After a decent night’s sleep in the only hotel we could afford in Andermatt (it’s an expensive town!)…
… we packed our stuff in touring mode and caught the train to Oberalp Pass.
>> TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Matterhorn Gotthard Train
- Rheinquelle Lighthouse
- MAP Stage 1 (Oberalp Pass – Ilanz)
- The Anterior Rhine is Turquoise!
- Ride Stats
ACCOMMODATIONS: We stayed at Hotel Bergidyll Riders Haven. Our room was very small (it only fit a double bed and our tiny folded bikes), but it did have a balcony and the bed was very comfortable. We shared a bathroom with three other guest rooms. It’s two-wheeler friendly, and has a garage for bicycles and motorcycles.
Matterhorn Gotthard Train
The Matterhorn Gotthard train leaves once an hour from Andermatt and takes 20 minutes to get to Oberalp Pass. I paid the bike fee so that I didn’t have to take everything off my back rack and fold my bike, but Pier just folded his and put it in the luggage rack, saving himself three bucks.
There were 2 bikes allowed per train car, kind of like the GO train rule in Ontario, but with way more space for bikes. The guy checking our train tickets even let me know that I could strap my bike in. Much better than trying to hold onto it as the train climbed up the steep mountain!
Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Oberalp Pass station!
And quickly found the lighthouse.
Rheinquelle Lighthouse
Though it wasn’t hard to find, considering it’s the only thing up here besides trail markers and a couple wooden buildings, like the info centre right beside the lighthouse.
So, why is there a lighthouse on top of a mountain in the middle of Switzerland? After all, lighthouses serve as navigational aids for boats, but this one is nowhere near any open waters.
Well, this lighthouse is the Rheinquelle, which translates to “source of the Rhine”. It is a replica of the Lower Light of the Hook of Holland (Lage licht van Hoek van Holland), the lighthouse that marked the mouth of the Rhine into the North Sea for over 70 years. That lighthouse is now in the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam.
The Rheinquelle Lighthouse (Leuchtturm Rheinquelle) has only been here since 2010, erected as a tourist attraction to highlight that the Rhine River starts at Lake Toma (Tomasee), just a two hour hike from Oberalp Pass. And attract tourists it does! We weren’t the only ones stopping to take photos beside the bright red lighthouse.
But once the photo op was complete, it was time to ride!
Stage 1: Oberalp Pass – Ilanz
The first thing we noticed as we pulled out was the sound of cowbells. On the slopes behind me in the photo below, there are about 30 cows just chilling, their bells tinkling as they walk and graze. (Watch the video at the end of this blog for footage of us biking past many cows!)
Cowbells would become our soundtrack for this trip, made possible because Switzerland is so quiet. The trains are electric and there’s hardly any motor traffic — which was a huge relief since the beginning of this bike ride (between Oberalp Pass and Sedrun) is on a road with no shoulders! Though we quickly learned that every hairpin turn had a little area where we could pull over, either to let a bigger vehicle pass or just to enjoy the view.
If you zoom in on the map, you’ll see that this ride starts with steep switchbacks! We’d descend 600 metres in just 10 kilometres! We were relieved to be cycling down, though we saw quite a few riders going up. Perhaps they were training for a race!
As we approached Sedrun, the road widened a bit to include a paved shoulder.
Pier popped over to the adjacent bridge to take this photo of me riding over the Via Alpsu bridge into Sedrun.
Not long after Sedrun (7 km to be exact), we arrived in Disentis where we stopped to fill our water bottles and eat lunch outside of the Benedictine monastery.
After Disentis, we left the main road. From here to our destination of Ilanz, it was all tiny back roads and gravel tracks! Plus, a surprise ascent (10% grade) to the village of Cavardiras.
In the photo above, you can see the town of Disentis in the distance with the river below. We biked DOWN to river level and back UP again in quick succession. But the view was worth it!
After that climb, we were glad Cavardiras had a public drinking trough. We now know that pretty much all Swiss villages have an old fountain or trough with drinkable water, but this was only our third day in Switzerland, so it was still a novelty.
It was also a relief to see a sign for Ilanz. We were going in the right direction! Whew!
In just a couple minutes, we were through Cavardiras and on another descent. I hoped this one wasn’t followed by another steep climb…
… and we were in luck! The sign pointed right along a flat, paved road.
From here, we stuck pretty close to the river; no more big climbs. Because it was August, we passed quite a few trickling streams. I assume these are raging with snow melt water in the spring.
Then we arrived in the town of Surrein (6 km from Cavardiras), where we checked the signs – so many helpful signs in Switzerland! – and continued through town…
… and onto the gravel portion of our ride.
We even rode some single track before crossing to the other side of the Anterior Rhine River.
And headed into the town of Trun where, you guessed it, there were more signs!
At the beginning of this ride on top of the mountain, there were so many hiking and mountain biking routes that, even though we were following Rhein Route 2 / EuroVelo 15 the whole time, sometimes it was hard to spot that sign amongst all the others! But in Trun, we were down to just two route signs: Alpine Route 1 and Rhein Route 2. Follow the 2!
TIP: If you’re looking for a bathroom (WC), find a train station or a public park. Most towns have one or both. The very nice bathroom facilities in the photo are from the park in Trun that Rhein Route 2 rolls right past. Quick and easy stop! There’s also a water fountain, of course.
The Anterior Rhine is Turquoise!
After Trun, we biked right alongside the Anterior Rhine and were amazed by its colour — a bright turquoise!
And eventually rolled through Ilanz to our hotel just outside of town.
A very nice place — clean, spacious, and there was even a bathtub! That’s always a welcome surprise after a long bike ride.
Ride Stats
| Distance — 57 km | Elevation (Highest / Lowest) — 2,042m / 690m |
| Average Speed — 16 km/hr | Steepest Grade — 13% |
| Top Speed — 49 km/hr | Time in Motion — 3 hrs 24 mins |
This was such an interesting, varied ride — everything from smooth asphalt, gravel roads, and dirt trails. I didn’t take many photos because we were too busy enjoying the ride, so if you want to see more, including grazing cows, mountain vistas, old bridges, a tunnel, and even passing through a rock slide area, check out the video below.
Video
Rhine River Bike Tour – Other Blog Posts!
- DAY 1 – Rhine River Bike Tour: Cologne to Monheim (GERMANY)
- DAY 2 – Rhine River Bike Tour: Monheim to Dusseldorf (GERMANY)
- DAY 3 – Rhine River Tour: The Scenic Train to SWITZERLAND!
- DAY 4 – Cycle-Sightseeing in Zurich
- DAY 5 – Swiss Alps Hike to Devil’s Bridge
- Up next…
- DAY 7 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWITZERLAND – Gorge(ous) views! (Stage 2)
- DAY 8 – Swiss Alps Hike & Toboggan
- DAY 9 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWISS DOWNPOUR! (Stage 3)