The longest I’ve been on a bike is 3 hours, so how the heck did I complete a cycling tour? Here’s my beginner guide to the Eurovelo 15.
What is the Eurovelo 15?
The Eurovelo 15 is an AWESOME beginner cycling tour. It’s also known as the Rhine Cycle Route, as it follows the Rhine River from its source, in the Swiss Alps, to the sea, in the Netherlands. Here’s a little infographic that’ll give you the gist of this route.
Before You Cycle the Eurovelo 15 / Rhine Cycle Route
When to go
This route is best done from May to September. Though you could probably go year-round, once it gets colder, the Oberalp pass may not be accessible.
Do I need to train for the Eurovelo 15?
The Eurovelo 15 is a great first timer’s cycling tour because it’s mainly flat! I went into this with absolutely zero training or serious cycling experience, and I found it very doable. If you’re planning on doing days of 80 km or more, you might want to cycle a little bit beforehand to get used to the bike. If you’re going to train, I’d recommend doing both resistance training and endurance training. The resistance will help you get faster and more efficient on hills, and the endurance will help you with preparing for long days! In short, I didn’t find training necessary, but it could be helpful.
How long to cycle the Eurovelo 15?
We did the Eurovelo 15 in 17 days, though it’s definitely possible in 2 weeks. With two weeks, you won’t have any rest days and you’ll be covering a lot of ground daily. With 17 days, we were able to have a few rest days, but we were still covering a decent amount of ground per day. I’d actually recommend spending more like 3 weeks cycling this Rhine cycle route, as you’ll be able to rest and stop in all the cute towns along the way! How long you take to cycle the Eurovelo 15 is completely flexible, but I’d give it 2 weeks minimum.
Packing for the Rhine Cycle Route
Your Bike & Kit
First things first- What kind of bike should you use?
I cycled on a road bike and Phil cycled on a hybrid bike. A road bike will be fine for most of the journey, though Switzerland has quite a bit of gravel road, which I found tougher to cycle on. That’s the biggest downside to a road bike. The pro to having a road bike, however, is that it’s much more efficient than the hybrid on paved roads. I didn’t have to pedal nearly as much as Phil, and I was faster going uphill. On the gravel/natural roads, however, he was much faster than me. Either work!
You’ll also need a bike rack installed on your bike to hang your panniers from. The panniers will carry your equipment on the bike journey. I found a 20-litre pannier on each side (so 40 litres total) a good amount of space, though I’m a light packer. It might be helpful to have front panniers if you’re going to pack a little more. A bungee cord is also really good to have so you can attach something on the rack of the bike (in between the two panniers).
You’ll also want to carry a set of tools. I found a hex key SUPER important, as well as a flathead screwdriver AND a Philips screwdriver. If you’re flying, it’ll be important to take a wrench with you so you can take your pedals off. I carried a spare inner tube and a tire pump as well.
Personal Items
Along with the bike necessities, I carried quite a bit more! Phil and I were camping on this trip, so we had a lot more than the other cyclists who were staying in hotels every night.
Eurovelo 15 Stages: Cycling Along the Rhine Valley
The Eurovelo 15 is split into 7 stages. Don’t expect to do a stage per day – the EV15 is quite long and each stage will take a few days. The first two stages are in Switzerland, stages 2 -4, and part of stage 5, are in Germany, and from the second half of stage 5 to the end of the route, you’ll be in the Netherlands.
Oberalp Pass – Lake Constance
You can choose to take the train up to the top of the Oberalp pass or you can cycle up from Andermatt. We cycled up! From the Oberalp Pass to Lake Constance, you cycle through valleys and lots of cute farmland.
Lake Constance – Basel
Lake Constance is a beautiful lakeside to cycle along. You could easily break this up into a few more days to have a more leisurely pace where you get to stop in cute lakeside towns. You also pass the Rhine Falls, which are pretty spectacular.
Read about the first two stages here.
