European cycle route R1
Map with all coordinates: 
The Europaradweg R1 (also spelled Europa-Radweg R1 or Euro-Route R1 ) leads over 4500 or 5100 km as a long -distance cycle route from London in Great Britain to Helsinki in Finland and Moscow in Russia .
history
The first 275 km long section of the R1 was built in the years 1984 to 1988 between Höxter on the Weser and Zwillbrock on the Dutch border as the first independent long-distance cycle path in collaboration between six districts and the city of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia. The former chief district building director Hans Mussenbrock in Höxter is considered the inventor, initiator and coordinator. In 1980 he came up with the idea of building a regional cycle path away from the main roads using existing field and forest paths . The district of Höxter gave him the opportunity to realize his plans in cooperation with the districts and cities involved in Westphalia-Lippe . After almost eight years of planning and construction, the 275-kilometer section of the route was created in cooperation with the districts of Lippe , Gütersloh , Warendorf , Coesfeld , Borken and the city of Münster as well as the moral and financial support of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) Cost of around 6 million DM was prepared. The first so-called long-distance cycle route was given the name R1 by the LWL because it was considered a pioneering work. In many cases it was also called the "Westphalia Cycle Route".
In 1989 Mussenbrock negotiated with the Dutch neighbors and achieved the continuation of the cycle path through the Netherlands and Belgium to Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. There the cycle path was named LF 1 , LF 4 and LF 40 .
The inauguration took place on July 3, 1991 in Utrecht (Netherlands) by the “Landelijk Fietsplatform” foundation in the presence of a delegation from the Höxter district and representatives of the Dutch government. The European Cycle Path was born and took shape for the first time with a provisional length of around 900 kilometers. The change in Eastern Europe and especially in internal German relations as well as the fall of the Berlin Wall prompted Mussenbrock in January 1990 to initiate an expansion of the European Cycle Route to the east by working out the first plan and transferring it to the districts of Holzminden , Northeim , Goslar , Wolfenbüttel and Helmstedt submitted. Since he retired in April 1990 for reasons of age, the then senior district director Paul Sellmann took over his vision and continued to run the project. As head of the district police authority at the same time, he undertook joint bike tours with the local police authorities of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg, Poland and Russia from 1993 to 1996 in order to use their local knowledge to find the most suitable routes and to define them with the responsible authorities.
The R1 is now signposted to Narva in Estonia . In Brandenburg, the R1, east of Berlin in the Märkisch-Oderland district, was completely rebuilt by the end of 2007. The connection of the R1 through Kaliningrad and to Saint Petersburg is still the subject of negotiations with the local tourism ministries. The section of the European cycle route R1 running in Germany from the Dutch to the Polish border with a length of around 900 km is to receive uniform quality standards by mid-2012 and become a model route for the Federal Republic. The pilot project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology as well as the five federal states involved. The project sponsor is the German Tourism Association (DTV).
Routing
During the tour, care was taken to ensure that even inexperienced cyclists and families could manage the route in appropriate stages on an attractive route. Accommodation and meals are close by. The development status of the cycle path is different in the different sections.
Great Britain
The 194 km long section in Great Britain leads from the London train station Rotherhithe through the county of Kent to the ferry terminal in Dover ; The route is routed via Route 1 of the National Cycle Network .
France, Belgium and the Netherlands
In France , Belgium and the Netherlands there is a well-developed network of cycle routes that are already signposted with the planned route. Because of the large number of bike paths, you still need good maps. For France there is a large and high quality selection of map material.
The R1 begins in Boulogne-sur-Mer in France, runs through Bruges in Belgium, The Hague , Utrecht and Arnhem in the Netherlands and crosses the German-Dutch border at Vreden .
Germany
The route in Germany corresponds to the D-Netz route D3 .
In Germany, the more than 960 km long European Cycle Route R1 runs through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Lower Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , Brandenburg and Berlin . From the Dutch border, the landscapes on the route include the Münsterland , the Teutoburg Forest , the Solling , the northern edge of the Harz ( Goslar ), the Anhalt region ( Köthen ), Brandenburg ( Fläming and Potsdam ), Berlin and furthermore the Märkische Schweiz and the Oderbruch until the Polish border at Küstrin ( Polish Kostrzyn nad Odrą ) is reached.
Poland
The Polish section is well signposted throughout. The road quality is at least as good as in Germany, despite the very low traffic density.
Baltic states: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
The situation in the Baltic states is still very different. In Lithuania there has been the “Coastal Cycle Route Lithuania” since 2006, a separate cycle path that is continuous except for small sections and is not signposted as R1, but with the number 10 (for EuroVelo no. 10). In Estonia , the R1 is signposted on national cycle routes 3 and 4 - however, there is usually no separate cycle path, but the route is signposted on existing, little-traveled back roads. For Latvia there is only one route description and many plans so far. Parts of the planned route in north-east Latvia (Vidzeme) were provided with cycle route signs in summer 2010.
