River Moselle

[George..]

We are thinking of exploring the area along the Moselle river next June , any one any tips?

George

[Cliffy]

 

We are looking to explore the Rhine and the Moselle in June/July also so I will be interested in the replies.

 

 

 

[Tracker]

We spent a month doing just that this year from mid Aug to Mid Sept.

 

Lovely warm weather most of the time, lovely scenery, friendly locals in the main, plenty of Stellplatz but a lot less free ones than in years gone but most in the 5 to 8 euros a night range.

 

Historic towns, quaint villages, amazing rivers, vinyards, castles (schloss), cafe food well priced and good value so all in all a great destination and well worth the effort.

 

Plenty of info on Google, some great publications via the German Tourist Board, helpful local tourist offices and we really felt welcome most of the time even though it was surprisingly busy.

 

If you want a good spot by the river it pays to get on a Stellplatz by around mid day or very early afternnon..

[Mike B.]

Start at Trier, stay at least 2 days then head North.(there is a stellplatz next door to the campsite alongside the river near the Mcdonalds roundabout). (free wifi!) Stellplatz in virtually every village and a dream for motorhomers. Loads of nice wine, with stellplatz (usually free) on the vinyards and good food. Lots to see all the way up to Koblenz. Make a point of visiting Bernkastel and Cochem really nice and well worth a stop. Piesport is a really nice stellplatz, overlooking the river with grass areas next to hardstandings and the restaurant/vinyard next door do a really good menu with their own wine.

Lots of castles and a boatride is a nice option-especially the night trips with dancing.

Just take it easy and don't rush, take your bikes as there is a cycle track all the way up and very popular.

Have fun and enjoy yourself.

Mike

[Cliffy]

 

Tracker

 

We are looking for sites/stellplatz with a cycle track(s) nearby, do you have any recomendations I coulkd look at? I have look at a couple of sites around Bingen am Mainz but they do not get good reviews even the ones recomended in Octobers MMM?

 

PM me if you would rather, so not to hijack the thread.

 

Cliff

[Mike B.]

Cliffy - 2012-11-26 10:35 PM

 

 

Tracker

 

We are looking for sites/stellplatz with a cycle track(s) nearby, do you have any recomendations I coulkd look at? I have look at a couple of sites around Bingen am Mainz but they do not get good reviews even the ones recomended in Octobers MMM?

 

PM me if you would rather, so not to hijack the thread.

 

Cliff

 

The cycle track runs alongside the river-nearly all the stellplatz are by the river so you won't have far to go. Just pick a village and stop there-if you are not 100% happy, move on, there are loads of stellplatz all the way up. Don't know about the sites-never used them

Mike

[Barryd999]

Did it last June from Trier to Koblenz. Enjoyed it but after a few days it gets a bit samey. We lasted 6 days before coming back down the Rhine which was noisy and not as nice. The thing is though its a short hop from there into the Black Forest and then Switzerland which when you get there you wonder why you bothered with the other places.

 

 

[George..]

Thanks to all for the Moselle advice, am looking forward to the winters planning. We are hoping to start from the Koblenz end where the Moselle flows into it and travel along towards Luxembourg, then France and the source of The Moselle up in the mountains of the Alsace .

B-)

[maggyd]

We usually end up going along the Moselle every year even if we havent planned it, it is a lovely relaxing drive with lots of places to stop :-D I would advise you to obtain a map of the Mossel with [pictures that you can buy from tourist information centers and gift shops, it shows you all the various villages and bridges, as it is possible to drive either side you can more easily plot your route.

 

You will find cycling very easy as there are paths all along the Moselle, Ive even seen people getting off the tourist barges/boats with bikes that call at a lot of the villages on route.

There is a good campsite at Burgen which we have made a first stop its in the Acsi book from there you can get your bearings or instead make for Winningen on the opposite side and meander from there.

 

Koblenz itself is a rather a large city and if you want to visit you are best taking either a boat trip or bus from further up rather than trying to park there!! we did on our first trip which was on a Sunday ;-) but I wouldnt advise it as it was very busy even then. You will have a lovely time we have included a visit the last 4 or 5 years :-D I never tire of it.

[antony1969]

We loved it , loads of cycling and those steep vineyards , enjoy

[snowie]

We went down the Moselle last September, intending to stay on a few Stelplatz. Unfortunately we hit the wine season and found it effectively impossible as we were stopping too late in the day. We don't get going very early in the mornings so we stuck with campsites. Still very enjoyable.

