cycling in Switzerland | Aussie in France

We have come to the 9th and last part of our Croatian Itinerary. After a very pleasant stay in Innsbruck, we headed for Germany via Lichtenstein, simply because we had never been there, it seemed a good place for lunch and wasn’t too far out of the way. It was mainly full of tourists doing the same thing as us. There was nothing in particular to see. We had a mediocre meal at a Restaurant called Residence.

Afer leaving Lichtenstein, we continued on to our destination in Germany where we were to spend the next three nights. We drove past two very pretty lakes called Walensee and Zürichsee, skirting around Zurich until we reached Hohentengen am Hochrhein.

Our hotel, Gästehaus Wasserstelz, is surrounded by nature, with a weinstube underneath. We even had a suite. However, the evening meal at the hotel was rather dissappointing.

The next morning, we drove to Jestetten then cycled along the Rhine which separates Germany from Austria. A long sloping path took us down to the covered bridge at Rheinau. Then up again to Altenburg and down again to the river bank. We had to get off our bikes and walk along the path.

Around a bend we suddenly came upon the magnificent Rheinfall, a waterfall on the Rhine in Switzerland. The falls, 150 m wide, 23 m high, are quite stunning. It was 11.30 am by then and very crowded.

We then pushed our bikes up to the old town of Schaffhausen with its magnificent baroque façades. As it, too, was very crowded, we continued cycling along the Rhine until we reached Gasthaus Krantz at Büsingen.

Our return route took us past the falls again. On our way back in the car, we took a different route and discovered the Klosterkirsche baroque church built on an island in the middle of the Rhine.

The tourist office the day before had told us about the hot spa at Bad Zurzachs which turned out to be a wonderful experience, with all sorts of different pools, one of which had a whirlpool.

We then had dinner at Kadelburg in Germany at a restaurant called Zorbas. I now know that if I want to eat lamb chops in Germany, I will always go to a Greek restaurant!

Next day, we joined the bike route at Kaltenbach, on the southern bank of the Rhine. Stein am Rhein. wonderful façades again – band in front of the Rathau with an Asian woman singing Swiss folk songs.

After a cup of coffee at Zum Felsen on the Rathausplatz, where we chatted with the Swiss ladies at the next table, we walked down the main street until we got to the bell tower, then left on our bikes via the north bank towards Lake Constance.

The views of the lake were magnificent and we eventually had lunch in an idyllic setting next to the lake on a shady terrace at Residenz am See in Ohningen.

We then cycled on to Horn and back via Stein am Rhein where we stopped for a drink again, this time at Konditorei Spath where I had a delicious cake called Cappuccino!

Back in the car, we crossed bridge at Hohentengen am Hochrhein to see Schloss Rötteln castle, just opposite Kaiserstuhl. We came back to Kaiserstuhl to see their Mediaeval festival as recommended by the hotel, but it turned out to be a very amateur affair, with only sausages to eat.

After going through four customs booths, due to the fact that the road crosses back and forth from Germany to Switzerland, we arrived in Rheinau for dinner. The restaurant, Gasthaus zum Salmen, which I had noticed earlier in the week on the Swiss side of the river, had a lovely view of the covered bridge but the meal was very expensive and not very good.