The final stage of our first leg. Well rested and fresh, we departed Laufenburg at 8 a.m. through the old town. This is the final stage of our first leg, led from Laufenberg on the Upper Rhine via Bad Säckingen and Rheinfelden to Grenzach-Whylen (near Basel). Today was one of our shortest cycle routes – 46KM track but a little complicated as we cycled through the forest. The weather was mixed shiny and cloudy although we were a little afraid that it would rain. Fortunately, it did not. The route was filled with lots of nature, lots of Rhine, many nature reserves on the banks of the Rhine, and numerous medieval towns left and right of the Rhine.

In this route, we noticed that the Rhine weaves its way slowly westwards from Koblenz (CH) and continues to act as a border. To the north are German towns and villages and to the south is Switzerland. Basel, the first city on the course of the Rhine, is now reached in the region where the German, Swiss, and French borders meet. The EuroVelo 15 route passes through an undulating landscape dominated by unspoiled countryside. The banks of the Rhine are lined by many historical buildings like the old Roman town of Augusta Raurica close to Basel.

We continued down the cobbled main street, passed the bridge at the bottom, and followed the Rhine River. We mostly stayed on the German side of Laufenburg and decided to take the German cycle route or the German Rheintalradweg. After that, we crossed the borders between Germany and Switzerland on almost every Rhine bridge and if we counted correctly, there were a total of seven border crossings. Then after about 6 km of leaving Laufenberg, we passed Murg and headed towards Bad Sackingen. After passing Murg, continued on asphalt track beside river Rheinuferweg. Followed railway track for 4km, with the Rhine on the left, until just after dam and power station and into Rheinallee and continued parallel to the river with a view of Bad Säckingen covered bridge ahead. Passed the defensive tower and turned into cobbled Fischergasse and finally into the center of Bad Säckingen. We reached Bad Säckingen by lunchtime and a third of the distance was completed.

Bad Sackingen (pop 16,500), in addition to having a heavily baroqued Gothic cathedral (St Fridolin) and Europe’s longest covered bridge, is the setting for a romantic epic poem, The Trumpeter of Säckingen, written in 1853 by Joseph von Scheffel. This tells the story of Werner (a lowly trumpeter) and titled Margareta, for whom social difference made marriage impossible. The story is narrated by a cat (Kater Hiddigeigei) that observes all that happens in the town.

We then followed the road out of the village (sp Waldhaus), climbing a little away from the river past a small industrial estate into the forest. For the next  6km, the well-signposted path is in Möhlinwald forest, followed by a network of gravel Waldstrassen (forest tracks). Once in Möhlinwald, winding through trees and continued alongside the river. Then we continued onto Bürkliweg out of the forest with the field. We then followed on the nature reserve of the Wehramündung and several miles on well-developed dirt roads along the Rhine Valley Cycle Route to Rheinfelden, just like Laufenburg, this town is also on both sides - Germany & Switzerland.

The time through the forest was long and by the time we arrived in Rhinefelden, it was 3 pm. We had a nice meal, spent some time in Rheinfelden, and then continued through the old center of Rheinfelden on cobbled Kupfergasse, which becomes Marktgasse, passing Baroque town hall with murals. Passed end of Rheinbrücke (the oldest Rhine bridge below Konstanz) and continued uphill along Habich-Dietschy-Strasse. We then got on the cycle track to emerge beside the main road and continued ahead over the roundabout with Feldschlossen brewery steam locomotive in middle (the old brewery which stood nearby has been demolished). Continued on cycle track beside the main road for 4.5km, passed behind a pond, crossed two motorway bridges and a railway bridge, and passed an industrial area. At beginning of Kaiseraugst, where the cycle track drops down, we turned into Giebenacherstrasse, gently uphill through the housing estate. Then took the third turn (Schwarzackerstrasse, becoming Venusstrasse) and after 500 meters into (another) Giebernacherstrasse. This runs downhill through the ruins of Augusta Raurica, between Roman theatre and museum.

Augusta Raurica was one of three Roman colonial cities established by Emperor Augustus as part of his campaign to conquer the central Alps around 15BC (the others were modern-day Augsburg and Aosta). At its peak in the second century AD, it housed 20,000 citizens and had all the amenities of an important Roman city, including forum, aqueduct, several temples, public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 10,000 seats. Severely damaged by an earthquake in AD250 and attacked by the Alemanni tribe soon after, it was abandoned in favour of a smaller, heavily fortified site on the banks of the Rhine.

From Augusta Rarica, we crossed a bridge over the Rhine River to go to the German side of the cycle path towards our destination. We headed through Herten Whylen and finally arrived at Grenzach-Whylen our final destination.

In the evening, our Airbnb host recommended one of the finest Rebstock Restaurants which is known for its best local beef steak and we had a great meal.