Legends and wine in Hesse – Hessian Long-distance Cycle Route R3

The Hessian Long-distance Cycle Route R3 takes you across the west German state of Hesse from the town of Rüdesheim on the River Rhine to the municipality of Tann in the Rhön Mountains. Along the way, you visit exciting cities such as Frankfurt, Hanau, Wächtersbach, Schlüchtern and Fulda, as well as wonderful nature. The Rhine Valley, the Spessart, the Vogelsberg and finally the Rhön are waiting to be discovered en route.

In this Collection, I have divided the 231-kilometer (143-mile) route into three daily stages, each of which ends in a town with several overnight accommodation options. You can also take more time which is made easier by the refreshment stops and ample accommodation along the route. You can always spontaneously reschedule if the stages are too long for you. Except for very short sections, the cycle path is paved and therefore ideal for a classic touring bike or road bike.

As you ride, you follow in the footsteps of the so-called ‘Spätlesereiter’, the protagonist of an old legend from the Rheingau region. With its sun-drenched slopes, the area is world-famous for wine growing. Legend has it that in 1775, the monks of Johannisberg Monastery needed permission from the prince abbot in Fulda to begin harvesting grapes. They entrusted a mounted messenger to carry a sample of the precious cargo to Fulda. However, the rider arrived several weeks late. In the meantime, the grapes had spoiled. The desperate monks pressed the grapes anyway, expecting them to be inedible. To their surprise, the grapes made an excellent wine, which is appreciated worldwide today as a late vintage. Thus, the messenger's delay turned into a stroke of luck. The Hessian Long-distance Cycle Route R3 traces the route that the ‘Spätlesereiter’ might have taken at the time.

Many roads lead to Rüdesheim to the starting point of the route. You can travel by train from Koblenz, Frankfurt or Mannheim. There’s also a direct ferry to Rüdesheim from Bingen am Rhine. You could also arrive by bike along the Rhine Cycle Path that leads through the beautiful Middle Rhine Valley. There are train stations dotted along the entire route so you can hop on or off at any point. This also makes it easy to do part of the route as a day trip or shorten your ride if things take a little longer than planned. You’ll find reasons to stop and take a break time and time again.