Spring is there and summer will come soon. It's time to ride on week end or holidays. If you don't know yet where to go and if you don't ever cycling in Strasbourg here are some information which I hope will persuade you to come and discover Strasbourg and its backcountry by bike. This article was specially written for an english web site about cycling in France for fun called Freewheeling France*.
Strasbourg
is located in the North East of France, 500 km east of Paris, closer
to the german Border in Alsace. It's got 264 000 inhabitants (476
000 in the Strasbourg area which contains 28 others cities) and has a
specific history which balances between France and Germany.
Surrounded
by the River Ill, the city center is an urban ensemble characteristic
of central Europe, offering a fascinating blend of French and German
influences and reflecting the political and religious changes that
have taken place in the city since mediaeval times. It's was named a
world heritage site in 1988.
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Neustadt
(new town in german language) was a vast new extension adjoining the
northern part of the old city. It was designed around public spaces
and monumental buildings and was planned by the germans since 1871
when Strasbourg became capital of the Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine.
Neustadt marked a turning point in the long urban history of
Strasbourg.
Strasbourg
is the seat of the European Parliament and of several other european
administrations (Council of Europe, European court of human
right...). The parlement building was completed in 1998 and its 750
seats hemicycle is used by parliamentarians for the monthly sessions
of the Parliament of the European Union.
From the
begining of the 21th century, Strasbourg and Kehl, its german
neighborhood city far away 3 km are joining their forces to build
with the Deux Rives project (two sides in english language) a
binational city from each side of the border. Deux rives is the
largest urban project of Strasbourg since the construction of the
Neustadt between 1871 and 1918. The main link will be assured by a
new tram line which will cross the Rhine river border on a new bridge
that will also be accessible only for the new tramway line, cyclists
and pedestrians.
Strasbourg
started to plan bicycle infrastructures in 1978 and today with 8% of
cyclists in the Strasbourg area (14 % in the city center) and over
580 km of cycle tracks, the Alsatian capital is the city of France
where bicycles as a daily mean of transport are most used. The
3rd
master plan, adopted in 2011, sets out to double the modal share of
cycling in the city, to reach 16% by 2025. A number of actions have
been scheduled to meet this target, including the creation of
Vélostras, a cycle express-route network based on the Danish and
Dutch cycle superhighway systems as presented by this article
of the Guardian. A
large part of the old city center is a car free zone so you can cycle
or walk without any danger during your sight seeing. Every great
touristic attraction (Petite France, European Parliament, German
quarter, parks) can be reached by the bicycle network.
You
can rent one green and grey bike at Vélhop
the bike sharing system of the city from 5 € per day. Vélhop is
handy, and highly affordable. The bikes are of excellent quality,
lockable and regularly serviced. The
"forts
trail" is a
Franco-German cycle route combining heritage and nature at the gates
of Strasbourg. Over 85 km without any difficulty on both sides of the
Rhine river, cyclists can sample delights ranging from hillside to
countryside and Rhineland forest to woodlands while at the same time
discovering the 19 fortifications making up the " Strasbourgs
ring of forts". You can also only ride some parts of the trail
which are easily reachable by the cycle network. Strasbourg is also
crosses by Eurovélo 5 (London/Brindisi in Italia) and Eurovélo 15
(Rhine route between Rotterdam and Andermatt in Switzerland) so you
can reach easily the city by bike.
You
can discover the whole Alsace thanks to l’Alsace
à vélo which brings
together more than 2000
km of cycle
routes for all
practices and makes Alsace the best place in France to travel and
discover by bike. Beginners
and experienced cyclists,
couples or families can
discover the
Rhine valley, the vineyards and
the Vosges
mountains on roads
marked and protected
along canals,
old railways
or on the
old Roman road. You can travel
with your bike free of charge in all the regional trains (except
several rush hour trains on the Strasbourg/Basel line). After
several days of wandering Alsace, you can cross the Rhine river and
follow your travel in Germany or Switzerland, by bike of course…
*Freewheeling France is an English-language website covering all aspects
of cycling in France for fun. It is run by Lyn Eyb, a France-based
Australian journalist who edits the site in her spare time. The site is
intended to inspire and encourage people to see France by bike - both
tourists to France as well as English-speaking residents who are new to
France. Lyn would love to hear from other cyclists who know their
corners of France well, and who would like to share their local
knowledge with riders new to France. When she's not working on
Freewheeling France, Lyn can be found out exploring backroads around her
home in south west of France with her 6-year-old daughter and her 3-year-old son
(who considers his bicycle trailer his second home).
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