Basel – Karlsruhe
This stage goes through Alsace, a beautiful foodie region with some good wine! You could definitely do a detour over to Colmar, and the route goes to Strasbourg, a beautiful town with Alsacian architecture and LOADS of good restaurants.
Karlsruhe – Bingen
This section is filled with lots and lots of vineyards! In Bingen, there’s even a vineyard that you can take a cable car up to and then walk down. It’s beautiful to cycle through and I bet it’s great to drink your way through! 🙂
Bingen – Cologne
This section of the Rhine is one of my favourites! It’s the “romance” region of Germany and it’s filled with castles and absolutely adorable towns.
Read about stages 3-5 here.
Cologne – Arnhem
This section is quite industrial, which is a huge contrast to the small fairytale towns in the stage prior. It’s still interesting to ride through.
Arnhem – North Sea
This stage winds around different rivers, so you’ll have to take ferries and pretty indirect routes. These routes take you through some seriously cute residential areas, and then to Rotterdam.
Read about the final two stages here.
Eurovelo 15 Itinerary (& Suggestions)
This was the itinerary I had initially come up with. We didn’t follow it exactly; there were some really long days in this itinerary, and we’d make those shorter and make up the kilometres before a rest day. This itinerary is doable, but I do recommend spending more time in some areas (which will be noted) if your time and budget allow for it.
If there’s a day with particularly interesting sights, I’d recommend taking a rest day to see it. I have the rest days we took built into the itinerary, but the days are long, so if you’re keen to see something, take a rest day/half day. I think we would have enjoyed the Eurovelo 15 even more if we had limited ourselves to 60 or 70 km per day to allow time for sightseeing! You go through so many sweet towns and it’s worth building time into your itinerary to explore them.
Day 1:
Itinerary: Andermatt-Chur
Sightseeing:
- Oberalp Pass
- Lake Toma (source of Rhine + 1 hr walk from pass)
- Ruinalta Reichenau/Graubünden (gorge in between Ilanz + Reichenau)
- Bündner Kunstmuseum (art museum in Chur)
- Altstadt Chur (one of the oldest towns in CH)
Distance: 92 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 10 hrs
Note: I would consider breaking this into two days. There’s a restaurant at the top of the Oberalp Pass that would be nice to grab lunch at. Chur is also worth exploring for a few hours. Breaking this day into two would give you the time to do both of these!
Day 2
Itinerary: Chur-Konstanz/Constance
Sightseeing:
- Lake Constance
- Schloss Werdenberg and town (smallest in CH)
Distance: 129 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 12 hrs
Note: We felt this day was really long, so we stopped right at the beginning of the lake. This meant we were behind and we didn’t catch up on our mileage until Basel. You could easily take more time along the lake, as it’s beautiful!
Day 3
Itinerary: Konstanz-Koblenz
Sightseeing:
- Stein Am Rhein
- Schaffhausen
- Napolean Museum
- Rhine Falls
Distance: 98 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 10 hrs
Day 4
Itinerary: Koblenz-Basel
Sightseeing:
- Bad Sackingen
- Rheinfelden
- Basel Altstadt – here’s a list of things to do in Basel
Distance: 65 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 6 hrs
Day 5
Rest Day
Day 6
Itinerary: Basel-Erstein (or another suburb of Strasbourg around same distance)
Sightseeing:
- Colmar (detour)
Distance: 113 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 9 hrs Note: See day 7 note.
Day 7
Itinerary: Erstein – Strasbourg (France)
Sightseeing:
- Petite France
- Notre Dame (can walk up to top for €5)
- Au Brasseur (cheapish flammekueche + microbrewery)
- Mon Oncle Malker de Munster (cheese shop)
- Crémant @ Le QG
- Beer @ Troquet des Kneckes
Distance: 23 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 2 hours
Note: We combined days 6+7 to have a full rest day in Strasbourg. It was a long 11 hour day but we felt more rested after Strasbourg.
