CYCLING FOR “DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS/MÉDECINS SANS FRONTÍERES”

As I´m going to cycle around 1.100 km I´d like to encourage you, my friends and visitors of this blog, to support the “Doctors without borders” with a donation of your choice.

I got the idea of collecting donations from the german long-distance-cyclist Peter Smolka. You can find is journey here:
http://www.tour-de-friends.de

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is a private international association. The association is made up mainly of doctors and health sector workers and is also open to all other professions which might help in achieving its aims.

All of its members agree to honour the following principles:

• Médecins Sans Frontières provides assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict. They do so irrespective of gender, race, religion, creed or political convictions.
• Médecins Sans Frontières observes neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal medical ethics and the right to humanitarian assistance and claims full and unhindered freedom in the exercise of its functions.
• Members undertake to respect their professional code of ethics and to maintain complete independence from all political, economic or religious powers.

So I kindly encourage you to visit my (german) donation website to leave a few Euros…

My donation site at Doctors without borders (german)

Part Three – from Mainz to the North Sea

UNESCO listed the Upper Middle Rhine Valley – one of the oldest and most impressive natural landscapes in Germany – as a World Heritage Site in 2002.
Between Bingen and Koblenz, there are no fewer than sixty castles and palaces majestically overlooking the Rhine.
On both sides of the river rise steep vineyards used to produce the famous Riesling wines.
Further downstream in North Westphalia, cyclists can choose which bank to ride on. On the right bank is Königswinter, the most visited mountain in Germany, while on the opposite bank, the trail passes through the old government quarter in Bonn, with its cathedral, Baroque town hall and the house where Beethoven was born.

The Rhineland city of Cologne is, of course, famous for its cathedral, but it can also boast a chocolate museum, art galleries and a number of superb Romanesque churches.
Further downstream, in Düsseldorf, capital of North Rhine Westphalia, you can discover new buildings created by the greatest architects in the world, such as Frank Gehry.
Duisburg, another major city, lies at the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr and is the biggest river port in Europe. A few miles across the German-Dutch border, you will arrive in Arnhem, capital of the province of Gelderland.

In the Netherlands, the Rhine splits and joins up with other rivers.
The meanderings of the old Rhine are ripe for discovery and the Rhine Cycle Route shows cyclists the various faces of the different waterways. These include the Waal river expressway – one of the busiest vessel-going waterways in Europe – or the Kromme Rijn (Crooked Rhine), which for a long time stood as the northern frontier of the Roman Empire.
I´m going to visit the iconic windmills near the village of Kinderdijk, pretty little port villages and, towards the river’s mouth, the world class modern metropolis of Rotterdam.

The North Sea will be the big final where I´m going to jump into –
after 3 1/2 weeks of fantastic landscapes and cultural highlights – looking forward to cycle along the River Rine!

Part Two – from Basel to Mainz

From the Swiss border onwards, the Rhine forms a natural border between France and Germany.
The Rhine Cycle Route follows the two banks for over almost 200 kilometres, alongside nature reserves and hydroelectric works, picturesque villages and Strasbourg – one of the capitals of Europe – before entering the German city of Karlsruhe. On the French side, the route is dotted with locks and typical Alsace villages with characteristic churches.
On the German side, EuroVelo 15 passes through the Markgräfler Land, a renowned wine-growing region, and Rastatt, a town boasting magnificent Baroque monuments.

Afteron the route leads through beautiful landscapes on the Upper Rhine Plain, surrounded to the east by the Black Forest and to the west by the Vosges.
Passing picturesque villages and vineyards, I´ll follows rich and varied route full of scenic, cultural and culinary interest.
On the right bank of the river, it visits Mannheim and the Rheingau winegrowing region.
On the left bank, the route passes Speyer (with its UNESCO World Heritage listed cathedral), Worms (one of the oldest cities in Germany) and finally Mainz (capital of Rhineland-Palatinate).

Part One – From Andermatt to Basel

I found an old tour guide on my shelf about the Rhine Cycle Path
and thought that was a good idea. I´ll follow the EuroVelo 15.

Starting at Andermatt/Switzerland I´d like to visit the source of the river Rhine next to the Oberalppass.

This stage passes through Chur, Switzerland’s oldest town, the border of the Principality of Liechtenstein, and the banks of Lake Constance, which surrounded by castles and orchards.
Cycling along the coast I´m going to visit Constance and will visit a friend.
The outstanding route passes through Schaffhausen and its famous waterfall – the largest in Europe – and the many quaint towns and villages spanning the river in Germany and Switzerland.

From here I´m going to follow the cyclepath heading towards Basel where I will stay for 2 nights on a campingsite next to the town.

All informations about the complete track – including a gpx section – can be found here on Komoot and the EuroVelo 15 site.

Have a look to the komoot site – the whole trip

The official EuroVelo 15 site – find all the information