Mosel Valley - staying in Cochem vs Beilstein - October 2025

I guess because Beilstein and Cochem are listed in Rick Steves guide books, that is your universe. but there are a lot more towns along the Mosel. Zell, Bullay, Traben-Trarbach, Briedel, Puenderich, Bernkastel-Kues.

Beilstein is listed in my German Road Atlas as a "picturesque town", as is Bernkastel-Kues. You might have to drive to Cochem to find a grocery store.

I've stayed in Cochem multiple times, in every season of the year. September is a busy month with wine fests and good weather. In October, the fests are finished with, the air starts to chill, and the visitor numbers drop off. Saturday and Sunday might see some mid-day crowds, but on weekdays - apparently you will have at least 3 of those with 5 days there - you should have the town mostly to yourselves.

We typically like to stay in a smaller town that isn't overrun with
tourists and take day trips to larger locations nearby if necessary.

With this strategy, Cochem is almost perfectly situated for day trips to TRIER (Germany's oldest city, 50 minutes upstream by RE train from Cochem) and to KOBLENZ (where Rhine and Mosel meet, 40 minutes downstream by RE train.) These are the Mosel's largest towns, with populations of 100,000 plus - vs. Cochem (pop. 5,000.) For these day trips from Cochem, a car is not necessary. Traben-Trarbach (pop. around 6,000) and Bernkastel-Kues (pop 7,000), which Sam mentions, can also be easily reached by train from Cochem (For Bernkastel, transfer in Wittlich to connecting bus... entire trip takes 50 minutes.)

Any Sat or Sun day trip you make from Cochem will mean you are returning to Cochem in the late afternoon or evening, well after the day trippers have left. I wouldn't worry about getting overrun by tourists.

I should also mention that Cochem makes a very good launching pad for visiting Burg Eltz, Rick's favorite European Castle, whether you are using public transport all the way or doing the walk from Moselkern train station.

Beilstein is teeny-tiny... pop. 150. There is very little there. A couple of inns and restaurants. It is a popular tour bus stop and day cruise boat stop. There is no train station there, so without a car, staying there would require you to take a connecting bus to a train station every time you leave town by train - and every time you come back to Beilstein. Beilstein is connected to Cochem by direct bus (takes 22 minutes.) Beilstein is adorable and surely worth a short visit. But most outings will be done by train, so Cochem works better as a base, all things considered.

Bullay is more than 10 times the size of Beilstein with a whopping population of 1,700. It is on the same Trier - Cochem - Koblenz railway, only 10 minutes from Cochem by train. It is quiet like Beilstein, but with completely untouristy... a few places to eat, a bakery or two, a grocery store. Besides being close to Cochem, I like Bullay for the great scenery nearby, for the hiking/biking trails, AND because it is a small train hub... there is an offshoot railway there called the Mosel Wine Railway (Moselweinbahn) which makes the train trip to Traben-Trarbach (18 minutes) even shorter. ZELL is just 4km upstream from Bullay (no train station there, so bike, bus, or walk to visit Zell.) Just across the river from Bullay is the small town of Alf (ferry crossing from Bullay) where some nice hikes begin. I have stayed in a B&B and at the Hotel Mosella on separate occasions. Bullay is not endowed with lots of lovely buildings like you might find in Cochem or Bernkastel, but it is very convenient and very quiet (if that's what you want.) Photo of Bullay (right) with Alf (left) and the Prinzenkopf lookout tower (nice views, nice short hike from Alf.)

Cochem and certain other Mosel towns offer FREE train and bus transportation locally with the VRM Guest Ticket - when you stay with certain participating hotels/inns/apartments. Participants can be found by clicking on the "contracts" link near the bottom of the linked page above.

Here's a map which includes the Mosel Valley Railway and the Mosel Wine Railway stops.

Everything Russ says about Bullay is spot on. That's where I would stay. I was there just last week showing a couple friends who've never been there the Mosel Valley. Cochem is where the Dutch and Americans stay. Bullay is for Germans. Much less "touristy".

One thing to note is that October is when the tour boats stop running and the locals turn off the water in the fountains. It starts to get cold and wet. It's also when a lot of the shops and other tourist reliant businesses close and by the end of the month some of those pretty little towns are almost completely shut down. Walking through Cochem last Saturday maybe one business in 10 was open, and the parking lots were empty. That's a huge difference from in season when they can count on 10,000 visitors a day from the boats and busses.

Cochem is where the Dutch and Americans stay. Bullay is for Germans.

Well, it is completely true that American guests in Bullay are almost as rare as icy roads in Panama. On my first visit to Bullay back in the 90's, Bullay's TI office staff said I was the first American that had wandered in there, to their collective memory.

And it's true that Dutch visitors are in fact very prominent on the Mosel - definitely in Cochem, but also everywhere else nearby too. Most visitors to Cochem, however, are German... about 2/ 3 according to the state tourism data, which I just took a look at. Who are the foreigners there? The Dutch are huge there. They make up about half of that 1/3 who are foreign. But that of course means that the Dutch are just 1/6th of the total visitors. The next biggest group of foreigners there is much smaller... the Belgians (who are easily confused with the Dutch since most of them share a language with the Dutch.) It makes perfect sense that with Belgium and the Netherlands so close to this part of Germany that they would dominate the visitor numbers, right?

