Help us for our last 5 nights (Rhine + Mosel)
 

Hi once again (you are so much helpful !)

We are juggling with our last 5 nights in Germany next summer. There's only two things we are sure about is that we're gonna leave from Munich july 30 (after 4 nights there) and that we have to catch a flight at Luxembourg airport à 10:45 am on august 4.

Here's our options, we need your opinions about those (of course sugsest completely different is also welcome !)

Option A:
1- Munich (9am) To Cologne, 2 hours layover (to seed the Dom) and then train to Cochem (we would arrive in Cochem around 6pm).
2- We then stay 4 nights in Cochem: daytrip to Rhine and boat cruise, enjoy Cochem (falconery show for the kids) another day and go see Burg Eltz on the third day.
3- We Then leve early (around 8) Go to Trier saty there for 4-5 hours and eat lunch. We then lev aroun 2 pm to go to Luxembourg city. Go to hotel and take a walk in ols town ahve a dinner there and go sleep in Novotel city Center.
4- lTake bus for our flight

Option B:
Same as A but Do a daytrip to Trier from Cochem and leave Cochem for Luxembourg august 3 (we're still sleeping in Luxembourg). That option would allows us to have more time in Trier and Luxembourg but less in Rhine+ Mosel

Option C:
Leave Munich and forget about Cologne. Maybe we could stay 2 hours in Mainz since we have to transfer train there. Share time between Boppard and Cochem + night in Treir or Luxembourg (we havent thought a lot about that plan !)

Option D: Your ideas !

Thanks a lot in advance !

Four nights in Cochem seems like a lot, unless you have other things planned as day trips or are hoping for a lot of slow, relaxing time to chill. It's a small town (but lovely and relaxing). You could possibly see Burg Eltz and take the Rhine cruise in one day, unless you are planning to do the hike up the castle from Moselkern (an OK hike but nothing special to me). I stayed one night in Cochem and considered staying a second night - I didn't but it wouldn't have been a mistake. But four nights would have been way too long for me.

Like i've said in my initial post Cochem is a base to travel elsewhere.

Go by train from Munich to Mainz. Visit Mainz (cathedral, medieval city center, Gutenberg Museum, etc.). Go then by boat or train to Ruedesheim (visit) and continue by boat up to Koblenz. Reach Cochem or Bernkastel by Mosel river boat the following day. Go then by train or boat to Trier, visit the town and the Roman stuff and finish with a visit of Luxemburg.
Sleep at the places you like best and wbuich fit best into your plans and timetables. If you travel by boat, you need of course more time for transport, but you will see much more than from a train window and in a much more relaxed athmoshere.
Your kids can move on board of a boat, but not in trains.

I'd drop Cologne

Mosel is great for kids, every little village has places to play

I might not stay in Cochem (others love it) just that some of the little places are so cute.

I also suggest taking the train from Munich as opposed to flying to Cologne. The Cologne Dom is beautiful and impressive, but IMO not worth the hassle of flying, especially where it won't save travel time overall. Plus, if you train, you can enjoy the Rhine boat cruise up the river on your way to Cochem instead of having to backtrack. You could then split your 4 days between the Rhine & Cochem, or still spend all 4 in Cochem if you prefer not to move.

We spent 2 days in Cochem (3 nights) and it was the perfect amount of time for us. We used one day for a bike ride along the Mosel to see many of the other towns, and the other day for both Reichsburg Cochem and Burg Eltz (all by public transit). We then saw the Rhine from a boat on our way towards Munich.

Plus, if you train, you can enjoy the Rhine boat cruise up the river on your way to Cochem instead of having to backtrack>

Yes and even with bags this is easy to do - get on at Bingen and off at Boppard - having gone thru the best of the Rhine Gorge - train stations without a short walk of boat at each stop - www.k-d.com for schedules - but I'd rather do a leisurely day of it sans luggage - go up to Marksburg castle from one boat dock - maybe have lunch in a cute wine town at another stop - do a short walk between docks, etc.

For lots of info on German trains and Rhine/Mosel areas check www.seat61.com (great info on discounted tickets if you book really early); www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

I love Cochem and think it the best place with good rail links on the Rhine or Mosel to base - yes great for kids - lots of play areas along the Mosel esplanade.

I might not stay in Cochem (others love it) just that some of the little places are so cute.>

Beilstein is one such cute little wine town with a hotel there that many rave about: http://www.hotel-haus-lipmann.com/

Beilstein however has only bus service and not rail service so great for motorists or bikers but not those going by train.

