A portion of Röstis to start, hot and greasy on the hand. Basel has blossomed under the first rays of sunshine of the year. It is mid-May and the streets around the cathedral and market are full of people. We have arrived on the Rhine, on the Hochrhein, as the first part of its course is called, from Rheinfelden, 15 kilometres upstream, from where the great river is navigable.
But the Swiss metropolis in the border triangle is only the first stage destination - our journey on the Rhine will continue, over around 650 kilometres to be precise, as far as Wesel, shortly before the river finally leaves Germany on its long journey to the North Sea to cover the last stretch through the Netherlands.
No German river conjures up as many images as the good old "Father Rhine", from the romance of the castles on its banks to the blast furnaces of the Ruhr region, from ditches and borders, bridges blown up and newly built, and finally from neighbours - enemies who became friends. A cruise could hardly be more exciting - or more European.
Two locks, Augst and Birsfelden, and we have reached Basel after setting off from the jetty of Wassersportfreunde Rheinfelden (www.wsfr.de) at kilometre 150 RU. Carefully avoiding the historic yaw rope ferries, we first pass the city and sail through the Swiss "Rhine bend". From the harbour of the Weil am Rhein motor yacht club (km 173 RU, tel. 07621-657 30, www.yachtclub-restaurant.de), a taxi will take us back to Basel for €15.
Basel to Bingen: the Upper Rhine
Unfortunately, the only thing that is great about the Grand Canal d'Alsace is its name - at least from a sports skipper's perspective. Seemingly endlessly, its concrete tub stretches through the landscape on both sides, with no variety. Only now and again do lonely Citroëns and Peugeots park on the embankment; Frenchmen stretched out on the concrete slabs, baking in the sun. Every further kilometre marker is eagerly awaited. Breaks are out of the question: mooring and anchoring are taboo.
There are a total of four barrages along the Grand Canal d'Alsace: Kembs, Ottmarsheim, Fessenheim and Vogelgrun. Registration by radio or at least telephone should also be compulsory for pleasure boaters, if only to avoid being "overlooked". By the way: the lock staff - who also speak German - were very helpful and friendly to pleasure craft throughout our tour! However, there are no waiting areas anywhere (only exception: Iffezheim). If the gate is closed and the traffic lights are red, you have to drift or turn round in circles.
Once in the chamber, the large double locks turn out to be real lifts despite their enormous dimensions, as the average height difference of 12 metres is quickly compensated for at each step. Pleasure craft should therefore also use the existing floating bollards.
Finally, finally, the Grand Canal d'Alsace is over. Below the Vogelgrun lock, Germany is back on the right: the old walled fortress town of Breisach with St Stephen's Minster stands guard high above the Rhine. It is a stony testimony to a past characterised by war and destruction: for centuries, the river was one of Europe's deep political fault lines - until the peaceful unification of Europe not so long ago ...
Access to the cosy club harbour of the Breisach Motorboat & Yacht Club (km 225.8 RU) is via the Old Rhine. Registration is done by envelope, 1 € per boat metre is due. The shower and electricity box also accept €1 coins (Tel. 07662-292, www.myc-breisach.de).
From the Rheintor, you walk up the Schlossberg on steep cobblestones and through winding alleyways. In the evening, with a sweeping view over Breisgau and Kaiserstuhl, you can enjoy cheese spaetzle on the terrace of the "Kapuzinergartens", accompanied by great Pinot Gris from the region and a "Zibärtle" - a brandy made from wild plums (www.kapuzinergarten.de).
The next day flows along as leisurely as the river; the banks are much greener than yesterday on the Grand Canal. We only leave the course of the Rhine for a short time for the lock channels of the two barrages Marckolsheim and Rhinau. Under a blue summer sky, we reach our destination for the day, the jetty of the Lahr yacht club in the middle of the countryside, above the Gerstheim barrage at 268.5 kilometres RU.