Americans in Cochem come in a very distant third, roughly tied with the fourth-place British, and in much smaller numbers than the Dutch and the Belgians.

For me, Cochem has always felt "international" during the busy periods. From October into May, it feels as German as any other place in Germany.

Beilstein and Cochem are both attractive villages and worth visiting, the latter being larger with more restaurant options.

I've stayed in Sehl (by Cochem) and Graach for 10 or 11 nights in each place, using a car (and public transport at times). I also plan on going back this October.

Pick your car up at the airport or in Koblenz, no rental locations in Cochem that I know of. Accommodation will be much cheaper in the not so popular spots. I like Bremm, and St Aldegund is a pretty little spot.

Suggestions:

Burg Eltz plus Cochem.

Bernkastel-Kues. Park in Graach, walk to Bernkastel by the river or a small road through the vineyards. On or anniversary we ate at Burg Landshut, local fare prepared well: book in advance and ask for a seat by the window. Kloster Machern, north of Graach, is a very attractive restaurant and one of the few to offer a hearty schmaltz (or, they did).

Saarburg and Trier.

One of my favourite days, a visit to Maria Laach (hike around lake + abbey), followed by a visit to the lovely village of Monreal.

Luxembourg City (take the train)

Vianden. Nice country drive via one of the Vulkaneifel villages, such as Schalkenmehren (stop for a coffee and a walk around the lake).Vianden has a splendid castle visit.

Hiking trails everywhere. If you are up for it, the Calmont Klettersteig. Or, at least try one of the trails to the top of Calmont for a classic photo opportunity. Browse all the local tourism websites for suggestions.

Pick your car up at the airport or in Koblenz, no rental locations in
Cochem that I know of.

I am not aware of rental options there either. I have rented cars previously in Koblenz and also in Trier. In theory you could pick up a car in Koblenz, if you decide one is necessary, as you travel from FRA to Cochem/Beilstein since your train from FRA requires a change of train in Koblenz. Prior to booking, find out from your provider whether you can pick up at the main station (Koblenz Hbf) where you will be getting off. Some companies do not operate from there, and a taxi or bus trip would be needed.

(Note: I don't recommend picking up and driving after an overnight international flight... drowsiness and jet-lag can make driving safely in new places more challenging than ever.)

In Trier, I remember a walk of maybe 15 minutes to the outlet I had chosen for pick-up. Again, find out if your outlet is within easy reach of the main station (Trier Hbf) prior to booking. Trier might make for the most convenient option... If you take the train from FRA to Cochem on Day 1, then take a train outing to Trier on a subsequent day, you could pick up the car that afternoon/evening for the return trip to Cochem.

I rented in these cities to travel from the Mosel area to Monschau (Germany) and into BELGIUM (Ardennes WW II towns) and the NETHERLANDS. We have never found it necessary or desirable to rent a car for touring the Mosel. Wineries are typically located in town. The towns are small and walkable. Every town is connected to other places by train or by bus. Places like Landshut Castle (Bernkastel) and Reichsburg Castle (Cochem) which are less accessible are typically made accessible by shuttle bus. Here's the one to Burg Landshut in Bernkastel. And of course taxis are available for off-hours jaunts.

After one of our car pick-ups, we drove into Cochem to spend one night before leaving the area and were surprised to find that Cochem's old town zone had been made inaccessible to non-residents. We had to pay a fee for parking several blocks away from our accommodations. I am not familiar with parking options in Beilstein or in other towns. However, I suspect that Bullay probably would make for easy coming and going and that parking there would be adjacent to your accommodations and part of a hotel/apartment package (with parking fees, probably.) In any case, have a close look at the details of travel by rental car (and of course the costs) before making that choice.

I spent four nights (3 full days) on the Mosel in 2008. I never felt a need for a car. I went everywhere (Bernkastel, Zell, Cochem, Beilstein) by train and bus.

I started looking for reservations too early. It was a major fall holiday, Federweiß (new wine) in Cochem, where I wanted to stay. Seems everyone had double occupancy rooms, and when I started looking for accommodations, no one wanted to rent a double room for single occupancy, so I kept getting rejections, but when I got there, there were "Zimmer Frei" signs out all over Cochem. I ended up booking early at a nice Privatzimmer with a family in Treis, which is a short train ride from Cochem.

The rail line to Trier starts out from Koblenz following the river until it gets to Cochem. Then, as the river starts to wind, it hits the western loops. For the first day I toured the "castle" in Cochem, which is actually a chateau built on the site of an earlier castle destroyed by Napoleon, and sampled the new wine. The second day, I took the train down to Wittlich, from which I took a bus to Bernkastel, ground zero for Riesling wine and had lunch, then back to Wittlich, trained to Bullay, then bused to Zell, home of the Zeller Schwartze Katz, for dinner. On the last day, I trained back to Cochem and bused to Beilstein, where I visited the castle ruins and the church, then spent the afternoon staying out of the rain, drinking coffee and eating pastry, at several cafes. I don't think I would stay in Beilstein. It's quaint, but tiny, and takes less than a day to see thoroughly. Accommodations are too limited in Beilstein. I'd stay in Cochem for its greater selection of places to stay. Anyway, if you use public transportation, Cochem is the perfect hub.

I didn't go to Burg Eltz, as I was too late in the season, and it was closed.

"Recommendations for activities in the Mosel Valley area" - Oh, don't you research a destination just a little bit before you decide to visit?