The best traffic-free bike rides in Mainz

An incredibly beautiful spot and worth every detour. A wonderful path leads directly along the water, and the water itself invites you to swim (but unfortunately it is forbidden).

The Hegbachsee was created in the mid-1960s through gravel extraction for the adjacent motorway. Before the current name caught on in 1987, six different names for the lake were in circulation, including Autobahnbaggersee and Nauheimer Waldsee. Today, the body of water serves as a flood retention basin and a recreational area. Although swimming is not permitted here, a walk around the lake is worthwhile in any season. The diverse birdlife, in particular, is something to marvel at here.

The Main, with a total length of 527 kilometers, is the longest right tributary of the Rhine and one of Germany's most important rivers. It originates with its two headwaters (White and Red Main) in Bavaria and flows in characteristic loops from east to west. Its long journey ends at the so-called Mainspitze, where it flows into the Rhine exactly between Ginsheim-Gustavsburg and the Wiesbaden district of Mainz-Kostheim, directly opposite Mainz's old town.

With a total length of around 1,233 kilometers, the Rhine is one of the longest, most historically significant, and economically important rivers in Europe. The river originates in the Swiss Alps, where it is formed from the two headwaters, the Vorder- and Hinterrhein. After flowing through Lake Constance, it plunges down at the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen and then, as the High Rhine, forms the border between Switzerland and Germany. Further on, as the Upper Rhine, it flows through the Upper Rhine Plain past major cities such as Karlsruhe and Ludwigshafen, as well as directly past the region of Mainz and Wiesbaden. In this area, the river makes a sharp turn west at the so-called "Rhine Knee" (Rheinknie) before reaching the spectacular Middle Rhine. This section between Bingen and Koblenz – known as the Upper Middle Rhine Valley (Obere Mittelrheintal) – has been protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002 due to its density of castles, historic vineyards, and the legend of the Loreley rock. Via the Lower Rhine (Niederrhein) and the metropolitan regions of Cologne and Düsseldorf, the Rhine finally continues into the Netherlands. There it divides into a widely branched delta and finally flows into the North Sea near Rotterdam. As an international waterway, the Rhine is the logistical backbone of Western Europe. It connects major industrial centers and seaports directly with the hinterland, and is used annually by tens of thousands of cargo ships for the transport of coal, ores, containers, and chemical goods. In addition to its industrial function, the Rhine Valley serves as a lifeline for tourism, as a rich source of energy through hydropower plants, and as a valuable natural and recreational area for millions of people.

nice place to take a break

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor-Heuss-Br%C3%BCcke_%28Mainz%E2%80%93Wiesbaden%29

The Mainz South Bridge (also known as the Mainz-South Railway Bridge, and at times as the Mainz-Gustavsburg Railway Bridge) is a railway bridge on the Mainz–Frankfurt railway line, spanning the Rhine at river kilometer 496.4 and connecting Mainz in Rhineland-Palatinate with Gustavsburg in Hesse. A footbridge attached to the north side of the bridge allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross the river.

Today's Theodor Heuss Bridge connects the Rhineland-Palatinate state capital Mainz with the Mainz-Kastel district of the Hessian state capital Wiesbaden across the Rhine.