Strasbourg to Nancy

Strasbourg to Nancy

Day 1: Strasbourg, 9 mi. (15 km)
Day 2: Strasbourg - Wingersheim, 22 mi. (35 km)
Day 3: Wingersheim - Dettwiller, 25 mi. (40 km)
Day 4: Dettwiller - Saverne, 25 mi. (40 km)
Day 5: Saverne - Niderviller, 19 mi. (30 km)
Day 6: Niderviller, sailing to Gondrexange, cycling to Lagarde, 25 mi. (40 km)
Day 7: Lagarde, sailing to Hénaménil, cycling to Nancy, 31 mi. (50 km)
Day 8: Nancy

*All distances are approximate. The above-planned itinerary is subject to change, even on very short notice,  due to changing wind and weather conditions and other unforeseen circumstances having to do with mooring requirements, docking location changes, lock repairs,  etc.

Day 1: Strasbourg, 9 mi. (15 km)
Embarkation begins at 12 pm - 2 pm. You can bring your luggage on board at 11 am but your cabin will not be ready for check-in. Embarkation should be completed by 2 pm and you will then enjoy a short ride to the village of Kehl in Germany to try out your bike to be sure all is well. In the evening, a guided walk in town will be offered.

Day 2: Strasbourg - Wingersheim, 22 mi. (35 km)
You will start the week with an easy, flat ride through the Parc Pourtalés and then through the villages of La Wantzenau and Hoerdt.

Day 3: Wingersheim - Dettwiller, 25 mi. (40 km)
First, on the agenda is a ride along the canal to Hochfelden where the famous Meteor brewery (since 1640!) can be found and visited. Later, there is opportunity to visit the old 15th-century Jewish cemetery in Ettendorf. Around lunchtime, you will be in Bouxwiller, one of the nicest villages in the North Alsace. The city center is adorned with Tudor style buildings, museums, churches, and a synagogue. The barge will be moored near the village of Dettwiller.

Day 4: Dettwiller - Saverne, 25 mi. (40 km)
Today you ride through the hilly area of Parc Regional Vosges du Nord, on rural roads towards la-Petite-Pierre, a picture-perfect village with a beautiful castle. On the way back to Saverne, you pass by tiny Graufthal with its medieval troglodyte dwellings. The Benedictine Abbey that once existed here was the center of life in the 12th century. Now sandstone arches remain. The surrounding steep sandstones cliffs weres filled with caves carved into the rocks and were used as storage for the monks and were later occupied as homes, or houses of the rock. Listed as historical monuments in 1984, these dwellings were converted intopicturesque museum reconstituting the life as it once was. The periwinkle blue facades of these dwellings are the only manmade feature. The interiors are all carved from the rock. Your mooring place today is in the middle of town in Saverne. From the ship, there is a great view of the Vosges hills. If you do not want to ride in the hills (total altitude gain of about 600 meters)  there is always the possibility to ride the shorter flat road along the canal.

Day 5: Saverne - Niderviller, 19 mi. (30 km)
A morning visit to the Haut Barr castle near Saverne is a must and can be done by bike, on foot (1,5 hours),  or by taxi. After the morning program, you ride mainly through the woods on a bike path along the canal and through the Vallée des Eclusiers to Niderviller. In Arzviller you can see the boat elevator (Saint-Louis-Arzviller Inclined Plane), part of the Marne-Rhine Canal. A magnificent piece of engineering, it enables the crossing of the Vosges Mountains. Before, the construction of this, a series of locks was necessary. Today's destination, Niderviller was very famous for its porcelain pottery. Although the factory is no in existance,  the village still has a Niderviller porcelain shop.

Day 6: Niderviller, sailing to Gondexage, cycling to Lagarde, 25 mi. (40 km)
You will enjoy a 4 hour morning cruise along the Rhine-Marne Canal, as the Clair de Lune sails from Niderviller to Gondrexage. Here you disembark for an easy flat ride through the nearby wetlands. Along the way, you pass Bataville. Bata is a well-known brand of shoes. The industrial complex in Bataville is built in the Bauhaus style of the Twenties. The factory closed in 2001 and is now a historical monument for industrial architecture which you will have opportunity to visit. Afterward, you continue along the canal on the traffic-free bike path to Lagarde.

Day 7: Lagarde, sailing to Hénaménil, cycling to Nancy, 31 mi. (50 km)
Once again, you will enjoy a morning cruise,  this time to Hénaménil where you disembark for the last ride of the week. First, you can visit the city of Luneville with its cathedral. At Luneville, you pass the frontline of WW1. This city was heavily fought over in 1914 and has an impressive French cemetery and necropolis. You can also visit the local museum on the Battle of Leomont Hill nearby. In St-Nicolas-Port the cathedral is worth a visit before you enter Nancy, city of museums, parks and lovely squares.

Day 8: Nancy
Disembark before 10 AM.

Nancy to Strasbourg

Day 1: Nancy, 9 mi. (15 km)
Day 2: Nancy, cycling to Hénaménil and sailing to Lagarde, 31 mi. (50 km)
Day 3: Lagarde, cycling to Gondrexange and sailing to Niderviller, 25 mi. (40 km)
Day 4: Niderviller - Saverne, 19 mi. (30 km)
Day 5: Saverne - Dettwiller, 28 mi. (45 km)
Day 6: Dettwiller - Wingersheim, 25 mi. (40 km)
Day 7: Windersheim - Strasbourg, 22 mi. (35 km)
Day 8: Strasbourg

*All distances are approximate. The above-planned itinerary is subject to change, even on very short notice,  due to changing wind and weather conditions and other unforeseen circumstances having to do with mooring requirements, docking location changes, lock repairs,  etc.

