Moselle: laid-back tour

The Moselle Bike Trail in 9 days

Bicycling the loops of the Moselle in your own pace.

The Moselle’s valley seems to be entwined by grapevines; let it take you on a very special trip! On short daily stages, you will follow the wide loops of the river, enjoying your time on the saddle as well as the many worthwhile breaks. Discover Treves and its 2000 years of history, taste the light and fruity wines of the Moselle and walk around the narrow streets of the picturesque villages. You will have enough time for it all!

1. day Arriving in Trier

You should plan enough time to visit the historical centre of the town. During a guided city tour you will see a selection of the classics. With the Porta Nigra, the Cathedral and Church of Our Lady, and the Basilica, you will pass no less than four buildings that are part of our UNESCO World Heritage. (It is possible to arrive by train/ parking facilities at the hotel/ rental bike at the hotel).

2. day Trier - Mehring 23 km

On the Moselle cycle path you leave Germany's oldest city and roll comfortably past the old ferry tower from Schweich to Mehring. Marvel at the ruins of Villa Rustica, a country house or estate from the Roman Empire. Look forward to the small wine town of Mehring with lovingly designed narrow streets in the center, the so-called Moselgassen, which invite you to take a walk. Vine-covered gates open the wineries and give an insight into Moselle hospitality. Take a look, the winemakers are happy to have a chat and have a glass of wine with you.

3. day Mehring - Piesport 24 km

The next stage on your bike trip is Trittenheim. Here, you will have the chance to follow a nature trail on the steps of a winegrower, informing you about local grape varieties and the special approach to wine-growing practiced here. After an interesting break you ride to your hotel in Piesport.

4. day Piesport - Zeltingen 25 km

Look forward to a leisurely rest and enjoy Bernkastel-Kues. Stroll across the beautiful market square, past proud half-timbered houses and amazing fountains, visit the birth house of Nikolaus von Kues and discover the wine museum. Here you will find information about wine growing on steep slopes, about the different grape varieties, about all the work in the vineyard and in the cellar, about wine storage and of course about wine culture. After this worthwhile break, continue on the bike path along the banks of the Moselle to Zeltingen.

5. day Zeltingen - Bullay 40 km

The vineyards of the „Kröver Nacktarsch“ guide your way to Traben-Trarbach. Complete today’s experience with a boat trip on the Moselle. After a break in Enkirch, often designated the treasure chest of the Moselle region’s half-timbered architecture, you will reach Zell with the ZELLER SCHWARZE KATZ and then finally arrive in Bullay.

6. day Bullay - Cochem 31 km

Look forward to the small but wildly romantic town of Beilstein with only 160 inhabitants. For many Moselle guests it is the most beautiful and romantic place on the Moselle, which is also expressed by its nickname "Rothenburg an der Mosel". Stroll through the old town streets and marvel at the picturesque market square from 1322 with the former tithe house, visit the former parish church of St. Christophorus and the old prince-count's winery. Then it goes comfortably on the Moselle cycle path to Cochem.

7. day Cochem - Kobern Gondorf 32 km

In the morning, a detour (4 km) to the medieval Eltz Castle, one of the most beautiful and best-preserved castles in Germany, beckons. Take part in an informative guided tour of the castle, discover the treasury and enjoy the wonderful view. Then you cycle back to the Moselle cycle path and roll into the historic wine town of Kobern Gondorf. Visit the ancestral castle of the Princes von der Leyen with the interesting wine museum, the medieval market square with Tatzelwurmbrunnen and the oldest half-timbered house in Germany.

8. day Kobern Gondorf - Koblenz 19 km

The last kilometres take you back through the Moselle valley to the „Deutsches Eck“ in Koblenz, where the Moselle flows into the Rhine. Enjoy the magnificent view over the wide valley of the Rhine.

9. day Departing from Koblenz

After breakfast, your bike trip along the Moselle comes to an end. We wish you a pleasant journey back home.

Worth knowing about your Moselle-Bike-Trip

Below please find more information about your bike trip. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us by phone: 0049 - (0)6421-886890.

