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Things to see between Cochem and Xanten in Germany

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We are planning a multi-city car trip through Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium this spring and love to visit unusual or interesting sites as we drive between cities. We'll have an extra 2-3 hours on our day traveling between Cochem and Xanten. Any recommendations for things to see along the way past Bonn, Cologne, Dusseldorf and surrounding areas?

We're also open to suggestions of must-dos in and around Cochem. We already have Eltz Castle, Reichsburg Cochem Castle, the mustard factory, Moselle Wein Express and checking out the wine in our plans. Thanks!

Posted by
14980 posts

If you are heading in the direction of Xanten, this is the lower Rhine area (Niederrheingebiet), which was the first area of the Rhine I started to explore in the 1980s.

I've been to Xanten only once, did that as a day trip from Düsseldorf in 1987.

Xanten was heavily fought over in 1945 as it is a major town in the lower Rhine. It is one of the singular places in the war that was a Canadian operation, if you're interested in that specific history. Xanten began as Roman fortress, that's evident there.

Posted by
7072 posts

From Cochem you should consider a route that takes you in the direction of Aachen. Quite a nice city, less trouble to visit by car than a city like Cologne, I think.

South of Aachen is the picture-perfect old-world town of Monschau.

And just west of Aachen is the Dutch town of Maastricht - a charming place as well.

Any one of these destinations would be worth your time and more interesting altogether than Xanten IMHO.

Posted by
14980 posts

If you do visit Bonn, which I recommend, I would suggest seeing Beethoven's house. I went to Bonn my first time over with the expressed purpose of seeing that Beethoven site.

Since you'll be in that immediate and motorised, you could veer off to Bad Godesberg from Bonn. It was in that little town where Prime Minsister N. Chamberlain met with Hitler concerning the Sudenten Crisis, thinking the old diplomacy in the traditional style could still be effective and practical when dealing with a state like Nazi Germany.

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