The facility is locked on the land side and the key can be found in the service box. We pay €12 for our berth with electricity on the guest jetty directly opposite the floating clubhouse, a lovingly restored péniche. If you want to eat in Nonnenweier, 2.5 kilometres away, you can hire bicycles - but there is also plenty to eat on the club boat, which is open on Wednesdays and from Fridays to Sundays. When you see the schnitzel served on your plate, you'll be glad you didn't go on a bike ride! (Tel. 07824-16 17,www.yclr.de)
We continue downstream on the border between Baden and Alsace, where work is being carried out at the Gerstheim lock. The small chamber is closed and the traffic light signals are barely visible. It takes quite a while before we (and especially the long Luxembourgian convoy in front of us) know where to enter.
Immediately afterwards, the first industrial areas and harbour facilities of Strasbourg come into view on the left bank; we pass the Strasbourg lock and leave the harbour basins and shortly afterwards also the entrance to the south lock (VHF 20, km 291.2 LU), which leads directly into the city to the port of Koejac Yachting (tel. 0033-338-61 26 78, www.koejac.fr) on the Quai des Belges and on to the Rhine-Rhône Canal.
Instead, we head for the German side of the Rhine again - the harbour of the Nautic Club Kehl at km 293.8 RU. In addition to full service with water and electricity at the jetty (flat rate per night: €10 for boats up to 9.99 m in length, €1.20 per metre for larger boats), there is also a petrol station with super and diesel (tel. 07854-17 10, www.nautic-club-kehl.de). The club restaurant with terrace is also worth a visit, while typical German-French cuisine can be found on the other side of the road in the "Restaurant in der alten Wache".
For shopping, you can either go to the railway station, which is only five minutes away, or a little further into the pedestrian zone of Kehl. For a trip to the other bank of the Rhine, take the train: It's only two stops on the Ortenau S-Bahn (OSB) to Strasbourg main station (buy your return ticket in Kehl!).
The next morning, Blanke Hans greets us instead of Father Rhine: after a heavy storm the previous evening, we have that North Sea feeling, everything is grey in grey. A stiff wind blows against the current and creates a short, steep sea. At midday, we pass the last (and only German) lock in Iffezheim at kilometre 334, which marks the end of the congestion-controlled stretch; from here, the journey continues on the free-flowing Upper Rhine.
Groynes on both banks are now a familiar sight; just like the red and white striped obstacle buoys on the right bank and the green and white striped buoys on the left bank that warn of them. At kilometre 350, the French border finally bends to the west, with Rhineland-Palatinate on the left and Baden Württemberg on the right. Our next stop is Maxau harbour at km 362.5 RU, home of the Karlsruhe Motorboat Club (tel. 0721-56 25 10, www.mbc-karlsruhe.de).
Be careful when approaching: because of the groynes, you have to approach at a vertical angle from the fairway! We pay €10 for a berth on the club boat (closed on Tuesdays) and then head straight to the petrol station (super and diesel).
Further downstream, we take a brief look at the small, very quiet harbour of Leimersheim (heavy current before the entrance, km 373.0 LU) before passing the long shadows of the Phillipsburg nuclear power plant. Fortunately, after the next bend in the Rhine, another building comes into view: the imperial cathedral of Speyer.
Soon afterwards we are moored in the Kurzpfalz marina at km 400.5 LU (Tel. 06232-29 23 21, www.yachthafen speyer.de). The fee of €15 is quite steep for the fact that there are no sanitary facilities. On the other hand, the harbour is also unbeatably close to the city centre; it is only five minutes to the cathedral square and just under a quarter of an hour to the Technik Museum Speyer a little south of the Salierbrücke bridge (www. technik-museum.de).
For a more cultural experience, visit the National History Museum, also on the cathedral square, or the imperial cathedral itself with its spectacular restored crypt (www.dom-speyer.de). Our tip for the evening is the "Porto Vecchio" restaurant in the rowing club, located between the riverbank and the marina (www.portovecchio.de).
