Along the Rhein between Köln and Bonn 86 km

This route takes you along the Rhine river between Cologne/Köln and Bonn, starting at Wesseling. It is a nice route with beautiful river (Rhine and Sieg) views, meadows, floodplains, cityscapes (Bonn and Köln), bridges, parks, characteristic villages and large industrial sites. It generally takes dedicated cycling paths, but near cities, the cycling paths are generally mixed pedestrian/cyclist routes and you need to slow down. This track is generally suited for the racing bike. Near Mondorf there is a stretch of semi-paved cycling path (see waypoint), which can be negotiated relatively easy by racing bike. Along the route, there are some ferries (mostly operating in summer season only) which offer the opportunity to make a shortcut.
The route starts in Wesseling, and first goes north towards Köln. You first cycle through an industrial zone, and then take a small cycle path close to the river, past Sürth. You then approach Köln, with beautiful views of the Rodenkirchener Autobahnbrücke. You cycle past the Rheinauhafen with modern crane-like buildings (see waypoint), and cross a small bridge near the chocolate museum. You then approach the inner city, and cross the railway bridge Hohenzollernbrücke near the Dom cathedral. You then turn south towards Bonn and keep cycling close to the river on sometimes narrow cycling paths until Langel. Here you follow a river dike to Lülsdorf. In Lülsdorf, you need to cycle around the industrial site to Niederkassel, where you follow the river again on a river dike past Rheidt to Mondorf. At the end of Mondorf you take a cycling path away from the Rhein towards the L-269 bridge across the Sieg river (in summer, there is a small ferry). After the bridge, you cycle back to the river and then approach Bonn. You cycle through Bonn past the Kennedy bridge until the Konrad-Adenauer bridge, from where you have a nice view south towards the Siebengebirge. After crossing the bridge, you cycle through the Rheinaue park back to the river and then north again. In the center of Bonn, you make a small detour from the river to see the basilica and the central square with the Beethoven statue, before you continue north towards the industrial area Rheindorfer hafen. After passing the industrial site, you continue on cycling paths close to the river back to Wesseling. Just before Wesseling, you pass by another industrial site.
At the start, there is a parking lot with unlimited free parking in the weekend. In the week, other free parking is close-by. When the level of the Rhine is very high, part of the route may be inundated. In Köln you can make the connection to another track I put on Wikiloc which takes you north to Uedesheim near Düsseldorf and back (http://nl.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=5935656).