This guidebook provides 14 stages of route description to cycling along the Moselle river, a route that offers stunning scenery, plentiful accommodation and places to eat and drink, and straightforward cycling throughout. A well-waymarked, generally downhill 512km route, it is mostly off-road and on well-surfaced cycle tracks (mainly asphalt) with virtually no gradients, and the majority is along the riverbank or on canal towpaths. From its source in the Vosges Mountains of eastern France, the Moselle flows through the French region of Lorraine and crosses into Luxembourg then into the German Rheinland region before it reaches its confluence with the Rhine at the west German city of Koblenz.
Suitable for both veteran long-distance cyclists and for newcomers to cycle touring who wish to start with an easy-to-follow journey, the route can be completed in a week by fit cyclists, cycling two stages per day. Two weeks allow for alternative stages and optional excursions through the Saar and Rhine gorges and to visit the Boucles de Moselle and the city of Luxembourg, and give enough time for sightseeing and a leisurely riding pace.

Mike Wells has been walking long-distance footpaths for 25 years, and a keen cyclist for 20. He has walked the major British paths, the GR5 from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean, and explored the Dolomites Alta Via routes in Italy. He has also walked in Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Norway and Chilean Patagonia. Starting with UK cycling routes, he soon moved on to long-distance routes in the rest of Europe and beyond, including a circumnavigation of Iceland and a ride across Cuba.