Any thoughts on which may be a better base for 3 nights Cochem or Beilstein in Sept for a couple in our mid 30's (we love wine and beautiful scenery).

We will have car. I've read Beilstein is a little sleepier and wondering if Cochem may be better for our first visit to the region or will it be too crowded.

I'd have a hard time filling 3 hours in Beilstein. Not much to do in this extremely small village. Cochem gets busy during the day, but then it would as it has much more to offer.

Hi rellie2. Agree with Fussgaenger, while Beilstein is very pretty, it is a tiny, tiny village. Cochem is a real town. They are only 10 minutes apart by car, so it will be easy to see both no matter which you base in.

I understand why people think about Cochem but really there are so many nicer places to stay. Bernkastel-K, Urzig (even with the bridge going in), Traben-Trabach. Still I guess if people keep going to Cochem it leaves the nice places for the rest of us.

Cochem in September will not be mobbed like it is during its busiest month - July and slightly less so August - Beilstein is a few buildings and the famous Hotel that everyone here recommends.

Cochem is a proper city with all accoutrements that a city offers.

5k people, it's a town

5 K - surprises me because it is a proper regional town - seems like a lot more than 5 K and often is with tourists figured in.

Beilstein population = 145!

We spent 3 nts in Beilstein on our first trip to the region and actually enjoyed it. We were trying to overcome jetlag and it was perfect. We stayed at Haus Lipmann, a wonderful hotel and restaurant. From Beilstein, we visited Burg Eltz and Cochem.

While there isn't a lot to do in the town, we walked up to the castle ruins of Burg Metternich. This is a fantastic vantage point for viewing the river and surrounding area. Dinner that night was at another Lipmann property, the Altes Zollhaus. The next day we walked up to the Karmelitenkirche, a lovely church famous for the Black Madonna and Child left there by the fleeing Spaniards in the 16th century. Dinner was at the Haus Burg Metternich Hotel.

On a subsequent visit, we stayed in Bernkastel-Kues and loved it. Beautiful architecture and some good restaurants here as well. Used it as a base to visit Trier, Echternach (Luxembourg) and Traben-Tarbak.

Cochem is a bigger town but we always like the smaller villages if we have a car.

We too stayed in Beilstein and loved it. Having a car means you can get to see so much during the day, and returning to Beilstein in the evening was lovely. Of course we are a long way past our thirties, but even then we would have chosen Beilstein over Cochem.

We also enjoyed walking up to the castle, and visiting the Jewish cemetery.

We ate at the hotel every evening, just their fixed price menu.

We chose Cochem for our September cycling trip. We have been before (some 20 years ago) and we liked it very much.

Haus Lippmann is a place everyone seems to rave about.

DH chose Haus Lippmann, not knowing it's reputation on here.
We received a warm welcome, and stayed in a beautiful room overlooking the river. We were there the final week they were open that year, so Beilstein was even sleepier than normal, but still quite busy during the day.
We couldn't visit Bernkastel-Kues, as it was full. There was no parking anywhere, and it was teeming with people. Cochem was busy, and quite noisy. We were glad not to have stayed there, but that is because we prefer quieter places.
All in all it was an enjoyable weekend.

We loved our stay in Beilstein at Haus Lippman. The history of the hotel is fascinating. Having breakfast in the room where the knights dined was amazing. The rooms are gorgeous and the meals are outstanding. Our room, on the second floor in back faced the square. We were relaxing one evening in our room when we started to hear music. It wasn't just music, it was karaoke. We flung the windows open, sat on the window seat and looked down on the square where everyone was singing and spilling out of the bar located on the square. Kicking back, listening to Tina Turner's Proud Mary being sung, along with a bunch of American hits is one of our favorite memories.

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I chose Beilstein initially because of the rave reviewes of Haus Lipmann - it looks amazing. I was visualising sitting on the balcony staring out across the river with a glass of wine in hand

Thanks for your other suggestion bilboburgler, Traben-Trabach. I think you just made my decision a little harder though.

<I was visualising sitting on the balcony staring out across the river with a glass of wine in hand>

That is exactly your view during dinner on the terrace. Very lovely terrace area in front of Haus Lippman where dinner is served in summer.

Last time there we stayed in http://www.bellevue-hotel.de/1-116.HOTEL.html in one of the appartments along the river with our own massive balcony and Jugenstiel cartoons throughout the room.

We just spent the night in Cochem. We missed the last bus to the castle and walked it ourselves. Wow is all I can say. Just beautiful. Crossed the river to wait for the castle to light up at night and it was all I thought it would be. A bit sleepy after 6pm but found a nice place to eat and enjoyed the walking after.

The Mosel region is one of our all time favorites. Love how the grapevines are planted straight up the side of the hills and you need to ride a little tram straight up to reach each row.

I thought I'd add to this as I'm just back from visiting the Mosel region, and this was a thread I used to help plan my journey.

So it's always nice to give something back

We stayed in Beilstein, at the Villa Beilstein, which was fabulous. A small, quaint guesthouse of the high standard that you come to expect from Germany.

Great room, lovely breakfast, nice people...what more can you ask for ? (OK, it was 35 degrees and swealtering so maybe airco would have been nice, but that's not the fault of the guesthouse

Beilstein itself is as described above. An idyllic little hamlet with some lovely hotels, some very nice restaurants and a few weinguts where you can sit of an evening and sample the wine made on the hills above. Perfect for a weekend break.

We spent a half day in Cochem, and I can't say I was overly impressed....it's a scenically beautiful town which has sold itself to the tourist buck.
Packed with tourists and filled with rather tacky shops, it was a disappointment after the tranquility of Beilstein. It's nice to look at from the river, but we're glad we made the decision not to stay there.

We spent a day travelling down the valley, and almost without exception the smaller towns and villages looked more inviting than the larger tourist centres.....saying that, Bernkastel-Kues was a nice stop for lunch and Traben-Trarbach looked worth a stop as well.

Overall though, we were happy we stayed in Beilstein. Highly recommended.