Day 1: Nancy, 9 mi. (15 km)
Embarkation begins at 12 noon. You are asked to be on board by 2 pm. You can bring your luggage on board earlier but not before 11 am. You can take a test bike ride in the surrounding countryside and the evening , you will enjoy a guided city walk in town in the evening.

Nancy is situated on the left bank of the river Meurthe, about 10 km upstream from its confluence with the Moselle. The Marne–Rhine Canal runs through the city, parallel to the Meurthe. The oldest part of Nancy is the quarter Vieille Ville – Léopold, which contains the 14th century Porte de la Craffe, the Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, the Porte Désilles and the 19th-century St-Epvre basilica. Adjacent to its south is the quarter Charles III – Centre Ville, which is the 16th–18th century “new town”. This quarter contains the famous Place Stanislas, the Nancy Cathedral and the Opéra national de Lorraine. Place Stanislas, a large square built between March 1752 and November 1755 by Stanislaus I of Poland to link the medieval old town of Nancy and the new town built under Charles III in the 17th century, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Day 2: Nancy, cycling to Hénaménil and sailing to Lagarde, 31 mi. (50 km)
Today, you cycle along the Meurthe River to St-Nicolas-Port. If you would like, the cathedral here is worth a visit. You then continue on to the city of Lunéville with its castle. At Lunéville, you pass the front line of the Great War. This city was heavily fought over in 1914 and has an impressive French cemetery and necropolis. You can also visit the local museum on the Battle of Leomont Hill nearby. After a leisurely ride, you arrive in Hénaménil where the Clair de Lune is waiting for you to board and sail to Lagarde.

Day 3: Lagarde, cycling to Gondrexange and sailing to Niderviller, 25 mi. (40 km)
You start the day with a ride along the canal on the traffic-free bike path to Bataville. Bata is a well-known brand of shoes. The industrial complex in Bataville is built in the Bauhaus style of the Twenties. The factory closed in 2001 and is now a historical monument for industrial architecture and can be visited. After Bataville, you cycle through the nearby wetlands, boarding the boat again, for an afternoon cruise along the Rhine-Marne Canal. In about 4 hours the Clair de Lune sails from Gondrexange to Niderviller.

Day 4: Niderviller - Saverne, 19 mi. (30 km)
Niderviller was very famous for its porcelain pottery. Although the factory is no longer there the village still has a Niderviller porcelain shop. In Arzviller you can see the boat elevator (Saint-Louis-Arzviller Inclined Plane), part of the Marne-Rhine Canal. A magnificent piece of engineering, it enables the crossing of the Vosges Mountains. Before, the construction of this, a series of locks was necessary. You then ride mainly through the woods and through the Vallée des Eclusiers on the bike path along the canal to Saverne. An afternoon visit to the Haut Barr castle near Saverne is a must. This can be done by bike, on foot (1,5 hours) or by taxi.

Day 5: Saverne - Dettwiller, 25 mi. (40 km)
The mooring place is in the middle of town in Saverne. From the ship, there is a great view of the Vosges hills. Today you will ride through the hilly area of Parc Regional Vosges du Nord. On the way up to Saverne, you pass by tiny Graufthal with its medieval troglodyte dwellings. The Benedictine Abbey that once existed here was the center of life in the 12th century. Now  its pink sandstone arches remain. The surrounding steep sandstones cliffs weres filled with caves carved into the rocks that were used as storage for the monks and were later occupied as homes, or houses of the rock. Listed as historical monuments in 1984, these dwellings were converted into picturesque museum reconstituting the life as it once was. The periwinkle blue facades are the only manmade feature. The interiors are all carved from the rock. On country roads, you ride on towards la-Petite-Pierre, a picture-perfect village with a beautiful castle. From this pearl in the Alsace, you ride down to Dettwiller. If you do not want to ride in the hills with a total altitude gain of about 600 meters, there is always the possibility to ride the shorter flat road along the canal.

Day 6: Dettwiller - Wingersheim, 25 mi. (40 km)
You ride through the typical countryside to Bouxwiller, once of the nicest villages in the North Alsace. It boasts a center with Tudor style buildings, museums churches, and a synagogue. Later we visit the old Jewish cemetery in Ettendorf en after that Hochfelden where the famous Meteor brewery (since 1640!) can be found and visited. To top it off there is a ride along the canal to the village of Wingersheim where the barge will wait for you.

Day 7: Windersheim - Strasbourg, 22 mi. (35 km)
The last day of the week, you visit villages like La Wantzenau and Hoerdt where you can see your last Tudor style buildings. You end the week with a leisurely and flat ride through the Parc Pourtalés to the mooring place of the Clair de Lune near Strasbourg. In the afternoon there should be plenty of time to visits the town on the border with Germany. You may even cross over the Rhine into Germany. Strasbourg’s historic city center, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honor was placed on an entire city center. Strasbourg is immersed in Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a cultural bridge between France and Germany for centuries.

Day 8: Strasbourg
Disembark before 10 am.

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On board the Standard class boat, the Clair de Lune

• Clair de Lune

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  Standard Class Boat

  In May 2014, Marco Pouw and his wife Astrid assumed ownership of the ship Clair de Lune. Originally built in 1936 as a freight ship in Belgium, like many of the vessels now used for biking and boating, this vessel was renovated and equipped for a new bike and boat adventure in and around Paris, launching in the spring of 2015. Marco has years of experience as a skipper on freighters in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany and approaches his new venture with great enthusiasm. Read More