes

One of our number had never seen the Rhine Gorge or visited Trier, Nancy or Strasbourg. Our time was limited so we took a train from Mannheim to Mainz. We booked all accommodation in advance, becausr the Moselle Valley is a popular tourist destination in early autumn, due to the wine festivals and the grape picking. In addition it is more difficult to find rooms for three people than one room for a couple.

We felt it was better to take a steamer through part of the Rhine Gorge. Sightseeing is easier.

After Boppard, cycling again.

We also took some time off in Trier. Germany's oldest city needs more than a quick half hour's rubbernecking. To make up the time taken we took a train to Perl to enable us to get to Thionville before dark, where we'd booked a room. The Moselle Cycle Path is excellent and well signposted between Schengen and Arnaville. After Arnaville a rough canal towpath can be followed as far as Plagny sur Moselle where we took the train to Nancy. The recommended cycle route to the city follows the main road and is not pleasant to cycle. Taking the train meant we also had time to look at Nancy.

One of the better bits of the towpath

We cycled along the towpath of the Marne-Rhine Canal without difficulty, much of the towpath has been sealed and tarred. On the next day we climbed over the Vosges on quiet local roads and dropped down the Vallée des Éclusiers - the lockkeepers' valley - past 17 locks and lock keeper's houses. The lower part of the route involves cycling on a viaduct laid in the dewatered canal. Good fun! We reached Strasbourg in the early evening. It was a long day about 80km, but easy because of the electrical assistance and a smooth towpath. The next morning we spent in Strasbourg looking the cathedral and the old city, before following the Euro15 cycle route to Lauterbourg, where we caught a train, free for us as owners of a regional pensioners' season ticket, to Ludwigshafen. The city was chosen as destination as we knew that the lift on Mannheim HBf on our arrival platform was not functioning. The plan was to take the lift at Ludwigshafen Mitte station down to ground level, cross the Rhine and cycle home. The best laid plans do 'gang awae', unfortunately. We found that the lift on our platform was defect and we had to carry the bikes downstairs.

The stairs!

The disadvantage of these e-bikes is their weight. We found the bikes were heavy to lug on and off a ship, but we have become experts at looking helpless and were helped by the crew. All of the trains we took were low level loading, roll on, roll off, so the weight was not really a problem at least as far as the platform. At the majority of stations lifts were available if required.
On the plus side we were not as tired in the evenings as if we'd pedalled a tourer all day. If we met a headwind at the end of the day we turned up the assistance a notch or two. Whether we were much faster is difficult to assess. We were exploring the route for the first time in ten or so years and we spent much time, of necessity, scratching our heads looking at maps. We found on rough towpaths the e-bikes are about as fast as our normal tourers, but I for one was wary of putting the pedal to the metal or turning up the power when a minor mistake could have landed me in the drink. Would we hire e-bikes again? Yes, in the mountains! Would we buy a pair of e-bikes? Probably not! We live on the Rhine Plain and there are few local hills unless we go looking for them.

Piste Cyclable / Radweg / Cycleway along the River Moselle in France November 2016

• Schengen (L)/Perl (D)/Apach (F) to Thionville: Well established well signposted route.
• Thionville to Metz: Fairly new excellent well signposted route with a link into the city centre of Metz.
• Metz to Pagny-sur-Moselle: Continuation of above route. Follow the bike signs for Woippy from cathedral square and turn off right before the canal bridge to follow the right bank. The route changes from bank to bank but is well signposted as far as Arnaville. The route follows towpaths, forest tracks and minor roads. Once you cross the departmental border into Meurthe-et-Moselle signposting and the smooth tarred path disappears. You can follow a rougher route south to Pagny-sur-Moselle where you can cross the railway lines at a level or grade crossing by pushing the button to warn the signal box of your intention or continue on along a stretch of single track path to reach the new Moselle lock and Pagny-sur-Moselle. It can take a few minutes for the rail track to be clear.
• South of Pagny-sur-Moselle: I suspect from reading the literature (http://veloroute-charles-le-temeraire.fr/etapes-veloroute-charles-le-temeraire.php) on this route that unless you are an experienced road cyclist that you would be well advised to catch a train in Pagny-sur-Moselle to Nancy. The Charles le Téméraire Cycle Route follows the D952/657 to Frouard and we did not enjoy the route as far as Pont-a-Mousson. Even on e-bikes the traffic was hairy.

