A great bike ride for families, particularly in spring when the apple trees are blossoming and rapeseed fields are bright yellow. The bike path is mostly on quiet country roads and car-free paths, making it safe for young riders.
The route includes the Altnau Apfelweg theme trail, which has 24 info boards and activities for children along the apple orchards. You can bike this trail, making it a quicker between stations so no one gets bored. We rented bikes at the train station, a convenient option, details below.
| Location: | Kreuzlingen, northeast Switzerland |
| By car: | P+Rail Metered parking at Kreuzlingen train station – Bahnhofstrasse 31, 8280 Kreuzlingen 50 mins from Zürich |
| By public transport: | Kreuzlingen train station 1hr10 from Zürich |
| Trail: | 28 km by bike, about 3-4 hours including time on the theme trail (shorter version below) |
| Elevation: | highest point 500m, 170m up/down |
| Condition: | paved, gravel and dirt |
| Skill: | easy |
| Open: | best April-May for apple blossoms, or Sept for apples |
| More info: | thurgau-bodensee.ch • webcam |
Location
This bike tour is located in northeast Switzerland, starting and ending at the Kreuzlingen train station. It includes the Apfelweg theme trail in Altnau, which can also be done as a hike (see this post).
Bike route map
We started our day in Kreuzlingen, where I rented a bike at the train station. Then we rode 9.5 km through farm fields on Route 55 to reach the Apfelweg, about 40 mins.
About 4.5 km along the “Lisi” section of the Apfelweg, we stopped at each signboard and activity. Then about 10 km along Route 2 back to Kreuzlingen, about 45 mins back.
I’d plan for about 3-4 hours total.
It’s easy riding with a few slight hills here and there. We saw lots of families on these trails, especially on Route 2. Almost all of Route 2 is on a dedicated bike/skating path, with a few short sections in bike lanes on roads.
Route 55 starts on city streets then turns into country roads and stays that like that the rest of the way to Altnau.
Shorter version:
You could go directly to Altnau with your bikes and just ride the 7km loop around the Apfelweg. See a map of this loop route. You could rent bikes in Kreuzlingen, take the trail to Altnau for the loop, then take the train back to Kreuzlingen to drop off the bikes.
Longer version:
From Altnau, continue riding your bike south to Romanshorn, either on Route 55 or Route 2. Ride your bike back to Kreuzlingen or take the train back.
Getting to Kreuzlingen
By car:
We parked our car in the P+Rail parking next to the train station. It costs CHF 1/hr or CHF 9/day. You can pay with the P+Rail Parking app (iOSor Android), which allows you to add extra time later with your phone – very handy!
By public transport:
Take a train to Kreuzlingen, Bahnhof. Route 55 starts here and Route 2 is very close.
Bike rental in Kreuzlingen
For various reasons, it was not practical to bring my bike to this tour. We don’t currently have a bike trailer for our car. Also my new eBike is very heavy and difficult to load onto trains that have stairs. So I chose to rent a bike near the trail and bring my son’s bike in our car.
We used the Rent-a-Bike website to reserve a bike at the Kreuzlingen train station. It’s not required to reserve, but I would recommend it because even on a Friday, many people were renting bikes and there were only a couple left when I picked mine up around 11:30.
Picking up your rental bike
To get the bike, you first pay for your rental at the SBB ticket counter inside the Avec convenience store at the train station. I gave them my ID and they looked up my reservation. They printed out a bunch of documents and had me sign for the bike. I was able to pay by card even though the website said cash only.
On my receipt, they wrote a code that opens the bike locker outside. At the bike locker, you simply type your code into the door lock and open the door. Then you can choose a bike in the room matching the class of bike you rented.
I didn’t have a specific bike assigned to me. The bike has a circle lock through the tire with a key, so you don’t need to bring a lock. You can also rent a helmet, which are simply sitting in a big box in this room.
You don’t have to check in your bike when you drop it off. You just open the bike locker and put your bike away.
Bike rental opening times
The Kreuzlingen ticket counter where you pay for your bike rental is open the following times:
- Mon – Fri 9:00 – 16:30
- Sat 9:00 – 11:00 and 15:00 – 16:30
- Sun 9:00 – 11:45 and 15:00 – 16:30
The ticket counter doesn’t need to be open when you drop off.
Bike rental fees
I rented a “country” bike, which costs CHF 35/day. With a SBB half-fare card, you get a discount to CHF 30/day. Kid bikes (24 inch tires) are CHF 30/day but discounted to CHF 17/day if you have a SBB Junior card for your child and at least one adult is renting a bike.
You can rent the bike for a half-day, either 9:00 – 13:30 or 13:30 for the rest of the day. It costs CHF 27 or discounted to CHF 22 with a SBB Half-fare card. You could definitely fit this bike tour into a half-day.
Your rental fee includes a train ticket for your bike. So you can ride wherever you like and return by train, only needing to purchase a ticket for yourself, not the bike (bikes are half-fare or max CHF 14 for a day pass). I thought it might be nice after the Altnau apple trail to continue riding south to Romanshorn and taking the train back to Kreuzlingen. Maybe you’ll do that.
Starting the bike trail in Kreuzlingen
We followed Route 55 signs to get to Altnau and Route 2 to get back to Kreuzlingen. You can mix this up as you like. Route 55 starts through town and has a few short stretches on busy roads without a bike line, which I found annoying. But most of the ride is on country roads, so I forgot about that first part rather quickly.
Here’s one of the quieter neighborhoods we biked through before getting to the country roads. In
After about 15 mins, you finally reach the countryside and it’s beautiful!!!
The road is sometimes paved, sometimes dirt and gravel, used by both bikes and pedestrians. Most is car free.
Can’t get enough of these yellow fields!
Lovely villages along the way, pretty as a painting.
Our first apple tree sighting, almost done blooming.
Making friends with some cows.
Looking back toward Kreuzlingen where we started.
A bit through the forest, nice for a hot day.
Now reaching the first apple orchards.
So pretty these spindly trees. Respect the private property and don’t wander through the rows.
More endless yellow – love it!
Joining the Altnauer Apfelweg trail
After about 45 mins (9.5 km), you join the Alnauer apple trail, on the green section. See my Alnauer Apfelweg post for complete details.
This was the first station that talks about how much fruit this region produces – 41,334 tons of apples per year!
The apple trail has hundreds of apple trees that have beautiful blossoms in late April – mid-May.
There are activities along the trail for kids.
There are farm shops for refreshments.
We were happy to be doing the trail by bike because we could quickly get between stations without a long walk.
The whole trail is super beautiful, particularly as you look down the hill at the lake.
And lots more yellow fields along the way.
There are three sections of the Apple trail and we rode along all of them for research purposes. But we recommend simply riding along the red section, which is the prettiest and most suitable for bikes.
Riding back to Kreuzlingen
After leaving the apple trail, we rode down toward the Altnau train station and turned left on the Route 2 bike path, leading to Kreuzlingen, about 10 km (40 mins for us).
We passed a playground.
And a couple cafes, lots of cyclists taking a break.
Lots of pretty fields along this path as well.
Not all the path looks like this, but most of it.
Near the end, you pass this enormous park and playground near the Kreuzlingen ferry dock.
Great place to stop if you have younger kids.
Route 2 does not lead directly to the train station, so you may need to check your map so you don’t end up crossing the border into Germany like we did.
See more bike rides for families
