Just starting to plan a trip with our 2 kids (ages 8 and 10) to meet up with my husband who will be at a conference in Karlsruhe. Thought the Rhine-Mosel region would have the most to offer for a week's vacation at the beginning of Oct. We are looking for (easy) cycling, castles, short hikes, short boat cruises etc. Any thoughts on itinerary and accommodations (moderately priced, interesting locations) would be appreciated! Or other areas nearby instead? Thanks!

First see if you can get reservations at Burg Stahleck. It's a castle overlooking the Rhine that has been turned into a hostel. They have private rooms. It's very well run, clean and quiet but is usually full. If you can get in, plan the rest of your trip around it. It was a highlight for our kids.

Assuming you are flying in and out of Frankfurt, I'd catch a train to Trier first then work back toward Frankfurt.

In Trier, see the Porta Negra, town center and the extensive Roman ruins.

Back up the Mosel, visit Burg Eltz. Walk the trail from the train to the castle, it's through a forest and next to a stream, very nice. The kids should enjoy the castle it's a lived-in castle that was never destroyed.

Next Cochem and Cochem castle. This is a good place to stay a night.

Visit Bonn and Koln.

Bonn has Bethoven's birth house and museum. Surprisingly our children liked it, especially the interactive digital opera where they could play with the controls.

Koln has a great cathedral. The relic is the bones of the magi. It has a crypt and a tower to climb and get a great view. Near the cathedral is the town center with some Roman ruins a Roman museum and good restaurants.

From here go back up the Rhine. Stay in Bacharach or St. Goar. Burg Stahleck if you can. Explore Rheinfels castle ruin, a huge ruin with lots of places to climb and crawl (bring flashlights). Visit Marksburg castle and take the roughly one hour KD line cruise between St. Goar and Bacharach.

After this you can head back to Frankfurt.

If you figure three nights on the Mosel and three on the Rhine, it will be a nicely paced week with quite a bit to see. This is wine country so you should be able to enjoy some very good local wines.

German food isn't too exotic so your kids will probably be happy eating anywhere. On a scale of 1-10, ten being the most picky, our kids are between 6 and 8. Each was able to find foods they were happy with at restaurants in the area.

Don't spend time in Koblenz or Frankfurt. They aren't horrible just not special.

If you finish this and have some time left, many on this site really like Boppard or Rudesheim on the Rhine. Another suggestion for extra time would be to visit Wurzburg. It's the other direction from Frankfurt but has some great sites.

www.k-d.com for Rhine Gorge boat cruises - best part Rudesheim to Boppard - train stations at docks take you back to where you started or onward somewhere else

If you click on screen name you will see my trip report from our recent trip to the area with three kids.

Thanks for all of the detailed information,bdjbenson! I will definitely check out these suggestions, especially Burg Stahleck.
Anyone have any suggestions for cycling routes, and places to rent bikes? Any information on Baden Baden (since we'll start from Karlsruhe)?

The Mosel is a perfect place for a short cycle trip - you can most likely rent bikes at cochem's train station and then head upriver to one of the cutest stretches of the serpentine-like Mosel Valley - to Beilstein, a cute small village surrounded by steep cliffs hundreds of feet high covered by vineyards at many places (like the whole Mosel) - there are boats between Cochem and Beilstein and i'd advise taking the bike on the boat (if possible) and biking back from Beilstein - i say this from ten years of biking the Mosel twice a year - the valley can be a wind tunnel and the winds usually blow downstream towards Cochem

The Mosel is one of the most popular biking venues in Europe and there are bike paths or bike strips always along the roads along the river.

And you cannot get lost as any detour off the main river route means going up very steep climbs.

You could also bike from Cochem to Moselkern and then hike the few easy miles thru a forest up to Burg Eltz and then put your bike on a train to return to Cochem (or bike back if up to it)

If you are interested in apartments, we stayed in a lovely 2 bedroom apartment in Cochem, along the Mosel, in April. We were right across the river from town, within walking distance, and had wonderful views of the river and town, along with castle that looms above, from our balcony. Ferienwohnung Am alten Kirchplatz (http://www.fewo-cochem.de/)

We loved our stay in Cochem, but also liked the towns of Bielstein and Bernkastel-Kues, all along the Mosel. I enjoyed the Rhine towns but prefer the beauty of the Mosel if I had a choice.

If you are interested, I did write a trip report. It can be found at
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...eath+schnitzel.

Best wishes,
Tracy

Great help...thanks
Rosie

You might consider following the Mosel into Luxembourg where it becomes the Moselle. It is always interesting to cross a national border and see how things change. My husband and I liked the wines (dry whites). I know there is at least one boat trip you can take and there are hiking trails and bike paths: http://www.ont.lu/spor-en.html
The capital city with its huge fortress is also interesting.

If your kids are interested in Roman history they might like to follow part of the route along the Limes (old frontier) including the reconstructed fort of Saalburg near Bad Homburg vor der Höhe slightly N of Frankfurt at the foot of the Taunus mountains (Bad H is a spa town which also has a castle, might be an alternative to Baden Baden)
www.saalburgmuseum.de/english/home_engl.htm

Hi,

We stayed along the Mosel (Valwig, across from Cochem) last October for 4 nights and loved the area. Cochem was our favorite, although Bernkastel-Kues and Beilstein were both wonderful. Beilstein being more "quaint: and much smaller than either Cochem or Bernkastel. We loved going to Burg Eltz, one of the highlights of our trip. Marksburg castle along the Rhine was excellent also. The beginning of our trip report (and photo's) may be of some interest/help:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35089110

Paul

Hi again,

Just to correct something in our trip report, the link to the hotel in Valwig (Cochem) should be:

www.hotel-rebenhof.com

Paul