A fine time on the Rhine

Sep 21 2008

JOHN HARRISON takes a walking tour along the banks of the famous river.

UP and down. That’s the main characteristic of the Reinstating, a 250-mile walking trail along the east bank of the Rhine in Germany through the wine country between Bonn and Wiesbaden.

For walkers who don’t mind fairly frequent climbs, it provides bracing days out with the bonus of superb views of the famous river and plenty of opportunities to try the local vintages.

The best time to go is around wine festival time – August and September – when you can be sure of extra treats like special tasting at vineyards and village wine fairs. Producers sell their latest selections by the glass, guaranteeing merrier but slower progress under foot.

The two days my wife and I spent on the Rheinsteig were exhilarating and fun. We based ourselves at the Hotel Zur Post at Waldbreitbach, a few miles east of the river. Hotels along the route offer packages that include lifts to your starting point each day and a packed lunch.

We started on the Erpeler Ley cliff, high above the site of the railway bridge at Remagen. It was the only Rhine bridge captured intact by the allies in the Second World War but ironically collapsed several days later and was never rebuilt.

Our day ended, about 10 miles later, when we decided we had walked enough so used our mobile (called a ‘handy’ in Germany) to ask the hotel to pick us up. Next morning they dropped us there for a further 10 miles.

The route, sometimes climbing to craggy viewpoints, sometimes dropping down to the riverside, is meticulously marked.

Small signs with a distinctive blue-and white logo and an arrow are displayed on trees, fences, lamp-posts and walls every time there is the slightest change of direction.

So it is very hard to get lost, although we managed to do so in the small village of Hammerstein. We were so fascinated by the four dustbins outside each house, all colour-coded for recycling, that we missed a sudden turn in the route.

Fortunately, we soon realised our mistake.

Throughout there was a big variety of scenery. One moment we were deep in a wood, then passing through a farm or vineyard or perhaps in a street of colourful front gardens. Several times the path led us across hillsides through vineyards.

Sometimes these were so steep that it seemed impossible for anyone to have planted them, let alone be able to harvest the grapes.

All the way, we were aware of the river which is what makes walking along the Rheinsteig so special.