Hello. My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe in September. It will be our first time. We have not booked anything yet, but below is our VERY rough itinerary. Day 1 -- Arrive in Dusseldorf, mid afternoon. Spend the afternoon/evening/night in Dusseldorf. Day 2 -- Depart Dusseldorf early, drive south to Cochem. Stop in Cologne to see the cathedral along the way. Day 3 -- Cochem & surrounding area. Day 4 -- Cochem & surrounding area. Day 5 -- Depart Cochem early. Spend most of the day in Trier. Take evening train to Paris. Day 6 -- Paris. Day 7 -- Paris. Day 8 -- Paris. Day 9 -- Paris. Day 10 -- Fly home. Mosel activities: Burg Eltz, rent bikes and ride along the river path, visit small towns and wineries. Paris activities: Versailles (day trip), Fat Tire bike tour... there are so many possibilities, I have yet to narrow down all of the wonderful options here! Questions: - In general, how does this rough outline look as far as time in each region? - Is Cochem a good town to base ourselves in Mosel Valley? - Would it make more sense to rent a car or rely on trains for our time in Germany? If we rented a car, we would return it in Trier. Thank you!
Posted by
Ojai, CA
591 posts
No need to rent a car since trains can get you to your main destinations. Yes, Cochem is a good base for the Mosel Valley. When checking flights be sure to also look at flying to Frankfurt in addition to Dusseldorf. Frankfurt is usually cheaper, has more schedules to choose from, and is almost as close to Cochem as Dusseldorf. If you fly to Frankfurt you might think of spending your 1st night in one of the small towns on the Rhine. If you still want to see the Cologne Cathedral, it's not that far out of the way en route to Cochem the next day. Since most flights from the states arrive in the morning, another possibility to look at is traveling on to Cochem for the 1st 2 nights which would allow for the 3rd night in Trier.
The train from Trier to Paris takes just a little over 3 hrs and it would be better to travel in the day time so you wouldn't have to deal with finding your hotel at night.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Dusseldorf-Cologne and Cologne-Cochem are pretty easy by train. The Dusseldorf-Cologne and Cochem-Trier trips are simply local, but you may be able to get a cheaper fare for Cologne-Cochem and you will definitely get a cheaper train for Trier-Paris if you book in advance at bahn.de. This will tie you to specific travel times, though. As for which is easier it depends on whether you want to visit smaller towns on the journeys and whether you want to travel around Cochem a lot. One disadvantage is that I gather that it can be difficult to drive into German cities like Cologne due to permit-access areas for private cars, so if you want a car in Cochem it might be worth looking into car-hire opportunities in the vicinity rather than hiring the car in Dusseldorf.