Mosel and Saar River Route

You are asked to be on board the ship no later than 3 p.m. Cochem is a charming town famous for its wines and dominated by the old Reichsburg. After storing your luggage and meeting your cycling companions, guide, captain, and crew, you may relax on board with a coffee or tea. Dinner on the boat will be followed by a preview of the cycling itinerary for the upcoming week.

We will meander along the river through five remarkable bends to the famous vineyards of Calmont. The steepest slopes have a gradient of 65%, which makes it quite difficult for the farmers to tend their vineyards. The lunch stop will be at the beautiful village of Beilstein, background in many movies. Today’s endpoint is the city of the black cat, Zell. The story goes that when a few wine merchants from Aachen had to choose which wine barrel they should buy a black cat jumped onto one of the barrels to defend it. Of course, this made it clear for them which barrel they should buy.

As if it had imbibed a drink or two, the Mosel twists and turns its way through a green and fascinating landscape of vineyards and forests. Just after leaving Zell there will be another hiking opportunity that leads us to the “Marienburg” where you’ll be awarded by a splendid view over the Mosel Meander. Along the way we’ll find some beautiful towns and villages, like the beautiful double city in Jugendstil, Traben Trarbach, and the so called “Winzendorf Wolf.” The final destination is Bernkastel-Kues, a medieval town with romantic narrow streets, remarkable half-timbered houses, and enchanting nooks and crannies.

In the morning the cycle bus will take us to Daun, to the start of the Moselle-Maare cycling trail, – possibly the most famous cycling trail of the central Moselle. There’s no simpler way to cycle to the Moselle valley than on the former railway line through the Volcanic Eifel! The road runs through the landscape of volcanoes and crater lakes, along magnificent viaducts, and past old railway stations. Light as a feather, we will continues along the Moselle bike path to Bernkastel-Kues.

Along today’s route we will discover a lot of Roman villas and public baths, but also relics of other ancient civilizations such as the Celts. All those historical buildings are placed on the slopes along this ever-winding river. A highlight of the region is the “Piesporter Goldtröpfchen,” a lovely local blended white wine that we’ll taste in a local wine-bar. The visit to the town of Neumagen-Dhron is interesting for its many Roman remains. This used to be an old Roman fortress and the place where the famous Roman whine ship was found. We spend the night at a mooring place near Trier.

Today we will take the time to visit Trier, the oldest city of Germany, where you can visit some more Roman legacies like the Porta Nigra, the Basilica of Constantine the Great, and an amphitheater. After lunch we leave the Mosel behind and go South along the Saar. Before you take ‘exit Saar’ we can take a detour and cross the border into the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. One thing’s for sure, you’re not the first tourist in the area: it was around the year 365 A.D. that the Roman teacher and poet Magnus Ausonius wrote his hymn Mosella: ‘Greetings, river, framed by perfumed vineyard-covered hills, Framed by grass; river of greenest shores. Your strong waters carry ships, flowing in easy waves. Along the stream, and a glittering lake your depths emulate.’ For the night you’ll stay in Saarburg. Don’t forget to take a walk through the old town center with the famous waterfalls and pay a visit to the old city castle.

From Saarburg we will cycle south along the Saar. Around the little village of Saarhölzbach we’ll leave Rheinland Pfalz behind and enter the Saarland. The history of this little village goes back to the year 802 and the government of Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, king of Franks, king of Italy, and the first Holy Roman Emperor. Today we will have lunch in Mettlach, a little town along the Saar River where we’ll visit the famous Villeroy & Boch porcelain museum. The day’s highlight is the beautiful Saarschleife (Saar loop). You will have the opportunity to hike to a panoramic viewpoint looking across the whole region. After this nice hike we double back for a few kilometers to our final destination of Mettlach.

After breakfast, our tour ends at 10:00 a.m. It’s well worth looking around in Mettlach before you set off home.