Cycling along the Rhine River

Today was a wonderful outing as we did something we have not done before. I cannot believe that in the 19 years of coming here we have never cycled along the Rhine River. Today the weather was glorious and so it was deemed a good day to do so - plus friends came with us and they showed us the route.

We got the 9.25am train to Malans - our friends drove there as they could fit their bikes on their bike trailer, but as we could not fit the bikes in the car we needed to go by train. Gavin, I and Xena in the doggie trailer. Last year I got a bitchy comments on social media about why Xena needed a doggie trailer when dogs should surely just run alongside the bikes  - not when the route is nearly 40km long, you are going through towns on roads where there are cars passing by, and most of the cycle path is tarmac so a hard surface for her joints. So Xena was a princess in her chariot today (see extra) and you may laugh but I care about her joints.

Our friends were at Malans station to greet us as we got off the train (a 40 minute journey from our village further up the Prättigau Valley) and we set off, cycling through the beautiful village of Malans, then through Jenins, on to Maienfeld (the home of blipper Reike) and through Fläsch - all these villages are set in a beautiful wine area and if it was not a Sunday we would have been able to stop off and do some wine tastings, but all the cellars were closed today. The villages have beautiful traditional Swiss architecture with painted facades and troupe l'oil on the buildings. 

Thankfully we all have e-bikes, which is pretty much the norm around here now as it is far too mountainous to struggle with regular bikes. After Fläsch we headed towards the Rhine River where we crossed the bridge to the easy cycle path on the other side (see extra). We cycled along the path until we got to Lichtenstein, crossing the river again and entering Balzars in Lichtenstein. We cycled around the town admiring the Schloss and church and then found a shady spot near a pond to have our packed lunch. After lunch we headed back, it was a wonderful cycle of about 38 km. 

We would love to do this cycle again one day, when the cellars are open and maybe spend some more time in each village. A good day!