Discover Rhineland-Palatinate: Cycling routes, Roman history and nature
Accommodation in Rhineland-Palatinate
When planning a trip to Rhineland-Palatinate, you can choose from a range of themes: riverside cycling routes, Roman architecture, historic homes or protected landscapes. When planning your stay, it helps to consider whether you want to explore a route by bike, focus on individual buildings or delve deeper into nature. The routes, places and landscapes described here offer a range of possibilities.
Cycling along the Moselle and Rhine
The Moselle Cycle Route follows the Moselle for 248 kilometers, from the tripoint near Perl to its confluence with the Rhine in Koblenz. It runs mostly along paved, largely traffic-free and mostly flat routes. This means you can plan using both a specific total distance and named start and end points, as well as information about the route itself. As route information may be updated by the operator, check the details again before setting out.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the Rhine Cycle Route passes through the Palatinate, Rheinhessen and Middle Rhine regions, and runs through Speyer, Worms, Mainz and Koblenz, among other places. For the most part, it follows a separate paved path, but in some places it uses the Leinpfad towpath. The two routes can therefore be compared using different details: for the Moselle Cycle Route, the length, endpoints and course along the river are specified; for the Rhine Cycle Route, the regions it crosses, the cities named and the different types of paths are the focus.
Roman history and architecture
Trier was first a Roman colony, later an important trading center and, at the end of the 3rd century, one of the capitals of the Tetrarchy. At the time, the city was known as “second Rome.” North of the Alps, Trier preserves an exceptional concentration of important Roman buildings and traces of Roman settlement. The Porta Nigra is considered a unique achievement of 2nd-century Roman architecture. Together, these features give Trier’s history both an urban and an architectural focus.
Speyer Cathedral offers a different historical perspective. It was founded by the Salian emperors and built in the 11th century as the largest known church in the Western world at the time. The reference to the period is important: the statement concerns the building’s significance when it was built. Compared with Trier’s Roman buildings, the cathedral takes you to a different era and a distinct history of religious architecture.
Historic houses and museum life
The Rhineland-Palatinate Open-Air Museum covers a 35-hectare site with more than 40 historically accurate reconstructed houses. It shows how people lived, made their homes and worked over the past five centuries. The houses explore different aspects of everyday life: the focus is on both home and work, as well as the changes that took place over several centuries.
The museum’s program includes interactive activities and themed event days, including a museum festival and a garden and planting day. Dates for individual events vary; if a particular program is important to your trip, check the latest dates in advance.
Landscape in HunsrĂĽck-Hochwald National Park
Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland jointly established HunsrĂĽck-Hochwald National Park in 2015. The park covers around 10,000 hectares and is characterized by extensive beech forests, rare bogs, rocky Rosselhalden scree slopes, and arnica and purple moor-grass meadows. Forests, bogs and meadows thus form different facets of the landscape. Guided ranger and discovery tours start at the Erbeskopf National Park Gate or another ranger meeting point in the park. If you plan to join one of these tours, check the date and meeting point in advance.
A cross-border look at the wider region
Further afield in the region lies the Palatinate Forest and Northern Vosges UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which extends across the German-French border. Almost three-quarters of the “Vosges-Palatinate” massif is forested, forming the largest contiguous forest area in Western Europe. German-French biosphere farmers’ markets are held regularly in the reserve. Visitors can buy environmentally friendly products from the region there. This wider perspective adds a cross-border cultural and regional connection to the nature themes.
Discover more destinations
Discover more destinations: Ahrweiler, Altenkirchen, Alzey-Worms, Bad DĂĽrkheim, Bad Kreuznach, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Birkenfeld, Cochem-Zell, Donnersbergkreis, Eifelkreis Bitburg-PrĂĽm, Germersheim, Kaiserslautern, Kusel, Mainz-Bingen, Mayen-Koblenz, Neuwied, Rhein-HunsrĂĽck, Rhein-Lahn, Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, SĂĽdliche WeinstraĂźe, SĂĽdwestpfalz, Trier-Saarburg, Vulkaneifel, Westerwald, ZweibrĂĽcken, Worms, Speyer, Mainz, Neustadt an der WeinstraĂźe, Frankenthal.
For the main travel overview: Germany.
