Discover Philippsburg: Old Town, Cycling Routes and Polder Trail

Philippsburg offers different ways to enjoy a stay: the old town walking tour explores the city’s history, while cycling routes and the Polder Information Trail highlight nature and flood protection. If you are looking for a hotel in Philippsburg, it helps to decide in advance what you would like to focus on. Culture, cycling and landscape can be explored through specific routes and themes, without limiting your stay to just one activity.

Old town history along a designated route

The old town walking tour is an urban route that visits 17 sights. It starts at the four-sided information pillar by the Philippus Fountain. The history of the stops is explained in German, English and French. The stops include the Baroque Church of St. Maria. The starting point and stops provide a clear spatial and thematic guide to the tour. If you would like to discover Philippsburg through its history, the route offers a specific framework for this focus.

Cycling routes and different distances

Five signposted cycling routes around Philippsburg range from 11.0 to 34.6 kilometres. They pass through nature and landscape conservation areas and by local sights. This allows you to compare the routes by length while also taking into account how they combine protected natural areas with sights. The Asparagus Route offers another specific route option: you can choose between a circular route of about 75 kilometres or a total distance of 108 kilometres. The routes are easy to cycle, and the difficulty level is listed as easy. The options for this route differ both in length and in whether they are described as a circular route or a total distance. Route conditions may change; check the latest information before setting off.

The Rhine Cycle Route is part of the international Rhine Cycle Route and passes through Rheinsheim. This means that a named long-distance cycling route is also part of the area’s cycling options. Its description differs from that of the five signposted routes around Philippsburg, and it passes through Rheinsheim.

Landscape, nature conservation and flood protection

Parts of the Rußheimer Altrhein-Elisabethenwört nature reserve are located within Philippsburg. The Rheinschanzinsel is enclosed by the Rhine and the Philippsburg Old Rhine. The municipal forest also gives a tangible sense of the landscape’s scale: a municipal report on a forest inspection in 2019 put its area at about 1,100 hectares, around one-fifth of the city’s area. Part of the city area is designated as a Natura 2000 site.

The Polder Information Trail combines a nature experience with information and learning about flood management. Information panels along the trail explain flood management and the retention area’s protective function. The trail follows the Zick-Zack-Damm, which was modelled on Philippsburg’s historic fortifications. Along a single path, nature, flood protection and a direct link to the historic fortifications come together. For your travel plans, this offers a different thematic focus from the old town walking tour or choosing a cycling route.

The options differ in specific ways: the old town walking tour brings together 17 stops, the cycling routes can be compared by length, and the Polder Information Trail combines nature with information about the retention area.

Discover more destinations: Rheinsheim, Karlsdorf-Neuthard, Karlsbad, Rheinstetten, Bretten, Bad Schönborn, Östringen, Ubstadt-Weiher.

For the broader travel overview: Karlsruhe.