The next day, we join a procession of three gleaming white river cruisers. Together we head towards the dirty horizon: There, the smokestacks of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim blow thick clouds into the sky. The BASF site alone below the mouth of the Neckar at km 428.3 RU takes up several kilometres. Vapours of sweet, synthetic apricot aroma and burnt rubber drift across the Rhine.
At kilometre 444, we pass Worms and the monument to Hagen von Tronje, who sinks the treasure of the Nibelungs into the Rhine in patina green and with a grim look on his face. This will be our longest stage of the day: the log counts 104 km when we have also left Mainz and the mouth of the Main behind us, before we finally enter Wiesbaden's Schierstein harbour (km 505.7 LU) in the early evening and are allocated a berth at the jetty of the Wiesbaden Yacht Club (€1.20 per metre of boat length, €2.60 for electricity, www.wycev.de).
Bingen to Cologne: the Middle Rhine
There's no doubt about it: the "mountain stretch" between Bingen, where the Middle Rhine officially begins, and Constance is the most famous, spectacular and romantic section of the Rhine's long journey. Over a distance of around 60 kilometres, the river has carved its bed deep through the Rhenish Slate Mountains; steep heights crowned by castles form the backdrop for our next two daily stages.
The spectacle begins at Bingen at kilometre 529. Visible sign: the famous mouse tower at the so-called "Binger Loch". The river foams swirling through its narrow, rocky bed, tugging at the barrels, pulling them almost completely under water or causing them to tumble and dance. Seagulls perch on washed-over rocks and reefs, at Klemensgrund at km 533.5 in the middle of the river to make matters worse.
Uphill, the barges struggle along with white foam in front of the bow, tugs wait for those that are too weak. Downstream, on the other hand, the journey is literally rushing along at speeds of up to 10 kilometres per hour. It goes without saying that the fairway must be observed at all costs here and that the manoeuvres of large convoys and push boats in this narrow section must be watched with particular care. Incidentally, between Lorch (km 540 RU) and St. Goar at km 556 LU, it is strictly forbidden to sail on the right! Special light signals inform professional skippers about the traffic situation ahead.
We chose the Funboat Marina in St. Goar as our destination for the evening - and we couldn't have chosen a better place. The harbour is well protected beneath the mighty walls of Rheinfels Castle and just a stone's throw from the historic town centre. The climb up to the castle is more arduous, but the reward is a magnificent panorama of the Rhine. Below, hordes of tourists stream through the alleyways, busloads of Japanese and Americans, ready to fall head over heels in love with the Loreley or succumb to other sweet temptations, such as the "Apple Strudel", which is advertised everywhere ...
North of the "hostile brothers" - as the two neighbouring castles Sterrenberg and Liebenstein are called according to old legends - and the large bend in the river at Boppard (km 571 LU), the ridges on both sides become flatter. Vines grow on the slopes again and the Rhine calms down.
After the mouth of the Lahn at kilometre 585.8, Koblenz is also quickly reached. Kaiser Wilhelm on horseback looks over the Deutsches Eck, where the Moselle and Rhine meet. In Ehrenbreitstein harbour on the left bank, we spend the night at the MWSV Deutsches Eck. From there, you can reach the Electoral Palace and the Konrad Adenauer Ufer in just over a quarter of an hour via the Pfaffendorf Bridge, or you can take the cable car up to the imposing fortress (www.festungehrenbreitstein.de).
Our next stage takes us past Andernach and Remagen to Oberwinter (km 639 LU), where we find a place to stay in the large marina right next to the legendary "pancake ship" (www.schlemmerschiff.de). We are told that Thomas Gottschalk also moored his mahogany boat here. However, we look in vain for golden curls.
Rhöndorf, Petersberg, Bad Godesberg: villas and formerly elegant hotels now line the banks, and somehow almost every place name around Bonn is still associated with Konrad Adenauer's "Rhenish Republic". It's just a shame that the former federal capital at km 654 doesn't have a marina itself - we would have loved to take a detour into art and history on the Museum Mile.