Day 8
Itinerary: Strasbourg-Karlsruhe
Sightseeing:
- Fish ladders (Gambsheim)
Distance: 91 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 8.5 hours
Note: We didn’t get all the way to Karlsruhe (it’s actually not on the Rhine route), and stopped quite a ways before. Again, we played catch up the next couple days and were only back on track in Bingen.
Day 9
Itinerary: Karlsruhe-Worms
Sightseeing:
- Speyer
- Lampertheim (asparagus town), lunch stop?
Distance: 92 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 8 hours
Day 10
Itinerary: Worms-Bingen
Sightseeing:
- Mainz
- Wiesbaden (detour)
- Oestrich-Winkel – Inland Shipping Museum
- Cable car over the vineyards and a walk back €5.50 one way or €8 return – www.seilbahn-ruedesheim.de
Distance: 88 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 8.5 hours
Day 11
Itinerary: Bingen-Neuwied
Distance: 85 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 5 hours
Day 12
Itinerary: Neuwied-Cologne
Sightseeing:
- Food: Hommage- healthy cafe
- Cologne Cathedral
- Belgian District – fun bars and restaurants
- Ludwig Museum
- Chocolate museum
- St. Martin’s- church
- K̦ln Triangle for sunset Рsmall fee for 103-meter lift
- Ice Cream United (GOOD)
Distance: 75 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 6 hours
Day 13
Rest day
Day 14
Itinerary: Cologne-Duisburg
Sightseeing:
- Dusseldorf
- Tiger & Turtle Art Installation (detour)
Distance: 70 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 7 hours
Day 15
Itinerary: Duisburg-Arnhem
Sightseeing:
- Kalkar
- Kleve
- Emmerich am Rhein
- Roman Archaeological Park in Xanten
- Millingen
- Nederlands Openluctmuseum (Arnhem)
Distance: 95 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 9 hours
Day 16
Itinerary: Arnhem-Gorinchem
Distance: 71 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 4.5 hours
Day 17
Itinerary: Gorinchem- Hoek van Holland
Sightseeing:
- Rotterdam
- Koekela- cake shop (Rotterdam)
- Cube houses
- Markthal
- Supermercado (Mexican) – Witte de with straat
- Lilith-breakfast/lunch – good smoothie bowls and pancakes
- Euromast- view
- Old port
- Rotterdam new building- sky bar
- Little Vietnam or restaurant pho
- Urban farms -rooftop farms & fresh food
- Kinderdijk – windmills
Distance: 83 km
Approximate Time Cycling: 8 hours
Accommodation on the Eurovelo 15
We did a mix of camping and staying in hotels. We were pulling long days, so the last thing we wanted to do was to set up camp, and we did stay in a couple guesthouses/hotels along the way. If you’re cycling in a pair or more, it really isn’t that much more costly to stay in a hotel. If you’re cycling on your own, there is a significant price difference between staying in a tent or a hotel.
Rhine Cycle Route Camping
I wrote a Rhine Cycle Route Camping Guide, which you can find here. In a nutshell, camping is pretty convenient on the Rhine, and there are quite a few kinds of camping you can do, from glamping pods to pitching a tent in the wild!
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Hello, I enjoy reading all of your article post. I wanted
to write a little comment to support you.
I’ve actually done part of this cycle route as someone who hadn’t ridden a bike since childhood and I loved it so much! It made me remember what it feels like to be riding a bike and feel like you’re flying, and the scenery is so gorgeous!
It’s SUCH a good tour for beginner cyclists or people who don’t ride often. I LOVED it.
Wow girl! That’s such an amazing accomplishment! And with no cycle training? I’m impressed! Awesome read, would love to try a cycle route like this one day
Definitely give this one a go if you’re looking for something with little hills and little pre-trip training!
