Travelling on disused railway lines – cycling through the Rhineland

This bike tour follows the motto "railway". You travel by regional train from Cologne Central Station to Marienheide, the starting point of the tour. After a few meters you are already on the former Wippertalbahn, which has been converted into an excellent cycle path. On the way you will come across highlights such as former railway tunnels, which promise a pleasant cooling in summer, or former railway infrastructure that appears on the left and right of the path. From the Wippertalbahn, near Bergisch Born, you go onto the former "Balkantrasse", which has also been excellently converted into a cycle path. In Burscheid (as of early summer 2024) a detour had to be taken due to a construction site on the cycle path. The cycle path ends at Opladen station, so the return journey to Cologne can be easily taken by train. And: you ride almost exclusively downhill. Just let it roll and enjoy the view!

A brilliant day trip through the Bergisches Land in perfect Sunday weather. The youngest was constantly on the gas so that we caught the bus back just in time.

The tour leads from Marienheide train station to Opladen and is an ideal excursion for a family despite a distance of 50km due to the just 141 meters of elevation. Getting to Marienheide by car from Kierspe takes hardly any time and there is a large car park on site. If you want, you can also get to Marienheide by bike, which is about 10km. The route leads along the Wippertalbahn and Balkantrasse railway lines via Wipperfürth, Hückeswagen and Wermelskirchen. In the respective towns there are of course also opportunities to take a break so that you don't necessarily have to cycle the entire route, which also provides motivation for children ;). Railway lines are disused railway lines that have been asphalted and are also present in large numbers in our region. It offers the advantage that you can cover kilometers on good ground without much effort and are not stressed by the traffic chaos. Well, why go to

If you'd like to ride downhill, this is the perfect place. Take your time exploring the villages. It's definitely worth it. On weekends, a bus with a trailer runs from Opladen to Marienheide and back. If you're taking the train, don't forget your bike ticket, otherwise it'll be really expensive, says Heinz.

A two-hour ride on the Bergisches Fahrradbus from Opladen to Marienheide. Then it was straight onto the Wippertalbahn line and then back to Opladen via the Balkantrasse. Today, I was allowed to take my old KTM with me again, as it was mostly downhill.

Weeks of drought. The garden desperately needs water. As we set off on our tour from Leverkusen to Paderborn at the end of May, the long-awaited rain finally arrived. Along with the somewhat delayed Ice Saints. No matter: Pack warm clothes and rain gear, and off we go. At 14°C, it's not exactly warm as we set off from Leverkusen. The train ride was quite entertaining, with a lot of bicycle Tetris in the bike compartment, and now it's time to warm up, rolling up the Balkan Route. It's a nice ride, but the scenery is unspectacular. Just a railway line. You don't see much. Shortly before Lennep, we take the Panorama Route. Still a railway line, but this time with a view. Shortly before Hückeswagen, a shower catches us, and just a little later, we sit in the sunshine in the castle park and warm up. After that, we continue along the Wupper River. I admit I cheated with the title of the tour: It's not actually streams that will accompany us, but small rivers. But I couldn't resist the alliteration after all. After a final break in the sun at Brucher Lake, we checked into the hotel just in time before the next shower. There's a swimming pool, and after a delicious Vietnamese meal, we rounded off the triathlon with an evening hike.

Off to the Bergisches Land! We have put together a tour ourselves and are now excited to see what awaits us. We saw a few tricky paths in the Trail View photos, but we want to give it a try. At 28 degrees, we are constantly uphill on the thankfully shady Balkantrasse to Bergisch Born. There we turn onto the Wippertalbahn, which also leads through a lot of forest. A long way before Hückeswagen, it goes rapidly downhill. A relief after the constant climbs! We stayed at the Landhotel Montana in Marienheide-Rodt, which I can only recommend. The 2nd stage goes from Marienheide to Dabringhausen https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1785276732?share_token=aNRjXUz6Wwi2hNXYKXlvBTJUuu7n235ShnXFsfQUJ0rCinDLfF&ref=wtd and the 3rd stage from Dabringhausen to Langenfeld https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1785276732?share_token=aNRjXUz6Wwi2hNXYKXlvBTJUuu7n235ShnXFsfQUJ0rCinDLfF&ref=wtd