Russia
After the Russian exclave Kaliningrad , Russia will pass through a second time. From Narva via Saint Petersburg to the Finnish border, the route leads along the Gulf of Finland to the Finnish border.
Finland
From the Russian-Finnish border near Vaalimaa , the route of the national Finnish cycle route 7 - the so-called Königsweg - leads via Hamina , Kotka , Loviisa and Porvoo to Helsinki .
Signage
In France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the European Cycle Route is signposted in green on white as: “Route de la mer du Nord” (Boulogne-sur-Mer-Watten) “ LF 1 / Noordzeeroute ” (Watten- Den Haag ) “ LF 4 / Midden-Nederlandroute “(Den Haag-Geesteren) and LF 40 (to Zwillbrock).
In Germany, the Europaradweg is now largely signposted as "R1" in green on white. Sometimes you will find the advertised variant "Europaradweg R1" or "Europa-Route R1" with additional explanations, place-name signs and references to interesting tourist destinations. The Europaradweg is congruent with the "D-Route 3".
expansion
Basically, the Europe Cycle Route is run over routes that are not heavily loaded with motor vehicle traffic.
In many passages, the path leads through places of tourist interest. Out of town, the route mostly runs through nature and away from the roads. In many regions the paths are already very well developed. However, some of the road surfaces are still unpaved. In the Harz there are some steep gradients between Langelsheim and Ermsleben .
At some points on the long-distance cycle path there are rest areas for bicycles.
See also
- EuroVelo - European long-distance cycle route network
- European long-distance hiking trails
- Cycling network Germany
literature
- Europaradweg R1 Euroroute, part 1: Berlin-Poland-Kaliningrad-Lithuania . IS.RADWEG, ISBN 978-3-9810029-1-1 .
- European cycle route R1 Euroroute, part 2: Klaipėda-Latvia-Estonia-St. Petersburg . IS.RADWEG, ISBN 978-3-9810029-2-8 .
- European cycle route R1 Euroroute, part 2a: Tallinn - Saint Petersburg-Helsinki . IS.RADWEG, ISBN 978-3-9817186-6-9 .
- Europaradweg R1 Euroroute, part 3: London-France-Belgium-Netherlands-Münster . IS.RADWEG, ISBN 978-3-9817186-8-3 .
- Europaradweg R1 Euroroute, part 4: Münster-Berlin . 1st edition. IS.RADWEG, 2015, ISBN 978-3-9817186-1-4 .
- Europaradweg R1 Euroroute, part 5: Saint Petersburg-Moscow . 1st edition. IS.RADWEG, 2019, ISBN 978-3-9817186-4-5 .
- Coastal cycle route Lithuania (directions) . BaltiCCycle, 2007.
- Latvia by bike . 2nd Edition. BaltiCCycle, 2006.
- bikeline bike tour book Europa-Radweg R1 . 3. Edition. Verlag Esterbauer, 2010, ISBN 978-3-85000-129-8 .
- Cycle Map Estonia. (All signed cycle routes) . 2nd Edition. Regio / Cycle club Vänta Aga, 2008.
- Regio Guide for Cyclist. Routes 3 and 4 (coincides with R1) . Regio / Cycle club Vänta Aga.
Web links
- The website of the R1
- Directions, stage calculator, city maps and the latest news on the R1 European Cycle Route between London and St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Moscow
- D3 in the ADFC tour portal (JavaScript required) ( Memento from September 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- Description and illustrations by Verlag Esterbauer
- Photos from the Westphalian part of the R1
- International bicycle project "BaltiCCycle" - information on bicycle routes in the Baltic states in general, also on the Lithuanian coastal cycle route
- R1 on the bike travel wiki
- Radnetz Deutschland Information from the Deutscher Tourismusverband Service GmbH about the planned expansion of the route and a GPS track
- BicycleRoutes & Tours: Boulogne-sur-Mer - St. Petersburg European cycle route R1, with map, GPS download, elevation profile, sights and accommodation
Individual evidence
- ↑ R1. In: r1-radweginfo.de. Retrieved May 11, 2020 .
- ↑ Route of the Europaradweg R1 in Great Britain (194 kilometers) , on euroroute-r1.de, accessed on June 17, 2019
- ↑ Discover the land of the three waters! , on bicycle.lt
- ↑ Estonia - Paradise for Cyclists ( Memento from April 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The Europaradweg R1 in Finland , on euroroute-r1.de, accessed on June 17, 2019