The route continues until Germany's most famous church spires come into view - Cologne Cathedral. Here, too, the new era has arrived, with derelict industrial ruins on the river being converted into exclusive commercial and residential space: the modern "crane houses" at km 686 LU are reminiscent of warehouses; with rumoured prices per square metre of €4,000, they are probably more like money warehouses ...
Just north of the Severinsbrücke bridge we take the entrance to the Rheinauhafen harbour at km 687.6 LU and moor at the jetties of the Kölner Autbord- und Motoryacht-Club (tel. 0221-932 05 85, www.kamc.de), not far from the cathedral, the old town - and the chocolate museum ...
Cologne to Wesel: the Lower Rhine
The transition between Cologne and Leverkusen is fluid and grey with industry. At first, Ford and Bayer share the banks, only to be eclipsed by the much larger Bayer plant in Dormagen: Smoke and fumes billow out of countless pipes, tubes and vents, with warnings of explosion hazards. Lighters are filled, refuelled or loaded at long quay walls, while others are anchored in the river waiting for clearance.
But soon we can breathe again: the landscape is now flat and criss-crossed by light meadows. The Rhine becomes calmer and calmer, its loops wider and wider. Dykes now protect us from the tide, and beach walkers are out and about between the groynes. You can tell that you're heading towards the North Sea!
Cologne's big rival a little further downstream is our next date: Düsseldorf. Directly below the Rhine Tower (viewing terrace at 168 m, www.guennewig.de) is the Düsseldorf Marina in the Media Harbour (entrance at km 743.1 RU, tel. 0211-39 43 69, www.marina-duesseldorf.de).
The concept of sprucing up old, unused industrial architecture with modern elements and breathing new life into it with bars and offices also works here. People chill out in rattan armchairs and comfortable sofas until the lights go out on the Rhine Tower. We are drawn to the "Trockendock" in Stromstraße for mustard roast, Düsseldorfer Alt and "Samtkragen" ...
That leaves Duisburg. As if on an arterial road during rush hour, the barges are now travelling in a keel line or in several lanes in both directions; an elephant race in front of Europe's largest inland port! We reach the Duisburg marina via the approximately 2 km long tube of the outer harbour (entrance at km 776.7 RU). At its end, however, not only the marina with petrol and diesel filling station (Tel. 0203-289 56 97, www.marinaduisburg.de) awaits us, but also the separated former inner harbour - another gem according to the already familiar pattern of the "modern city on the water":
Between the canals, old warehouses harbour a variety of restaurants that leave nothing to be desired, whether Mongolian, Cuban or simply German. The "Little Currybar" even helps the good old currywurst to new honours - but beware of the extra-hot sauce! (www.currybar.de).
Our last day on the Rhine has arrived - almost literally. As we leave the harbour, the sky darkens so much that all we can see is black. The downpour is not long in coming, and for a few minutes visibility is almost zero in the middle of the Rhine. Exciting moments with barges, tankers and freighters all around. It's a bit like walking on a motorway in the fog.
But even this haunting disappears again. When the last chemical plant shortly afterwards bids us farewell from the Ruhr region with its sulphur stench, we have almost made it. Wesel is not far away, less than 40 kilometres ...
Cruise stages
- Rheinfelden - Basel - Weil am Rhein: 23 km
- Weil - Breisach: 53 km
- Breisach - YC Lahr: 42 km
- YC Lahr - Kehl am Rhein: 26 km
- Kehl - Karlsruhe: 69 km
- Karlsruhe - Speyer: 38 km
- Speyer - Wiesbaden: 104 km
- Wiesbaden - St. Goar: 52 km
- St. Goar - Koblenz: 35 km
- Koblenz - Oberwinter: 47 km
- Oberwinter - Cologne: 39 km
- Cologne - Düsseldorf: 56 km
- Düsseldorf - Duisburg: 37 km
- Duisburg - Wesel: 41 km
