In the spring I am planning to bike from the Frankfurt Airport to the Amsterdam Airport . First along the Main River and then along the Rhine. Has anyone done this our a similar route?

No. I've biked in Amsterdam and along the Rhine but not toured. In my expert opinion you should ask this in the Europe section of regional discussions, that's where the randonneurs answer.

Yep ... we did it in the other direction in 2012.

Further to this ... our story!

Scroll down a bit, and then it start with us arriving in The Netherlands. The entry for Friday 3 August is about our decision to cycle the Rhine Route and then in the following entries we do just that.

Charlene Barach (Machka) - 2012 Round the World Tour

Maybe there's some bike&barge arrangement for (a part of) the trip. You ride without luggage to the next harbour, the ship is already there and you sleep (and eat?) on the ship.

Now that is something Rowan and I would like to do.

In fact, when we got to St Goar, we checked into the most lovely little hotel overlooking the Rhine and the next day we took a cruise out to Bacharach and discovered we could have taken that cruise from much further back rather than cycling!! If we'd only known!

But we've also cycled along the Marne and Moselle and thought one day we might like to cruise them with our folding bikes on board, and each evening, get off and cycle around the town we happened to stop at.

FWIW, There is a series of Locks & a Canal connecting the Rhein-Main and the Danube .

So, vessels can transit from the North Sea to the Black Sea

TBH I had much better answers come from here than the regional forums. They don't get watched as much, I think.

EDIT: oops, thought this was in touring.

I looked into that for my last Europe trip. Dinner was generally on board, with a packed lunch provided from most of the places I looked. At the end of the day, though, many of the days were quite short on mileage (some under 20), and quite a bit of the mileage traveled while on the boat. All depends on your goals of the trip.

OK, the expert part was meant ironic anyway. I'm not a tourer, I enjoy riding in Amsterdam much more than in the countryside, for the same reasons Machka didn't like it. [MENTION=4588]Machka[/MENTION], you're right, Amsterdam is not really cyclist friendly, but that's mainly because of other cyclists who assume experience with and understanding of the anarchy. There are rules, but it's the unformal ones that really count. It's never been cycling heaven, cyclists just took over and the council is trying to keep up with the infrastructure rather well but is always reacting. It doesn't need to be cycling heaven, it's not like people have a choice. They make it work, that's what mass cycling does, but it works for Amsterdammers, not for tourists. The heaven part is the liveliness of the city, that would just be impossible without so many people getting around this 'easily'.

And you're probably stuck with a group. Cruise boats up and down the Rhine have been there for ages, these days that's mainly enjoyed by the elderly, but I was thinking if all the facilities for boat vacations are there anyway, someone might have combined that with cycling to attract a younger crowd. Could be something to look into.

All points I quickly decided against the idea!

Just don't use a roof rack on the boat to carry your bike.

2 dead after cruise ship hits bridge in southern Germany

scott s.
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I think there is. I remember watching a vid on Youtube where people stayed on the boat at night and toured by bike during the day. Most of the bikes looked like they were provided by the company, though some had obviously been brought by the passengers.

It defenitely exists, I believe it's a quite small but fast growing part of the tourist industry. The question is whether it's possible on the Rhine and if it's an attractive option, or it takes the freedom out of your vacation and/or get you stuck on boats and in harbours full of very senior citizens. I don't know, it's just something I would look into because cycling without luggage and not having to look for a camping site or hotel after a day's cycling seems an advantage to me, at least for a part of the trip.

Here we go, a new thread in the 50+ forum for those wanting more info on bike-and-barge cruises:

https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus...e-touring.html

It is possible. One example: Germany: Mainz - Cologne | MS Andante - Boat Bike Tours

Whether it is worth it to you is something only the person going can answer. For me personally, it wasn't.

EDIT: Another example, with a bit longer distances: https://eurosailtravel.com/en/individual_trips17.html

Thinking of doing part of the Rhine valley route, getting back to touring after a twenty-year break. Can anyone recommend which might be the best 100 mile section to start on, and is there any part to avoid? (we particularly DON'T want any on-road, tangling with traffic). Many thanks (We are 62 and 72 years old - but slim and fit!)

I've ridden the stretch from Koblenz to the Neckar River (and thence to Heidelberg) and it was enjoyable and scenic, but if you're riding along the river you will be on roads, unless they have since '74 built bike paths or lanes.

Wish I was coming along, sounds awesome.

Appearantly they have for at least a large part. the rhine cycle route in North Rhine-Westfalia, along the Rhine with a bicycle , it's a bit hard to find out where exactly because it turns out the Germans have overcomplicated the naming of cyclinginfrastructure. It's not tarmac all the way, and through cities there will probably be pieces where the road has to be shared with cars, with or without a (painted) cycle lane. But Germany has become rather cycling friendly in the last 2 decades.

We are planning to ride the Middle Rhine, Saar, Mosel and Lake Constance. We have chosen this route based upon the input of all of the rides on GCOAB, friends and fellow travellers. Bike paths for 90% of the ride and the middle Rhine has sections on both sides of the river as well as along the canal or the road. Multiple sites give access to their gpx tracks and with that and google street view you should be able to plan a route that meets your needs. Be forewarned that if you plan to use B&B's, hotels, etc. that this is a very popular route and many places are pre-booked by the commercial cycling planners. Plan ahead.