Arrival by train

From Koblenz Trier is easily accessible by train. We recommend to take a taxi from the station to get to our partner hotels in Koblenz. Current schedule information and price information can be found at: www.bahn.de.

Train schedule information

Parking facilities at the hotel

Our partner hotels in Koblenz always provide parking possibilities. Sometimes even free, for the entire duration of your bike trip. There are always plenty of parking spots available, no pre-reservation is necessary. Detailed information on parking at your hotel, you will receive together with the detailed travel documents two weeks prior to departure.

Condition of cycle paths

The quality of the bike tail is very good. There are practical no unpaved or poorly developed path. The route runs almost exclusively on paved roads and is very well signposted. The volume of traffic varies, but between Trier and Cochem there is almost always a seperate bike trail on the right or left shore side, off the main road. Only during your last day you have to cycle a section on a wide bicycle lane next to the main road.

Available rental bikes

If you choose to rent a Velociped-rental bike for the tour, we take it to your first hotel and pick it up at your destination. You can choose between ladies´and men's bicycles either with 7-speed gear shift and coaster brake or 27-speed gear shift and freewheel or electric bikes. You simply specify your wishes at time of booking.

Available rental bikes

Transfer back to the starting point of the journey

Daily at 9:00am there is the possibility to transfer back to Trier with a small bus (with bike trailer). (Arrival at 11:00am) The driver comes to pick you up at your hotel and has much space for you, your luggage and where required your own bicycle. The bus takes you back to your first hotel, thus ensuring a perfect return service without transfer and the hassle of hauling luggage.

Train and bus in the Moselle Valley

In the Moselle Valley there runs not always a train. After Trier the train is leaving the Moselle Valley and the nearest station is not before Bullay. After only a few kilometres, the railway disappears in the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Tunnel and only reappears in Cochem. From Cochem the train runs completely in the Moselle Valley to Koblenz. In the period from 1.5. - 31.10. a bus operates daily between Trier and Bullay with a max. capacity of 22 bicycles.

Bus schedule information

Train schedule information

Boat trips on the river Moselle

From April to October there are many passenger ships on the Moselle. Boat docks are available in almost all places on both directions. Often tours are offered. Information about the exact departure times you find at the bulletin boards of the shipping companies.

A regular ferry traffic exists between Trier and Treis Karden.

Ship schedule Moselle

Additional nights during the trip cycling trip

We will be happy to book additional nights during your cycling trip. The booking of additional nights is possible in every regular accommodation place. 

The addtional night rates are as follows: 

Hotel category B
EUR 65, - per person / per night in a double room
EUR 95, - per person / per night in a single room

Hotel category A
EUR 79, - per person / per night in a double room
EUR 119, - per person / per night in a single room

Extra costs which are not included in the price

A possibly applicable city tax is not part of the travel price and therefore has to be paid at the hotel locally.

7 day hotline service

In case of chain breakdown, flooding or other bad surprises that makes a continuation of your tour impossible: no problem, we also work during weekends and you can reach us 7 days a week in case of emergency.

Passport and visa requirements, health regulations

For EU citizens, there are no special passport or visa requirements and no health formalities to be considered for this trip.

Corona travel information:
Before booking your trip, please inform yourself about the measures in place to contain the Corona pandemic.

Information on current decisions of the German Federal Government can be found here:
https://www.bundesregierung.de/corona-these-rules-and-restrictions-apply

Current information on entry requirements to Germany can be found here:
https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/coronavirus

You can also find more information on our website at:
Corona virus and holiday planning

Travel insurance

The tour price already includes the statutory insolvency insurance. In addition, we recommend that you take out travel cancellation insurance upon receipt of your travel confirmation in order to protect yourself against financial disadvantages in the event of travel cancellation, interruption of travel, illness or accident.

Porta Nigra Trier

For the newly arrived guest, the Porta Nigra is the best place to begin a tour of Trier. The gate dates back to a time (about A.D. 180) when the Romans often erected public buildings of huge stone blocks (here, the biggest weigh up to six metric tons).

