ASCHAFFENBURG to TRECHTINGSHAUSEN : 15kms + Train

Wednesday, 23rd May, 2018.

We were spoilt for choices at breakfast this morning with an amazing array of food on offer and there was absolutely no way we could do it justice!

Our journey today was mostly by train, decided on before we left home and cutting off more than 100kms of riding through mostly busy, built up industrial areas, and took a little under two and a half hours as opposed to 2 or 3 days of riding.

It was easy boarding the train at Aschaffenburg and the 8 minute changeover at Wiesbaden was a breeze.  We arrived at Rudesheim just after midday, where the platform was quite a bit lower than the train exit but we managed to get the bikes off without too much trouble, and rode off to have a look around the town.  We'd been through a couple of times but had not stopped there before and were pleasantly surprised.  Although touristy,

 it is a charming town and when we discovered the cable car,

we immediately bought tickets and rode to the top of the hill, marvelling at the stunning view below.

Back down in the town again, we wandered around a little more then rode to the nearby ferry port

for the ferry ride across the Rhine River to Bingen, where the Rhine section of our ride began.  It was a lovely, easy, short ride and before we knew it we had reached our destination, having ridden a mere 15kms in total.

After rinsing out a few clothes, we were surprised to discover that it was raining, as apart from a little drizzle when we first arrived in Rudesheim, we'd had sunshine and blue sky since.

Our proposed walk around the town was postponed until the evening, when the rain had stopped and we'd had a light meal and a chat with a Dutch couple, on a stopover on their way to Switzerland to see their grandchildren.  We found it interesting that they travel 400kms through two or three countries (depending on the route they take) to visit their family and we travel over 4000kms in the one country to visit ours!