Germany: Road bike tours in and around Düsseldorf - For the start of the Tour de France: Short trip in Düsseldorf

Tour 1: To Lake Baldeney
(88 kilometres, 800 metres in altitude, max. 14 % gradient)

Beyond the city limits, quiet cycle paths along the Ruhr and Lake Baldeney and the tranquillity of the Hespertal valley await. Those who cycle dreamily there wake up to the only serious incline in Velbert. The return journey to Kaiserswerth ends with a ride along the Rhine cycle path.

Tour 2: Tour de France tracks
(103 kilometres, 1,550 metres in altitude, max. 13 % gradient)

From the sharp start of the second Tour de France stage to the first climb on the Grafenberg. Through the Neandertal valley to Mettmann. A crisp climb in Langenberg, the green mountain trail and short climbs near Wuppertal provide variety before returning from Mettmann to Düsseldorf via the Tour route.

>>>The entire article with the GPS data can be found below in the download area.<<<

Information:

Journey

Railway: As the state capital of NRW, Düsseldorf is very well connected. From Frankfurt it is a good three hours by IC and Regional-Express, from Hamburg 3:40 hours by IC without changing trains. Compulsory: Bicycle ticket with parking space reservation for the IC costs 9 euros. Deutsche Bahn cycling hotline: 0180/6996633 (20 cents/call from a landline, maximum 60 cents/call from a mobile phone)

Car: From the east via the A 44, A 1 and A 46, from the north via the A 1 and A 46, from the south via the A 3, from Frankfurt/Main in two and a half hours.

Food & Drink
Düsseldorf's cuisine is now as international as its inhabitants. However, the basis is still the hearty, Rhenish cuisine with down-to-earth dishes such as Düsseldorf mustard roast, Ähzezupp (soup with peas, potatoes, carrots, celery and leek) or the classic Himmel un' Äd (mashed potatoes with apples and black pudding), which Düsseldorfers claim as much as their arch-rivals in Cologne. Of course, a cool Altbier is a must. If all this is too familiar, there are numerous international restaurants in Düsseldorf, for example from France, Spain or Japan. Around 7,000 Japanese are said to live in Düsseldorf and there are numerous sushi restaurants around Immermannstraße in particular.

Places of interest in Düsseldorf
You can start a Saturday morning the way many residents of the state capital do: With a stroll along the banks of the Rhine. The busiest and most tempting part is the promenade section at the Kasematten, which attracts a large crowd with year-round outdoor catering and boat moorings. Right next to it is Burgplatz, where the Tour de France teams are presented before the big start.
Düsseldorf's old town is even livelier with its bars and home breweries. It feels like nowhere else in Germany is there such a high density of stag parties on Saturday evenings. Others are drawn to the world-famous luxury shopping street Königsallee - or to the landmark of the new, modern Düsseldorf, the media harbour.

A little off the beaten track, Lorettostraße in Düsseldorf-Unterbilk has been transformed into a lovely shopping neighbourhood with small, owner-run shops and restaurants. In bad weather, numerous galleries, museums and exhibitions such as the Museum Kunstpalast, the Löbbecke Museum (Aquazoo) or the Film Museum offer variety.

Info
Düsseldorf Tourism
Benrather Street 9
40213 Düsseldorf
Telephone 0211-172020
www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de
General information and enquiries/ordering brochures

- Tourist Information Centre at the main railway station, Immermannstraße 65 b, telephone 0211-17 20 2-844
- Tourist Information Centre Altstadt, Marktstraße/corner of Rheinstraße, telephone 0211-17202-840

Downloads:
download
download