Base camp Trier (Ruwer-Hochwald route)

start: Trier
destination: Trier, Tourist Information

easy
56,13 km
4 hours 16 minutes
98 m
525 m
124 m
60 / 100
20 / 100

Where bicycles roll today, trains once steamed. On the former railway line of the historic Ruwer-Hochwald Railway, you can now cycle on the Ruwer-Hochwald Cycle Path from Hermeskeil to Trier.

Rail trail cycling par excellence: Where trains used to run, bicycles now roll from the heights of the Hunsrück into the romantic Ruwer valley.

General information

Directions

Start: From your accommodation, cycle to Trier main station and take the RegioRadler bus from the bus station there to Hermeskeil, stop Bahnhof. Departure times can be found at www.vrt-info.de

From the Bahnhof stop in Hermeskeil, cycle to the former station building (approx. 30 m). To the right of the former station building begins the Ruwer-Hochwald Cycle Path. Follow the signs towards Reinsfeld and Kell am See. On the Ruwer-Hochwald Cycle Path, cycle leisurely through the high plateau-like landscape at the foot of the Hochwald, pass under the motorway and reach the officially recognized spa town Reinsfeld. Here you can view an old locomotive right by the cycle path. The path continues through forest and meadow landscape and you eventually reach the air health resort Kell am See. The route goes right through the town past the old station building from 1889.

The path then leads you through the nature reserve “Keller Mulde”. Shortly after, you cross the Ruwer for the first time and reach the former Zerf station. This is virtually the midpoint of the cycling route; here it bends north and follows the course of the Ruwer to the Moselle. Past Hentern, Hinzenburg and Gusterath-Tal, continue to Sommerau. The first vineyards now appear.

Later, you pass over a 39 m long bridge made of Siberian larch. The steel girders of the former railway bridge were replaced with wood. The builders modeled the bridge after the famous Kapellbrücke in Lucerne from the 14th century.

You eventually reach Waldrach, the largest community in the Ruwer valley. A replica of a Roman aqueduct here shows the craftsmanship of ancient engineers, who supported the Roman city of Trier with water through this structure. The forests now finally give way to vineyards.

Past the wine-growing towns Kasel and Mertesdorf, you finally head to Trier-Ruwer. This is the official end of the Ruwer-Hochwald Cycle Path.

To get to Trier, follow the main road (Ruwerer Straße) on the left. You pass the Hotel zur Post and shortly after an Aral petrol station (on the left side of the road) and leave the district of Ruwer. The road then makes a slight right-left bend. Here, leave the road and go straight towards Trier city center. On the right are disused railway tracks. After about 1 kilometer, keep right towards Trier city center, cross the disused railway tracks and go around the sewage treatment plant, through an underpass beneath the railway tracks onto Metternichstraße. Keep left here. Soon you pass Rudolf-Diesel-Straße and after about 300 meters, turn right into Dasbachstraße. Follow this to the end and reach Loebstraße. Slightly keep right here, cross Loebstraße on the pedestrian crossing, then turn left again and go right under the motorway. After passing under the motorway, the path makes a left turn and shortly after reaches another street. Turn right here and follow this for a few meters, then just before the Aldi parking lot, turn left onto a paved cycle path in the curve. Follow this down to the Moselle. You now cycle for the next few kilometers always along the Moselle until you reach Trier-Zurlauben and the Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge. Before the Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge, take a sharp left uphill towards Trier city center and the Porta Nigra, and then sharply right at the top. You ride to the main road/traffic lights at the bridge. To reach the city center, follow the signs for Porta Nigra and main station on the left along the main road and continue straight through Merianstraße. At the end, cross Friedrich-Ebert-Allee at the traffic lights and turn left onto a pedestrian/cycle path parallel to Friedrich-Ebert-Allee. At the next traffic light, cross Bruchhausenstraße and continue straight through the green spaces, cross another street, and finally reach the Porta Nigra. This is also where the Tourist Information of Trier Tourismus and Marketing GmbH is located.

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