La Route des Vins d'Alsace

For most of the trip, I want to stay as close to the river as possible. From Interlaken to Koblenz in Switzerland I'll be on the Aare River and from then on I'll be on the Rhine. For the vast majority of the trip, there are cities, castles, bridges, etc, along the river so there is no need to stray. For two sections, though, the river itself is quite boring. The section between Basel and Speyer along the French/German border and the later sections in the Netherlands. In both cases, the river has been channeled for barge traffic, which takes away much of the character of the river and the surrounding towns.

Between Basel and Strasbourg, I'm thinking of leaving the river and biking along La Route des Vins d'Alsace or The Alsace Wine Route. The vineyards should be beautiful in the fall and the rolling hills along the edge of the Vosges Mountains will be much more interesting than the Grand Canal d'Alsace (aka The Rhine).

The Wikipedia Page has a bunch of info on the wine and the region.