We did this a few months ago .. really interesting ride. We cycle tour regularly and would have found it hard to fit into 2 weeks. We took 3 weeks. We like to do about 40 – 50 miles a day with a rest day every 4-5 days. It seems a shame to rush along and not be able to do some sightseeing. 3 weeks is more realistic if you want some rest days and time to detour to Colmar etc. It is not all flat! In Switzerland we did nearly 8000′ of climbing over 4 days (and 1300′ of descent). Some of the more industrial areas make for slower riding as there are roads to cross, routes to check, ferries to catch. Often the cycle route does not go through the town or city centre, so you need to detour or you will miss them all. We camped most of the way with no problems, but this also means daily stops for provisions. We also took the WaterBus from Dordrecht to Rotterdam – highly recommended for an exciting finish.
In hindsight, I would have DEFINITELY done it in more time! We were struggling through our 140 km days! It was beautiful, but I feel we didn’t get the full experience because we rushed through it. I think 50 miles or so would have been a great way to do the route, and definitely more time for sightseeing! Luckily, I live along the Rhine, so nothing is too far that I can’t return! Do you have any other cycling tour recommendations? We’re itching to get back on bicycles! 🙂
We are planning on doing this trip in September 2020. Flying from US and want to ship bikes to a bike shop in andermatt. Not sure if you have any insight into this or not but would be grateful for any help!
Thank you for a well written piece, not much info on this trip out there.
Thanks so much! There are a few bike shops in Andermatt – I’d contact them. I’m sure they could help you arrange something.
Thank you for all this great information. We’re planning to ride the entire Eurovelo 15 route this July, and I’m playing around with itinerary ideas now. You really covered some ground!
We like to average more like 70-80km in a day so we’re curious to see if that’s still the case with this route, or if we find we can easily do more as you did.
This will be our 4th tour. My first tour was a 2000km solo trip through France. I cycled along the Loire and that was pretty fabulous, I would certainly recommend it. The second year we went France, Spain, Andorra, France, crossing the Pyrenees (the idea of which terrified me for months in the lead up). The third year we cycled over the Swiss Alps then down into Italy and across France.
You’re right that when it ends there’s a period of sadness that you’re not jumping onto a bike and heading off today. That feeling of freedom, of “I have everything I need to live right here on this bike” is intoxicating.
Wow, your tours sound incredible! I would say that if you’re comfortable with cycle touring (which you definitely seem to be!), 70-80 km shouldn’t be difficult, as the roads are quite flat after Switzerland. Switzerland has quite a bit of natural terrain, which really slowed us down in the beginning, but after the first two days or so, it’s all road cycling and flat! The only reason I’d slow down if I were you is to sightsee- near Bingen (DE) might be nice to stop and walk around, as well as Strasbourg (FR), Rotterdam (NE) and lots of other really cute (but small!) stops. Sooo excited for you!
Hi Hope to do this next year could you please let me know how you get on
Keep this going please, great job!
It’s hard to come by experienced people about this topic, however, you seem
like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group?
There’s a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your
content. Please let me know. Thanks
Feel free to! Let me know if anyone has questions 🙂
Hey there!
We are thinking of following this route this summer, but are a bit scared about the part going through the Alps.
Is it going through the valleys and flat or is it constantly going up and down?
Thanks a lot!
Hi! Going up the Oberalp is steady uphill. You can take a train to surpass that part. From there, it’s a bit up and down to Chur, but it’s pretty flat from then on!
Hi Anya, thanks for sharing your experience. I was going to do Eurovelo 15 this September, then my daughter informed me she was expecting a baby late August. So my plans were put on hold and i am looking to do it September 2020 now! The most difficult part is getting the bike to Andermatt, i am looking at Flying BA from Manchester to Zurich and then train to Andermatt and stay overnight ready for an early start. I would like to know how other people transported their bikes, regards, Richard.
I’d say BA is your best bet because the bike can be counted as your free luggage! We took the earliest train from Basel to Andermatt to start, but I definitely think that the best way to do it is the way you’re planning on it!
Hi, thank you so much for sharing this with us. It helped me a Lot. I am a brazilian biker who is going to cycle eurovelo (and in Europe) for the First time. There are very litle information in portuguese about this route (even in english i think ) and yours really gave me some light.
