#Rhine Bike Pass T1

Although we loved starting our Althütte-Venedig tour from the front door last year, this year we're doing exactly the opposite. We took the train from Stuttgart to Göschenen (CH) via Zurich. The fun began in Stuttgart - full of enthusiasm, we got off the S-Bahn with our bikes fully loaded and into the elevator...... OK - maybe we could squeeze the bikes upright into the elevator or we could completely disassemble them to fit in there - we dismiss the thought and balance ourselves up the escalator. Following the signs towards the main train station, we vainly search for a way to avoid the stairs. You can already guess it: elevator - yes, but too small for the bike - So we have to carry the bike up the stairs. Finally, we reach the correct level and the display board announces: Our train departs from platform 4. Great! We position ourselves and wait. The humorous railway employee uses the full suspense for his announcement just before the train arrives that it departs from platform 5. Masses of people in frantic, almost desperate excitement now start moving and reach the train a little out of breath. Everything is settled, the journey begins: Rhine bike pass. The ride is rather calm and unspectacular until Schaffhausen. Once there, a group of 40 children and teenagers join us in the compartment. From now on, it's lively and entertaining as the group sings one song after another in Swiss German and we struggle to understand individual words. The kids are kept happy by their supervisors with chocolate and cookies, and the positive atmosphere in the wagon soon spreads to the other passengers. This experience will definitely stay in our memory. We arrive in Zurich right on time: Well, it is a Swiss train after all. In Zurich, our connection on platform 9 is already displayed and this time it stays that way. Our IC train leaves Zurich station towards Göschenen, our next destination, exactly on the second. Originally, we wanted to take the train from Göschenen to Andermatt and start from there, but we would have had a 40-minute layover and spontaneously decided to tackle the route to Andermatt on our bikes. 6km, 330 meters in altitude. We were rewarded with incredible views of the Gotthard Massif. Since we only arrived in Andermatt at 5 p.m. and the weather didn't seem very stable, we quickly set off and cycled uphill for the next 600 meters in altitude to Oberalppass. This is the geographical highlight of our tour and actually the beginning - because this is where the source of the Rhine is. From now on, we'll continue on the Rhine cycling path - until we get tired of it :)

We spend our first night in Sedrun, enjoying traditional Swiss rösti and capuns, and looking forward to the next 14 days.