houdi

Any advice on nice towns within a short train ride from Trier?

PalenqueBob

Luxembourg City, physically goregous beacuse of the huge gorge running bisecting it, but a large modern city is about 30 mins from Trier by rail. But more charming would be a host of dreamy wine towns along the Mosel downstream from Trier. One of the few of these you can reach by train is Bernkastel-Kues (actually train and a short bus link) and farther down, Cochem, another cutesy town, this time with the castle of your dreams popping up out of it. Cochem has hourly trains from Trier, taking just a few minutes. The Mosel valley that stretches in between Bernkastel and Cochem is stunningly beautiful as the river runs through a deep gorge that at many places is carpeted by vineyard and peppered by small charming wine villages, such as Piesport, Mehlem and other names you see on wine bottles of Mosel-Saar-Ruwer wine vintrages. In summer boats run between Cochem and Bernkastel. The Mosel Valley is to me much more beautiful than the nearby Rhine valley between Koblenz and Rudesheim, though the Rhine valley gets most of the tourists' attention. The Mosel is in fact a top tourist destination for Germans and Dutch, and thus very crowded during July and August. You can also rent bikes at Cochem to cycle along the picturesque valley. In fact I'd stay in a Mosel town rather than Trier, which, though has some unherladed but superb sights, such as its Roman relics, the Porta Nigra, Trier's "Roman Gate," that was once the entrance to the western Roman empire" when Trier was the capital of the western empire, often being called the finest intact Roman edifice north of the Alps. But Trier's a modern city that was largely destroyed in WWII and thus lacks the overall charm of the Mosel towns such as Cochem or Bernkastel. Trier, though it's perched on the Mosel, sits on a largely unattractive, industrialized part of the river, which enters the unbelievably cute valley just downstream from town.

woodstockguy

I agree with PalenqueBob that the Mosel Valley is a special place, near Trier, charming and much more romantic than the Rhine valley. A few years ago I stayed in Beielstein for a few days - absolutely charming. Should you go there, consider Haus Lippmann, a lovely place. Unfortunately, I do not believe that Beielstein has a train stop. Many other Mosel villages are also charming.

Trier is quite interesting and relatively unknown to American tourists. Great Roman ruins - I loved the Roman baths. The cathedral, from around 900-1000 a.d. is quite impressive.

Have fun.

RufusTFirefly

Beilstein--and Hotel Haus Lippman is superb. My wife and I stayed there last year and I've written about it in a number of posts here--and mataitom wrote a review last week.

SirGallahad

If you enjoy sampling wine, a stroll down the streets and alleys of Bernkastel-Kües could yield a nice buzz. There are kinds of tiny wine shops more than willing to let you sample (and buy) their wares.

There are also boat tours available on the KD line.