Im going in the begging of August, by myself (If anyone is doing the same and want to meet up on the way feel Free to message me).
My question would be reggard to getting to andermatt. Im flying from são Paulo to Zurich and planning to cycle ALL the way to andermatt (maybe stopping halfway for a day , Just before the Hill) , as the prices for train tickets are quite expensive. (Money is a bit of an issue for me, our currance sucks ).
Im not a begginer biker but also not a professional, Just do not want to struggle too much haha.
Thank you só much!
Hmm maybe have a look on SBB (Swiss train website) for their ‘super saver’ tickets! That’s the best way I’ve found cheaper train tickets. It looks like you can also take a mix of the Swiss national routes 3 and 9 to get from Zurich to Andermatt on bike paths 🙂
Hello, awesome blog! It’s really helping me. I’ve been struggling when finding information about the bikepaths. Do you share the road with cars, or are there bikelanes all the way?
Thanks!
Hi! It’s a mixture of both! I’d say you definitely need to be comfortable cycling with cars, but quite a bit of the route is bike lanes or trails!
Let’s go
Do you think it would make any difference doing it in the opposite direction?
I want to cycle from Amsterdam to Zurich (Just because those are the flights i have booked from a previous trip for festivals which are no longer going ahead)
Most of the blogs are saying to go from Switzerland to Amsterdam and i’m worried that there are reasons for this (maybe this direction is less inclined? maybe the sights are better viewed from this direction?)
What are your thoughts?
There will definitely be more incline along the way, though most would be gradual! I think it would be a little more challenging but not too hard! 🙂
Hi Anya,
I have enjoyed reading your description of the route and itinerary. Most inspiring…!
Me and my wife plan to do the whole Rhine route in June 2020 on e bikes. We are from South Africa and have no idea how to rent or obtain bikes for the trip. We obviously will start in Andermatt and want to stop in Amsterdam but how and where can we rent bikes over such a long distance.
Can you perhaps assist with a suggestion?
Please e mail me at whh@webmail.co.za
Kind regards
Willem le Roux
Hi Willem! I’m not sure its possible to rent ebikes over such a long distance if you want to pick it up in Switzerland and drop it off in the Netherlands. If you’re willing to fly back to Switzerland to drop off the bikes, more options are available to you – SBB rents out ebikes for long periods of time. It starts at 340 Francs for a month, though you can also do shorter term hires. There’s more information here: https://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/at-the-station/getting-to-and-from-the-station/rental-bike.html
Thank you so much for this clear and helpful guide. We’re hoping to enjoy this route in the near future; your writing has really inspired me. Do you have any tips or travel advice on getting to the start point, 2 bikes, 2 adults from the UK?
Hi Paula! I’m so sorry for the delayed response. I recommend flying – you can send your bikes on most flights for around 40 GBP if you take off the front wheel and pedals.
I have a question related to electricity in camp sites. I breathe with neuro phrenic pacers and am on an IVAAPS unit at night (much higher tech than CPAP or BiPAP) so must have electricity. Is there electricity at camp sites or must I use hotels and hostels?
Hi Sharon! You can often get electricity at campsites, although I would call ahead to each to ensure that they have RV/caravan spots with hookups available (which are often the only places you can get electricity). It would take some scrappiness to get an extension cord into your tent, but I think you’ll be able to do it!
Thanks so much for this extensive share.
I’ve been getting some miles in my legs this summer and am looking forward to riding this route in September, albeit in reverse; north to south.
Just completed UK coast to coast, camped all the way so I’m hopefully ride fit. 🤞
Any pointers you might highlight gratefully received.
Sounds amazing! You’ll have the best time!
My wife and I are also considering doing the route from north to south but stopping before Switzerland. Is there any disadvantage to this? (Does the wind blow more commonly south to north?) Thank you.
Hi Pete! The only disadvantage is that you’ll be slowly travelling uphill, but I don’t think it will be so bad as the route is very gradual.