Schaffhausen-Switzerland-Lienheim-Germany
Enough of Switzerland-Back to Germany
27 miles (44 km)
Total so far: 988 miles (1,591 km)
Ascent: 1616 ft (493 m); Descent: 1834 ft (559 m)
- World > Europe > Switzerland > Unknown > Schaffhausen – map
- World > Europe > Switzerland > Unknown > Eglisau – map
- World > Europe > Germany > Baden-Wurttemberg > Hohentengen – map
- World > Europe > Germany > Baden-Wurttemberg > Lienheim – map
Fantasies of an easy downhill crashed. The route for Euro Velo 6 goes through Switzerland right on the border with Germany along the Rhine River. Why they chose to run the route through Switzerland is anyone’s guess, but it does not suit the character of Euro Velo 6 which is supposed to be the easiest cross Europe route.
The scenery through Switzerland was absolutely delicious. The houses, the gardens, the flowers, the landscaping, the scenic vistas were all superb. But the effort to see them was almost too much for us. At one point we were thinking of getting on the train to Basel as we passed by the train station.
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- Schaffhausen-Switzerland-Lienheim-Germany-pretty towns
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- Schaffhausen-Switzerland-Lienheim-Germany-pretty towns
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- Schaffhausen-Switzerland-Lienheim-Germany-pretty towns
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- Schaffhausen-Switzerland-Lienheim-Germany-pretty towns
But going through Switzerland on Euro Velo 6, we climbed and we dropped, and we climbed and we dropped and we climbed. Several sections were course rough gravel that required pushing the bikes. Some of the paved sections required pushing the bikes because they were so steep. It seemed the trails in Switzerland are hiking trails with heavy gravel on them. They are not suitable for touring bikes with luggage. Although of course, we saw a few other touring bikes with luggage riding the same route, we found the gravel sections extremely unpleasant and difficult and a few of the paved sections a bit insane for loaded bikes. I should have taken pictures of the steep clims and tough gravel, but we were exhausted with just going forward. It took us half a day to cycle 12 miles. We believe that on the German side, had we stayed on it, there was a flat route that did not follow the river. Most of the route you did not see the river anyway.
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- Schaffhausen-Switzerland-Lienheim-Germany-Rhine River
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- Schaffhausen-Switzerland-Lienheim-Germany-Rhine River-hiking path is flat here
When we got to the town of Eglisau, Switzerland; we were told there was a campground there. So we went down the steep hill to cross a bridge on the Rhine to find the campground. There was no campground.
Schaffhausen-Switzerland-Lienheim-Germany-Rhine River–Eglisau
There was no way we were ever going to go back up that hill again so we asked some people on the bridge if there was camping downriver from where we were. One very helpful gentleman knew of a campsite about 20 km downriver. He promised that the route was flat on the German side and that we could get there within an hour. Blessings upon him because he was right. We had one climb up out of the town for about 500 meters and the rest of the route was on a lovely plateau.
We found a campground where the man said there would be one, in Lienheim. We have the tent site to ourselves as most of the sites have motor homes.
It is Sunday evening and all the grocery stores are closed and the restaurants are closed. Our little campsite has a beer garden and when I started to cry the lady said she would stay open until 7 PM so I could get something to eat.
We’re sitting on the banks of the Rhine River; it is flowing by so fast and very green in color. There is beautiful forest around us. All is well with the world.
But, we will cycle the German side on regular roads rather than go back to Euro Velo 6 on the Swiss side.
It seems to us that the German side is going to be preferable to the Swiss side. We have never been able to get the maps for the Rhine route because none of the stores carry them. You have to special order the maps. So we are riding with a regular road map that does not tell us much about the character of the trails.