I don't know if you'll have any such problems when you are planning to go?

Anyway, it all adds to the spectacle.

 

enjoy

 

alan b

 

[Mardee]

We visited the Moselle/Rhine this September. It's worth checking that you don't overnight near a railway since the goods trains are more frequent during the night. We stayed at the stellplatz at Baccarach - great spot down by the Rhine lovely town etc but there are railways both sides of the river which were busy all night. Apart from that very good stellplatz and interesting towns and villages.

[Bojitoes]

Hi

We also did the Rhine / Moselle this September for the first time- loved it, but totally agree about the trains. We found the Rhine far worse than the Moselle for the trains.

 

We stopped outside Bernkastel at a super stellplatz- Campingplatz Erden. It had a bar, restaurant, electric and stunning views of mountain slope vineyards for just 8€ per night. Bus stopped outside the door and also on the cycling track. We stayed on a number of other stellplatz in the area but found that rates varied enormously, some really cheap, others very expensive and very little difference between them. Koblenz very nice city to walk around with many locals acting as free of charge guides. Bernkastel also a lovely little town with good shopping.

 

A couple of tips from our experience- very few places, other than garages, appeared to take credit cards, and not all UK debit cards are accepted in ATM's- so always have a bit more cash an you would elsewhere.

 

Stop in Luxembourg on the way to top up with cheap fuel and spirits! From Birmingham we could make the Luxembourg border on one tank of fuel.

 

Enjoy the planning and the trip

Bob

[Easyliving]

We stayed at a site called Campingplatz Moselland for a night at the beginning of September. The site is near the town of Punderich (?spelling) and is right on the banks of the Moselle. There is a separate parking area for motorhomes, only 10 euros a night.

 

There is a pebble bank only 30 seconds walk away where you can sit in the sunshine and watch the tourist boats go by.

 

Also lots of cycle paths plus a cafe on site.

 

Paul

 

[peejay]

Just as an aside, once the river flows into Germany it is then called the Mosel.

 

Pronounced 'Murzle'.

 

Pete

[Barryd999]

Bojitoes - 2012-12-03 9:46 AM

 

Hi

We also did the Rhine / Moselle this September for the first time- loved it, but totally agree about the trains. We found the Rhine far worse than the Moselle for the trains.

 

We stopped outside Bernkastel at a super stellplatz- Campingplatz Erden. It had a bar, restaurant, electric and stunning views of mountain slope vineyards for just 8€ per night. Bus stopped outside the door and also on the cycling track. We stayed on a number of other stellplatz in the area but found that rates varied enormously, some really cheap, others very expensive and very little difference between them. Koblenz very nice city to walk around with many locals acting as free of charge guides. Bernkastel also a lovely little town with good shopping.

 

A couple of tips from our experience- very few places, other than garages, appeared to take credit cards, and not all UK debit cards are accepted in ATM's- so always have a bit more cash an you would elsewhere.

 

Stop in Luxembourg on the way to top up with cheap fuel and spirits! From Birmingham we could make the Luxembourg border on one tank of fuel.

 

Enjoy the planning and the trip

Bob

 

Just one tip. Our van is lucky if it does 300 miles on a full tank which is about how far it is through brussels to Trier from Calais. We really struggled on the motorway to find a petrol station in the last 50 miles through Germany to Trier. Its just forest. Worth filling up half way I would say unless your van is less thirsty than ours. Managed to get to Trier just but the light had been on for the last 30 miles.

[Delfin Driver]

We spent 5 days during the first week of November this year at Camping Kues just outside Traben- Trarbach, ( though it is listed in the Caravan Club Handbook as being just outside Bernkastel- Kues - error!!!) The site is right on the river and has very good facilities, with very helpful staff. You can walk or cycle into the town and beyond. Our weather was rather mixed but we had a glorious day walking over the hill (8km) and down through vineyards into Bernkastel. We spent the day there then took the river cruise home- it is 20km by road and takes 90 minutes by boat to return.

We also used the train to Trier- we like to leave the van on hook-up at that time of year, hence the choice of site. ( The original idea was to spend a day or two in Trier then move on, but the site in Trier closed early.) There is a link train to Bullay and then a train to Trier- which is really worth visiting for its Roman remains- and a generally nice town for a visit.

