Cross-border cycle route "Orchard" (Espace PAMINA)

Our tips for 3 day tours:

Palatinate:

The starting point of the tour is the fortress town of Landau in the Palatinate. From here, the route follows the Queichtalradweg to Siebeldingen. Continue to Frankweiler and along the Haardtrand into the Palatinate Forest to Annweiler am Trifels. Through the Palatinate Forest the tour leads back to the Southern Wine Route near Klingenmünster. Between vineyards, it goes from here via Erlenbach near Kandel to the Rhine plain. Along the Rhine you cycle on to Germersheim. Back across the Rhine plain in the direction of the Haardtrand, the tour runs back to Landau.

Northern Alsace Tour:

Wissembourg is the starting point of this stage tour. Through the French part of the biosphere reserve Pfälzerwald - Nordvogesen via the villages Betschdorf and Soufflenheim the tour leads to the Rhine. At Drusenheim, you cross the Rhine by ferry and continue in a northerly direction to switch back to the French side of the Rhine at Seltz. From now on you cycle along the Lauter river back to Wissembourg.

Black Forest - Kraichgau stage:

Ettlingen is the starting point of this stage tour. Via Waldbronn, the tour leads to the Melanchthon town of Bretten. From Bretten, the tour runs via Flehingen to Ubstadt-Weiher. Passing Bad Schönborn and Philippsburg, the tour continues to the Rhine. In a southerly direction, the tour continues along the Rhine and via Rheinstetten back to Ettlingen.

Description of the complete tour:

From the old customs house in Lauterbourg, head towards Mothern (Busch distillery) and continue on the EuroVelo15 to Seltz (Fitterer organic farm and orchard). In Seltz, take the Rhine ferry to Plittersdorf (Germany).A fruit farmers' market and a jam-making workshop are held once a year in Seltz. On the German side, continue south on the Rhine - EuroVelo15 cycle route through Iffezheim to the Greffern (Germany) - Drusenheim (France) ferry.

Here you have two choices:

Option 1: Take the ferry from Greffern (Germany) to Drusenheim (France) and continue on the French side.

Option 2: Instead of taking the ferry to France, take a short trip (about 45 km) to the Lichtenau region between Bühl and Achern. Many farms offer direct sales. Enjoy the green landscape and tasty regional products. The "Hofladentour/Zwergentour" passes through seven small towns and villages and past numerous farm shops. The route is particularly suitable for families as it is largely flat, mainly paved and not very busy. Start in Lichtenau (Querfeldein farm shop) and proceed to Moos (Margots Paradies), Zell (Zeller Mühle Huber GmbH) and through Ottersweier (Seifermann's Bauernhof) to Haft (Mühlenhof, Obsthof Höß, Laufbachhof, Obsthof Engelmeier). Then via Sasbach and Sasbachried. From there the loop continues via Großweier, Gamshurst, Memprechtshofen, Muckenschopf and Scherzheim back to Lichtenau and again to the ferry Greffern (Germany) - Drusenheim (France) on the Rhine.

Continue along the RD429. At the roundabout follow the direction of Haguenau (sign IC 23). Take the cycle track between Rohrwiller and Oberhoffen/Moder. Then between Oberhoffen and Kaltenhouse.

In Kaltenhouse, go straight on towards Haguenau. Follow the IC 23 sign to Haguenau (cycle track).

In Haguenau, take the Boulevard Hanauer and follow the direction of the train station. Then follow the Porte de Wissembourg along the Moder. At the roundabout, go straight on along the Moder. Cross the Park on the left and join the road to Schirrhein. Follow the signs for the Parc Rhénan - Circuit Sud. Turn right into the central street, then left into the Sachsenhausen street. Finally turn left onto Route de Soufflenheim and right onto Rue de l'Ours. Follow the direction of Gros Chêne 2 (Route forestière du Krummstein). Once at the Gros Chêne, continue towards Betschdorf following the IC 24/25 sign. Take the forest road to Heuscheur. At the Carrefour Parade, continue towards Betschdorf following the sign IC 24.

When you arrive in Betschdorf, turn left onto the cycle track IC 52 towards Woerth. Turn right onto Rue du Moulin towards Schwabwiller.

In Schwabwiller, continue straight on the RD199 towards Reimerswiller, then Hohwiller.In Hohwiller, follow the direction of Soultz-sous-Forêt on the RD28 (cycle track).

In Soultz-sous-Forêt, follow the direction "centre-ville" on the RD264 along the cycle track. Continue straight on and then turn left onto the rue des frères Muntz. Continue towards Ritschwiller, Memmelshoffen and then Keffenach on the RD170. In Keffenach, turn left onto the RD65, then right onto the RD152 towards Birlenbach.

In Birlenbach, turn left onto the RD152 towards Drachenbronn.