In summer there are boats that float upstream from Cochem to Beilstein over one of the most scenic stretches of the gorgeous Mosel - take a bike on board and cycle back with the wind that always seems to be blowing downstream in this natural wind tunnel on bike paths that hug the Mosel.

Keep Cologne in perhaps as a day trip from Cochem- or split the time between Boppard and Cochem - Cochem itself has little to see besides its neat castle (though Ersatz, having been rebuilt from rubble in the 1800s) so unless doing day trips from it split your two bases as The Rhine has more things to see in a short stretch of river than Cochem does and then you can do the Rhine boats more leisurely than on a day trip - getting off to see Marksburg, the only castle on the Rhine or Mosel in this parts that was not blitzed to bits in some war that has been raging in this militarily strategic area for centuries - Napoleon knocked a lot of them down- or to have lunch in St Goar or other riverside town, etc.

Cochem has a ruined castle that few people ever get to - you can walk up a steep path from just north of the center of Cochem and visit it anytime - always open - just a ruin but a spectacular view over the Mosel valley far below. Cars can go there but think only taxis would be a way of going up without walking up that steep path.

Everyone seems to neglect Koblenz - the city at the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers and a very pleasant town with a neat pedestrian shopping street but Koblenz also has two famous places in Germany - Deutsches Eck - a plaza and statue right smack where the two rivers collide - a huge equestrian statue now serves as a sign of German Unity - it's right on the Rhine Ufer or pedestrian esplanade where the K-D boats dock - a sweet wlakway full of wurst stands , beer stands, ice cream stands to serve the many folks out for a nice stroll here.

And opposite Deutsches Eck, on the other side of the Rhine arises a tall cliff topped by a huge fort - take an aerial cable car or pedestrian ferry over to its entrance and walk up or cable up to the top for smashing views over the Rhine and Mosel for miles around - there is also a military museum inside but come for the views.

Koblenz' old town (Altstadt) has a pleasant square peppered by outdoor/indoor cafes and restaurants.

So stay on the K-D boats to Koblenz and savor these features of this very pleasant city in conjunction with you boat tour of the Rhine.

https://www.google.com/search?q=kobl...HRqyCw8QsAQIGw

Thnaks for all those answers/advices, they are helpfull !

We chose Cochem at first because it was well located on the Mosel. Not too far from the boat trip on the Rhine, not too far from Trier and the same goes about Luxembourg. With the kids we prefer to bas ourselves in one place for 3-4 nights (on this trip we choose Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg, Salzburg and Munich as base for 3 to 5 nights). We intend to do the same in the Rhine-Mosel. Maybe we couls look elsewhere than Cochem but that place looks lovely with a lot to do for kids. We also found a small pension which is only 3-4 minutes walk to the train station.

Like i've said first the onbly thing we know for sure is that after Munich we got 5 nights before flying back home ans that our flight is from Luxembourg. Maybe we are wrong but we don't feel that we need to saty one night on the Rhine (and we have to take in consideration the luggage factor !).

summer luge
http://www.trier-info.de/english/summer-tobogganing

http://www.mosel-inside.de/en/activi...ent-mosel.html

may help

Maybe we are wrong but we don't feel that we need to saty one night on the Rhine >

I agree relocating takes a lot of time - day trip to the Rhine and do a leisurely day there on the boat, getting on and off at nice places and castles.

Thanks for the links bilboburgler !

PalenQ: that was our intention. Leave early in the morning from Cochem, go to Bingen and take all day to do the boat trip. I recall that I have read that we can hop-on and hop-off from the kd boat on the Rhine but I don't know at which point this is true.

My understanding is that if you buy a boat ticket say from Boppard to Koblenz or any two points that you can get on and off the frequent boats without formality anytime you wish - but ask about this when buying your ticket- no reservations are needed nor are they available for individuals I think but only for groups - anyway never had a problem in the many times I have taken with getting on and off and always have room - the boats are big.

Bring a picnic on board and sit up front outside and watch the pastel-hued villages and scenery slip by.

Note that there are two train lines running on each side of the river and stopping near boat docks - I'm not sure but you may ask the ticket office if train travel between docks is covered by your ticket as it once was but perhaps not now. Railpasses valid in Germany used to by fully honored by K-D boats but now they are not or have a minor discount.

Hello I found a nice Site with the most adorable Mosel destinations
http://moselplaces.com/location/

mowj - sweet pictures on the first page - shows how awesomely gorgeous the Mosel is - thanks for posting.

...but wait until next spring/summer. And go then in 3 days or so by boat from Koblenz to Trier, with tons of stop overs.