We like the Moselle- it is pretty and the towns are quaint. There are aires in every village you come across though we prefer to be on a campsite and use their facilities. We are on holiday! We had been before 20 years ago several times but we often have a winter week in Germany and for us the Rhine near Remagen offers better walking and a greater variety of days out, as there are passenger ferries criss-crossing the river and the transport links in general are better when leaving the van hooked up. We have used public transport to visit Koblenz, Bonn, Cologne and had great picturesque walking in the Eiffel.

In the summer it may be different, but for us the Moselle does get a bit samey after a while.

[maggyd]

Just a p.s to my last posting :-D there is a good Stal at Neumagon-Dhrom (sp) we use it just before leaving the Mosel it has washing machine/drier and lovely showers.

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

We had exactly the same plan last May, well I don't know if it's because we had high expectations but we found the Mosel all rather boring, and to be honest wished we had not bothered, vineyards, a lot of large Stellplatz ( not our bag ) and not much else, we turned back and headed back into France and the mountains of the Alsace region,which it seems your planning to do, and followed roughly the wine route, stunning scenery, quaint villages, some good aires, and altogether quieter and relaxing for driving, we were surprised by the fact that it felt like a mini version of Switzerland, in short we loved it. Of course it would be a different ball game in the winter months as is evident by the ski resorts. So just another take on it really, whatever you decide, enjoy. ( Metz is a lovely city with a quiet municipal site right in the city on the edge of the river, and an Aire right outside the entrance, go figure only in France ! ! )

 

Great blog on the region here

 

http://dispatchfrommetz.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/alsace-la-route-des-vins.html

[lennyhb]

Not much to add only to say the Mosel is Motorhome heaven - go and enjoy.

[Mike B.]

1footinthegrave - 2012-12-05 5:03 AM

 

We had exactly the same plan last May, well I don't know if it's because we had high expectations but we found the Mosel all rather boring, and to be honest wished we had not bothered, vineyards, a lot of large Stellplatz ( not our bag ) and not much else, we turned back and headed back into France and the mountains of the Alsace region,which it seems your planning to do, and followed roughly the wine route, stunning scenery, quaint villages, some good aires, and altogether quieter and relaxing for driving, we were surprised by the fact that it felt like a mini version of Switzerland, in short we loved it. Of course it would be a different ball game in the winter months as is evident by the ski resorts. So just another take on it really, whatever you decide, enjoy. ( Metz is a lovely city with a quiet municipal site right in the city on the edge of the river, and an Aire right outside the entrance, go figure only in France ! ! )

 

Great blog on the region here

 

http://dispatchfrommetz.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/alsace-la-route-des-vins.html

 

Metz is also where the Gestapo caught, tortured and eventually killed Violet Szarbo if you're interested in WW2 history. A book was written about her called 'Carve her name with pride' which was later made into a film

Mike

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

Mike B. - 2012-12-05 10:29 AM

 

1footinthegrave - 2012-12-05 5:03 AM

 

We had exactly the same plan last May, well I don't know if it's because we had high expectations but we found the Mosel all rather boring, and to be honest wished we had not bothered, vineyards, a lot of large Stellplatz ( not our bag ) and not much else, we turned back and headed back into France and the mountains of the Alsace region,which it seems your planning to do, and followed roughly the wine route, stunning scenery, quaint villages, some good aires, and altogether quieter and relaxing for driving, we were surprised by the fact that it felt like a mini version of Switzerland, in short we loved it. Of course it would be a different ball game in the winter months as is evident by the ski resorts. So just another take on it really, whatever you decide, enjoy. ( Metz is a lovely city with a quiet municipal site right in the city on the edge of the river, and an Aire right outside the entrance, go figure only in France ! ! )

 

Great blog on the region here

 

http://dispatchfrommetz.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/alsace-la-route-des-vins.html

 

Metz is also where the Gestapo caught, tortured and eventually killed Violet Szarbo if you're interested in WW2 history. A book was written about her called 'Carve her name with pride' which was later made into a film

Mike

 

Had no idea about that, but we did visit Struthof concentration camp apparently the only camp of it's kind in France, a VERY sobering experience as it has been left exactly as it was,( apart from the excellent visitor centre of course ) sounds an odd thing to say, but highly recommended for a visit, and a nice small Aire with electric just a few miles away who's name escapes me for the moment, the camp itself is set in a magnificent area high up in the mountains with sweeping views for miles, it really was difficult to get our heads around it all, the horrors committed in such a beautiful place, even the camp commanders house is still there complete with outdoor swimming pool.

 

P.S just remembered the name of the village with the Aire, it is Rothau.on the D1420