In Drachenbronn, continue towards Cleebourg, then Rott and Wissembourg on the RD77. When you arrive in Wissembourg, turn left and drive along the Lauter river on Boulevard Clemenceau until you reach the car park of the swimming pool. Turn right and follow the Lauter on the Faubourg de Bitche, then the Quai du 22 Novembre. Turn left onto rue du Marché aux poissons and continue on rue Bahnacker then leave Wissembourg following the Windhof road.

Here the route changes from Alsace to the Palatinate.

On the "Kraut und Rübenradweg" (cabbage and turnip cycle path), the route goes via Schweigen (winegrowers and distilleries) and Steinfeld (cactus country) along the Viehstrich to Minfeld (Schossberghof village market), Kandel (Zapf farm market) and Erlenbach (Schönung family market stall).

In the municipality of Kandel, an open farm day is held once a year.

In Erlenbach, the route changes from the "Kraut und Rübenradweg" to the cycle path "Vom Riesling zum Zander" (From Riesling to Zander) to Steinweiler (village shop) and then leads past the Rosenhof (vintner and distillery) to Billigheim on the Klingbachradweg. The route now follows the Klingbach via Klingenmünster (Stiftsgut Keysermühle), Silz and Gossersweiler-Stein to Völkersweiler (Josefshof, farm shop selling Galloway products and fruit juice).

Once a year there is a farm festival at the Josefshof in Völkersweiler.

Then continue to Annweiler am Trifels and on the Queichtal cycle path to Landau (small detour to Frankweiler, Südpfalz Saft). The market square (market twice a week) is where the market path to Ramberg and Dernbach begins. In the past, the villagers used this path to bring their fruit for sale to the Landau market.

Take the "Queichtalradweg" to Bellheim (Kartoffelhof Böhm), then continue on the "Kraut und Rüben Radweg" to Zeiskam (Schickes Lädel, Gemüseanbau Braun), Westheim (Hofgut Holzmühle) and Schwegenheim (Merkelhof, Hof Sonnenfeld, Bauernhof Manger, Hofladen Hellmann).

The tour switches from the Palatinate to the Baden side via the Rheinhausen bicycle ferry.

The "Schönbornroute" takes you through the Hardtwald forest. With a short branch past Philippsee, the route leads to the "Kraichradweg", which leads into Kraichtal. You cycle through Unteröwisheim (Zumbach juices, Härdle winery, de Bortoli distillery), Münzesheim (Klenert winery) and Gochsheim (bakery museum with chocolate tour) to Flehingen (Luisenhof). From there follow the "Panoramatour" to Bretten (Melanchthoncafé, Café Hesselbacher). The route continues on the "Panorama Tour" to the Bretten districts of Rinklingen and Dürrenbüchig. Here continue on the "ÖkoRegio Tour" via Wössingen (Unterweger farm shop) to Walzbachtal. Continue south via Pfinztal to Grünwettersbach to the Waldbronn orchard meadows.

Shortly after the outskirts of Grünwettersbach, the trail turns again at an acute angle and uphill into the fields. At the signpost "Am Zehntpfad" first turn left, then right at the next opportunity and into Busenbach on Friedhofstraße. Cross Ettlinger Straße into Reichenbacher Straße. Drive all the way through Reichenbacher Straße and turn right at the end onto Ostendstraße. At the roundabout, take the first exit onto Talstraße. At the next roundabout, take the second exit and follow Bergstraße until it becomes Gisela-und-Hans-Ruland-Straße. Turn left to drive along the edge of the forest towards Reichenbach.

Continue on Busenbacher Straße to turn right at the end of the road and ride a short distance along the K3561.

Then turn onto Pforzheimer Straße. After the Kurhaus, turn right into Etzenroter Straße. With a short detour along the field paths to the barbecue area on Etzenroter Straße, the route then continues along the Baden-Württemberg cycle path network, past the "Reichenbach Kurpark" S-Bahn stop to Herrenalber Straße.

After the bus stop "Busenbach Bahnhof", cross the tracks to cycle along Pforzheimer Straße and to the left along the "Spinnerei" industrial estate, then turn left and cycle through the middle of the factory buildings to reach the other side of the valley.

Follow the Graf-Rhena-Weg along the railway line until you reach Waldstraße.

Continue on Schöllbronner Straße, past the Albgau outdoor pool. Turn right into Luisenstraße. Turn left along the Alb and Pforzheimer Straße onto Albstraße. Follow Albstraße until the junction of Albstraße/Kronenstraße/Marktstraße. Left over the town hall bridge, through the archway. From Ettlingen market square, follow the Rheintal-Radweg/Ortenau-Weg for a short distance to Badener Tor Straße.Cross the road here and past the Erbprinz Ettlingen along Rastatter Straße. Turn right before the large crossroads and continue along Goethestraße, which becomes Einsteinstraße. Turn right and walk along the Malscher Landgraben until you reach the L607. Turn right here.

Cross Rudolf-Plank-Straße at the traffic lights and continue along the Baden-Württemberg cycle path network towards Rheinstetten.

At Rheinstetten follow the Rhine in a southerly direction and at Lauterbourg take the Rhine ferry back to the French side to the starting point of the orchard tour.