How beautiful it is on the Rhône
Cycling holidays along the Rhône
Who would have thought? The Rhône first flows through German-speaking Switzerland, then suddenly crosses the Raspille stream and thus the language border, and suddenly French is spoken everywhere. It then continues on to France, where a bend leads south to Lyon. Magnifique!
Alpine
But first things first: on the Rhône Route, Switzerland's National Cycle Route No. 1, you're basically always riding downhill. Let's start in Oberwald at 1,370 m with its old Valais wooden houses and views of the Furka and Grimsel passes. Here we are in Goms, one of the most beautiful high valleys in the Alps, and the turquoise Rhône is still young, fed by glacier water, and called Rotten.
Valais delights
Be sure to try a Valais cheese platter there: bread soaked in wine, topped with cheese, ham, mushrooms, and peppers.
From Brig onwards, the valley widens and the slopes are covered with vines in what is now a Mediterranean climate. Perhaps accompanied by a glass of Fendant, fragrant Dôle, Pinot Noir, or Johannisberg. In Valais, Switzerland's largest wine-producing canton, there are 45 grape varieties to delight the palate.
Architecture and cows
In the historic trading town of Brig, you can admire the Stockalper Castle with its bright towers, the town's landmark. Before reaching Sion, the defiant castles of the formerly warlike Valaisans become more and more numerous. So do the cows: the brown ones are dairy cows and the black ones are fighting cows. They belong to the Hérens breed, are of strong build, and fight once a year for the title of queen!
Finally, Sion, located in the so-called “California of Switzerland,” is a picturesque town with two castles: Tourbillon and Valeria.
Martigny, the town on the bend of the Rhône, was once a Roman hub, as can be seen, for example, in the amphitheater, where, incidentally, cow fights take place today. This town is also home to the “Fondation Giannada,” an art museum of international renown, built on the remains of a Roman temple dedicated to Mercury. The wonderful Abbey of St. Maurice, on the other hand, has impressive stained glass windows by Edmond Bille that tell the story of its creation.
Wiederluege, Schwyz! - Bonjour, la France! (See you again, Schwyz! - Bonjour, France!)
Now it's on to the palm tree promenades on Lac Léman, as Lake Geneva is called in French, and of course to the cosmopolitan city of Geneva with its impressive water fountain in the middle of the lake and pretty old town! You cycle along the German-Swiss border for a while and finally it's time to say goodbye to Schwyz if you want to follow the second part of the cycle tour: from Geneva to Lyon.
Plenty of sights to see
ViaRhôna is the name of the route in France, and together, the Swiss and French sections form the well-developed EuroVelo 17. There is no shortage of sights to see: visit Seyssel, for example, with its cable-stayed bridge and 16th/17th-century houses, or the thermal spa town of Aix-les-Bains and the pretty village of Saint-Genix-sur-Guiers at the confluence of the Guiers and Rhône rivers. The river becomes wider and wider, and at the Balcones du Rhône cultural heritage site, the caves of la Balme await you: stalagmites, stalactites, and numerous water basins.
The crowning glory
Now through parks and past lakes, and as the crowning glory: Lyon! The viewpoint next to the basilica, crowned by a golden statue of Mary, offers a great view. The “Ficelle,” or cable car, takes you up. Look down on the town hall with its golden lines on the dome and the old town of Vieux Lyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There you should stroll through the “Traboules”: passageways through one or more buildings and true Renaissance treasures. And you should visit one of the “Bouchons Lyonnais,” specially awarded restaurants serving Lyon specialties. Try the bugnes, carnival doughnuts, pink pralines, or quenelles, pike or poultry dumplings. After all, you've burned off enough calories by now.
At the Confluences, the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers, stands the ultra-modern museum of the same name, dedicated to science. Here on the Perrache peninsula, you stand with your feet or bicycle tires almost in the water and look south along the Rhône towards the Mediterranean. Oh lala, what a tour!
