My wife and I are hesding to utrecht outside of Amsterdam for 4 nights on Aug 31, then Corfu for 10 days then germany. We have three nights and we want to ride bikes along the Mosel river. We fly from Corfu to Frankfurt on Sept 15 so we want to take a train to a charming town . We will ride Sept 16 and 17 and then head to Bamberg for 3 days to meet friends. Ive been researching and Im not sure where to stay. there are severl things that are important to us. 1. Ease of getting there by train from FRA Frankfurt airport,
2. great bike riding for 2 days from this destination. We love riding bikes in farm country, Vinyards, and pass thru charming villages. Castles are not as important. We do want to ride along the Mosel river. 3. We would like the town to be charming, have plenty of Cafes and in case it is raining have enough there to keep us occupied if we aren;t riding bikes. SO Far I have been told go to Bernkastel and Cochem and Trarn trabach. SOmone said the bike riding outside bernKastel sounds like our cup of tea but getting there requires two trains and a bus. so it isnt the easiest to get to. Can you guys chime in here. love your opinion. We dont need Churches and Castles. Wandering is fun for us.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19737 posts
OK, I'm a little confused. You say you are going to Frankfurt and you want to ride on Sept 16 and 17. Are you planning on basing in Frankfurt and training and busing to your ride site each day? Or do you want to base one place on the Mosel for both day's rides? Cochem to Bernkastel would only be one train ride to Wittlich and a bus ride from there to Bernkastel. I've done it, albeit not on a bike.
Maybe you could base in Cochem, train to Wittlich, then ride to Bernkastel. The ride from Wittlich to Bernkastel is about 17 miles each way. mostly on the flat along the river, I think. Is that too far? (I'm a veteran of some century rides and Ride the Rockies, so that would be a short hope for me, but I don't know what you consider too long a ride. And, of course, my rides were all I did that day; you might want to spend some time seeing Bernkastel.)
If you based in Cochem, you could also ride down to Beilstein. It's a little less than 10 miles each way.
Bernkastel is a neat place. It's "ground zero" for Riesling wine, but other than that, I don't know why it's better than anywhere else on the Mosel for cycling.
Or, from Cochem, you could ride about 18 miles to Burg Eltz. That's pretty much flat, but a little hilly the last few miles.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
9515 posts
Given your limited time, stick with Cochem. Easy to get to, a nice town, plenty of cafes and restaurants, as well as wine shops. There should be bike rental places there. If you had a week, then sure, Bernkastel Kues is more centrally located, probably a wider range of rides, but adding time getting there and away may not be worth it for 3 nights.
Keep in mind that you can take the bikes on the train, so you can hop on a train, get off at a town, ride to another station, and back on the train. All bike trails are segregated from roads and paved, definitely a bike culture area.
Posted by
Paradise
8323 posts
"SO Far I have been told go to Bernkastel and Cochem and Trarn trabach."
That's Traben-Trarbach.
Both are towns that meet your criteria, but both will require a minimum of two transfers from FRA airport. For Bernkastel, one of those would mean a train-to-bus change.
Changes aren't that tricky. But each one presents a chance for a missed connection and delays at a time when trains just aren't running all that well in Germany.
Cochem is the better choice - just one change of train in Koblenz if you manage to arrive at FRA in time for the most efficient train journeys, which require 2.3 hours total from FRA.
Do you (or does anyone else) know about the Nahe River Valley?
It seems there is an unofficial code of silence about the Nahe, as though the Germans are keeping this lovely place all to themselves. Like the Mosel, the Nahe River is a tributary of the Rhine with a popular bike route, old-world wine towns, spa towns, a train route that serves these towns, and some spectacular scenery. It's one of my favorite train rides in Germany. I know nothing about biking there as I've only toured the valley by train. Map of the Nahe River bike trail:
https://www.fahrrad-tour.de/Nahetal/NahetalradwegUeberblick.htm
Maybe the biking experience here is worth some research time.
It's quite simple to reach the Nahe River towns... From FRA, there are DIRECT trains that take you to the Nahe in just one hour.
FRA > Bad Kreuznach = 56 minutes
FRA > Bad Münster am Stein = 64 minutes
FRA > Bad Sobernheim = 79 minutes (interesting open-air museum here)
FRA > Bingen (where the Nahe meets the Rhine) = 47 minutes
Other towns of interest in this area:
Idar-Oberstein
Kirn
Herrstein
Obehausen: https://www.komoot.com/guide/311376/attractions-around-oberhausen-an-der-nahe
After your stay is done... the Nahe towns will be closer to Bamberg than Cochem:
The train journey from Bad Kreuznach to Bamberg: 3.5 hours
The train journey from Cochem to Bamberg: 5-5.5 hours
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
2060 posts
Dangit, Russ! Now you've added another location to my Germany bucket list. OP, I think the Nahe Valley makes more sense for your trip, since it's closer to your next destination. Also, access to a spa after all that cycling sounds divine!