We researched the route between Metz to Pagny-sur-Moselle as part of the updating of our Riesling Route guide. As the winter weather gets more unpleasant we will retire to our office to update and rewrite the book. Keep your fingers crossed.

Moselle Valley News

The cycleway along the Moselle Valley near Metz in Lorraine, known by the French as la véloroute "Charles le Téméraire" (V50 Moselle Saone) has been extended to Moulins-lès-Metz. This means it is possible to cycle on quiet roads or cycleways from the French-German-Luxembourg border to Moulins-lès-Metz. After that our feeling is that it is better to cycle up into the hills as described in our book: "The Riesling Route".

e-bikes in Saarland II

To order a free of charge folding map with cycling tour suggestions, rental stations and other useful information, please call the tourist authority on 0049 (0) 681 927200 or email info@tz-s.de or check http://www.visitsaarland.co.uk/en/evelo-saarland-1. Saarbrücken, the starting point for many of the suggested tours is easy to reach via its own airport and Luxembourg and Hahn airports. You can also take a TGV or an ICE from Paris. 

This is the only e-bike rental company in Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland. Most visitors to Saarland will pass through the city. Check with the company before you arrive. There are obviously a limited number of bikes to hire. 

by.schulz GmbH
Vorstadtstrasse 53
66117 Saarbrücken

Tel: 0681 / 925 52 52
Fax: 0681 / 925 52 53
Mail: info@bikes-ebikes.de
Web: http://www.bikes-ebikes.de

Schulz and Co offer Swiss built Flyers. The website is in German, I am afraid. (Hint Google Translator)

Rental costs for e-Bikes:

Half day EUR 12
One day EUR 20
Weekend all-inclusive price EUR 35 (from Friday 1 pm to Monday 1 pm)
For seven days: EUR 110

If you have ten days to two weeks to spare  you could pick up an e-bike in Saarbrücken, explore Saarland, Luxembourg and part of Lorraine or what I would be tempted to do is follow the Saar Coal Canal down to the Marne-Rhine Canal, where little added e-power is needed. Then cross over the Vosges where assistance is useful and look at the Inclined Plane in St Louis Arzviller, before cycling across to Strasbourg. After Strasbourg I'd head north through Speyer, Heidelberg, Worms, Mainz and Bingen to cycle through the Rhine Gorge with its castles and vineyards. In Koblenz you can turn left to follow the Moselle upstream to Trier, Germany's oldest city, founded by the Romans. The e-bike is very useful in the Moselle Valley as the cycle route climbs up and down the valley sides. Finally you reach Saarland again and can follow the Saar to Saarbrücken. 

Cycle touring and wine tasting

The Moselle Valley is good area to drink wine, look at castles and enjoy the twists and turns of the meanders as the rivers wriggles its way towards the Rhine. The good thing about Moselle wines is they are well flavoured but low in alcohol, which means that a pleasant evening is not followed by a heavy head in the morning. The valley was one of the first in Germany to develop cycle ways and is still one of the leading areas for cycle touring. The regional tourist authority is offering a seven night self-guided tour on the River Saar and Moselle stopping in small hotels with five days cycling for 332 Euro. Bike hire and luggage transfer is extra.  Check out: http://www.mosellandtouristik.de/en/angebot/cycle_tour_in_the_moselle_region-223.aspx.

Exploring the Moselle and the Saar Valleys

We recently came across a couple who organise bicycling holidays using a Dutch hotel barge as base with unisex bicycles on the Moselle as  far as Nancy and the Saar to Saarbrücken. You don't need to take your own bike. The owners' website is unfortunately only in German and Dutch, but the owners assured me that they can speak English and they would be glad to have English speaking passengers on board. Contact info@actievevaarvakanties.nl for more information.