Porta Nigra

Kaiserthermen Trier

Going to the baths was an important part of Roman life: Over 1600 years ago, the Romans built one of the grandest and most impressive baths in the world: the Imperial Baths. Today you can visit this gigantic bathing facility: go back in time to the Roman era, descend into the subterranean labyrinth and get a feel for history!

Kaiserthermen

Amphitheater Trier

Beyond the medieval city wall lies the Roman Amphitheater. Cruel games with animal and gladiator combats were conducted here popular public entertainment.

Amphitheater

Neumagen-Dhron

Neumagen-Dhron means fine wines, typical food and roman culture. Neumagen-Dhron calls itself the “oldest Wine town of Germany” because the roman wineboat has been found here. Around the town you will find a lot of roman history. 

Neumagen-Dhron

Bernkastel-Kues

Immerse yourself in the thrilling atmosphere of an old town that is full of history and culture. Savour the celebrated Moselle wines in a tasting session or on a tour through the famous steeply terraced vineyards of the Middle Moselle. Bernkastel-Kues is absolutely perfect for hiking or cycling, while no Moselle experience is complete without taking a boat trip on the river! 

Bernkastel-Kues

Zeller Schwarze Katz

With a cultivated area of about 400 ha and approximately four million vines cell is one of the largest wine-growing communities on the Mosel. The dominant grape variety is the Riesling, but also numerous other grape varieties are cultivated, such as Müller-Thurgau, Bacchus, Kerner and many more. 

Zeller Schwarze Katz

The Calmont Region

Welcome to one of the most beautiful holiday regions of Germany, dominated by the steepest vineyard of Europe, the Calmont. Here, the three picturesque villages Bremm, Ediger-Eller and Neef offer you the best balance between adventure and relaxing.

The Calmont Region

Beilstein

Encased between what is reminiscent of creek ridges, which slope down from the Hunsrück-Heights to the Moselle, lays our romantically wild, beautiful small town of Beilstein. The town’s ancient quarter and remains of the town-wall erected in1310, which formally encircled the whole of Beilstein, along with its numerous historical buildings, provides us with an insight into a town as of the middle-ages.

Beilstein - das „Rothenburg an der Mosel“

Cochem Castle

Soaring over Cochem on a mighty crag, the largest castle on the Mosel charms the eye with its delicate bays and imposing battlements. The medieval castle, which was heavily damaged while in the possession of the electoral princes of Trier during a war of succession, was bought and lovingly restored in the neo-gothic style associated with German castle romanticism in the 19th century by the Counselor of Commerce Louis Ravené. Guests will be delighted by the impressive interiors of rooms such as the Knight’s Hall, the Dining Hall, the Trophy Room and the Bower.

Reichsburg Cochem

Fortress Ehrenbreitstein Koblenz

The Electoral Palace in Koblenz is one of the most important palatial buildings in the French early Classicism style in south-western Germany, and is one of the last residential palaces that was built in Germany shortly before the French revolution.

Festung Ehrenbreitstein

Deutsches Eck Koblenz

The establishment of the Teutonic Order at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle in 1216 gave this historic site its name, the “Deutsches Eck” (“German Corner”). Koblenz also owes its name to the meeting point of the Rhine and the Moselle - from “Castellum apud Confluentes”, Latin for “fort at the confluence”, which over time became the current name of Koblenz.

Deutsches Eck

Shipping on the Moselle

The Moselle travels a total of 520 kilometers from its source at the Col de Bussang in the Vosges to its mouth at the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz - the airline between the source and the mouth is only 278 kilometers - overcoming a gradient of 676 meters. As a true European river, it flows through France for a distance of 278 kilometers, then forms a natural border between Luxembourg and Germany over 36 kilometers to flow into the Rhine after 206 kilometers in Rhineland-Palatinate. The Mosel can be navigated from Thionville in Lorraine to 392 kilometers, but 15 barrages with locks are necessary to compensate for the difference in altitude. The "White Fleet" in the Moselle region offers very special experiences: behind each bend, there is a new view of steep vineyards, romantic villages and historic sights. From the tour over extensive day trips to the romantic evening ride with music ranges the range of steamers and excursion boats.

Shipping on the Moselle