Upper Rhine

Neuenburg is the starting point of our guided canoe trip along the Old Rhine, an arm of the river closed to commercial shipping. The canalization of the Rhine between Basel and Breisach has left gravel banks and islands to explore. Before our canoers go on shore in Hartheim they encounter a stretch of rapids. The next stop is Breisach, a town founded by the Staufer in 1185 which has been besieged, destroyed and rebuilt many times. Its landmark is St. Stephan's Cathedral, completed in the fifteenth century. From a lookout point on the Münsterberg visitors have a view of the French town of Neuf-Brisach across the Rhine. Here the river is the Franco-German border, and for centuries it has divided and linked the two countries.