German wine is well known. As are German woods and forests: The Odenwald, and the Black Forest (Schwarzwald, in German), to name a couple of famous ones. So, when I found a circuit trail entitled Wein und Wald Runde (roughly translated as Wine and Woods Circuit), I really looked forward to cycling it.
Trail Name: Wein & Wald Runde (Wine and Woods Circuit) (AKA: SB3)
Trail Type: Mid-distance cycling itinerary circuit; well-maintained, with much of it paved, and well-marked, along most of the itinerary route
Length:
Total – 28 kilometers/17.4 miles
Convenient to: Heilbronn, Germany
Marking: SB3 and trail name letters in white on a colorful square metal sign
After having hiked through the steep and forested slopes of the Mittelrhein, I continued my tour of the Rheingau wine region’s vineyards by bicycle. At Ruedesheim, I left the Rheingauer Riesling-pfad (see here), and hopped on a bike following the Rheingauer Riesling Route. The two trails cover the Rheingau vineyard area, but following somewhat different routes.
I was immediately struck by how different the wine area upriver from Ruedesheim is from that downriver of it. Upriver from Ruedesheim, the world heritage site of the “Mittelrhein” ends. The obvious difference is that the river suddenly opens up again. The narrow chasm defining the romantic middle Rhine with its vertiginously steep slopes disappears, replaced by gentler vine-bearing slopes. Cities soon replace quaint villages, and the river takes on a more business-like aspect, industry, ports for shipping, and riverside loading facilities.
Trail Name: Rheingauer Riesling Route
Trail Type: Long distance trail; almost exclusively paved, well maintained; the route itself is marked in part with the wine glass marking (see below), and other parts are marked with an R3.
Length:
Total: 62 kilometers/38.5 miles (Kaub to Floersheim)
Segment: 49 kilometers/30.5 miles (Ruedesheim to Floersheim)
Convenient to: Wiesbaden, or Mainz, Germany
Marking:
White wine glass with a crown on a green background; Alternatively: R3 and R3a (variant to Kloster Eberbach). Where the icon marking is not easily found, follow the R3 or R3a signs.
Continue reading Rheingauer Riesling Route: Trail in a Nutshell
Spring blooms relatively early in the southern Pfalz. First, and perhaps the most spectacular of all, are the almond blossoms. Beginning in early March and continuing until mid-April, the profuse, brilliantly pink flowers seen against a cerulean blue sky, are a gorgeous sight. This magnificent spectacle prompted a long-distance hiking trail entitled the Pfaelzer Mandelpfad, or the Pfalz Almond Trail. While I unfortunately arrived just as the pink almond blossoms had faded, I could see the next tree blossoms on deck: the delicately colored white apple tree blossoms.
Trail Name: Fassboden 3
Trail Type: Short distance cycling circuit; well-maintained and on mostly paved surfaces, (with little vehicular traffic along the way). Marking on the trail was good in some areas, albeit with only generic cycling traffic marking, and non-existent in others. (Best to have the free map or the GPX coordinates found at the link below.)
Length:
Total – 23.5 kilometers/14.5 miles
Convenient to: Landau, or Karlsruhe, or Bad Bergzabern, Germany
Marking:
Square signs with a wine barrel and the number 3 inscribed on it. (Colors are green and white; sometimes it is a green background with white design, or otherwise vice versus.)
