Mosel valley - Wines and Sights

I could write pages on this...

In Trier, if you go down by the old Roman Bridge, you'll be close to Karl Marx's house. If you go there, and then walk up to the nearest corner, make a right and walk 10 yards down the street, look to the left and you'll see a huge WWII flak tower. From there it's an easy walk up to the main Roman Baths. If you have time, go to the Landes Museum and see the huge collection of Roman tile mosaics. There's a nice cafe in the park behind the museum that's good for a lite meal and enjoying the scenery.

In Traben Trarbach take the time to visit the wine cellars, which are caves, on the north side of the river. The Panorama Cafe, across from the Bruckentor, has decent food but a great view. The view from Ruine Grevenburg is even better.

Between Bernkastle Kues and Traben Trarbach is Brauhaus Kloster Machern, a great place for local beer and food.

In Bullay there's a really nice little park along the river where you can sit and eat. Every time I've been there I've had swans come by. Get something from the shops or take out places.

Across the river from Bremm is an old monastery ruin. Sometimes the cafe there is open.

In Senheim there are a couple of Winegut's right across from the park that are pretty good.

There are around a dozen castles, or ruins, right along the river along your route. Burg Metternich is one of the nicer ones to visit.

In Cochem I usually get something to eat at Lutz bakery and then find a bench along the river to watch the boats go bye.

The hill up to Burg Eltz from Treis Karden is steep and narrow. Be careful as cars swing wide on the turns.

I don't have any specific places to eat or stay in Koblenz, but do go up to the Fortress Ehrenbreitstein.

The bike path between Brenkastle Kues and Cochem is wide and smooth. Have a good trip.

Trier is a must, also loved Vianden, Luxembourg.

I wouldn't call it "dining," but we enjoyed a delicious platter of sausages and potatoes and veggies in the beer garden at this place near Bernkastle-Kues: https://waldschenke-bernkastel.de.
We had been to Burg Landshut earlier in the day and enjoyed the views from that (mostly) free castle.

What dates will you be in the Mosel Valley?

There are a number of Wine Fests, we really love the Wine Festival of the Middle Mosel in Bernkastel-Kues, that is September 4th through the 8th this year, then the small town of Wolf (just upriver from Traben-Trarbach) has a street fest September 19-21st.

Beilstein on the river is as pretty a village as it gets.

KGC. Thank you for your many thoughts. I will plot these out together with what I find on https://en.visitmosel.de/cycling/mosel-cycle-path and other sites. That particular site covers ten roughly 25 km stages, of which we’ll be cycling seven, about 1-1/2 “stages” per day. That Mosel cycling website is as general as your suggestions are specific.

Paul, thanks for the fest dates. We do not yet have specific dates for our 30-day (32-day?) trip as we need to coordinate with someone we will visit in Geislingen an der Steige (near Stuttgart) and we also need to determine whether we are traveling RT Seattle to Frankfurt or open jaw, returning from Paris. But the fest dates are great to have as we plan. We are likely to be on the Mosel during the first two weeks of September.

We will also be cycling in Alsace and Burgundy and I have similar questions there. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/alsace-and-burgundy-wineries-degustitation

Our time cycling will be about one third of our overall travel in France and Germany with about 2 to 2-1/2 weeks in each.

Another huge fest in September is the Bad Durkeim Wine festival the Wurstmarkt (They do have sausage, but the emphasis is on wine). It actually occurs on two weekends, September 12-16 and September 19-22nd this year, and is billed as the largest wine festival in the world.

It is easily reachable from Mannheim and is a lot of fun. If you are interested, read up on it, the big attraction there is the weinschorle, a mix of wine and soda in a half liter glass, very good, but each is a half bottle of wine, so imbibe carefully.

...and of course you know of Oktoberfest, but there is also the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart, starting September 26 this year.

Wine tasting in Trier: Weinstube Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, diagonally opposite the cathedral. Excellent wines from the Mosel and Saar, including the famous Scharzhofberg vineyard, accompanied by typical vintner's fare. Comparatively inexpensive. Reservations are essential.

Here are a couple websites that may interest you.

https://www.merian.de/deutschland/rheinland-pfalz/weinfeste-in-rheinland-pfalz-mainz-bad-duerkheim-worms

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Rhineland-Palatinate

Note that taking the boat on the Rhine from Koblenz towards St Goar, which you mention, you will be traveling very slowly as that's against the current. You would do better to take the train and picnic along the riverbank, or ride down to Bingen and then take the boat back to Koblenz.

Many years ago, my wife and I stayed in Piesport, at a little place on the river. Ever since, Piesporter wine has been one of our favorite wines.

Oh yes, there's a castle in St. Goar that's interesting to visit. Beautiful views of the river down below.

Paul, Sla019 and KGC. Thanks for your wine suggestions.

Between thoughts here and in response to some of my other posts re our eastern France and southwestern Germany trip (Sept 2025), I have started a spreadsheet to track wine bars, restaurants, castles, tramways, bakeries, museums, towns that are cute and those that seem too cute - and too touristy.

All your lived experiences enrich the various guidebooks and internet sites.