By bike from Aachen to Cologne along the railway

Between two cathedral cities. About 66 km on a flat bike route beside the railway line from Aachen in the far west of Germany to Cologne on the Rhine, from about 180 m above sea level down to 50 m. A leisurely half-day, or a full day with stops.

The route. Aachen – Stolberg – Eschweiler – Langerwehe – Düren – Kerpen – Frechen – Cologne.

On the way. Aachen was the favourite residence of Charlemagne; its cathedral with the Palatine Chapel was the first German site on the UNESCO World Heritage list (1978). The route passes through the old industrial towns of Stolberg and Eschweiler and the town of Düren on the river Rur, then crosses the Rhenish lignite mining district, where giant open-cast mines and the recultivated land around them shape the landscape. The finish is the Cologne Cathedral, started in 1248 and finished in 1880, another UNESCO site and the tallest twin-spired church in the world.

Good to know. Trains run on the same line, so you can cut the trip short anywhere and take the bike with you. Expect wind from the west on the last part. The music is German.

Picture: Cologne Cathedral and the Deutzer Brücke, Jörg Braukmann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.