We'll have 2 days to spend enjoying the wine and beautiful scenery before we head to Frankfurt to catch a plane home. We will be coming from Maastrecht, Holland and we
plan to rent a car in Germany. Any suggestions, ideas? natjgc

You'll have no problem filling your two days. The cities of Trier, Bernkastel-Kues, Beilstein and Cochem as well as Burg Eltz come immediately to mind.

As Germany's oldest city, Trier has several Roman Ruins including the amazing Porta Nigra as well as a lovely pedestian shopping area lined with grand buildings and fountains.

Bernkastel-Kues is full to the brim with lovely faschwerk buildings, a castle ruin and some very good wine.

Beilstein is on a very pretty section of the Mosel and, although very small, has a wonderful castle ruin high above the town as well as the beautiful Karmelitenkirche with it's Black Madonna.

Cochem is a busy, vibrant town with many hotels, restaurants and cafes.

Burg Eltz is one of the few castles still occupied by it's owner and is in one of the lovliest settings in all of Germany IMO.

I will second bettyk's recommendations and add a couple of observations. Berg Eltz is the real thing when it comes to castles. You will not find a castle anywhere in Europe that is better preserved, better situated or more authentic that this one. If you drive there, get a good map and stick to its directions. Avoid unofficial signs that supposedly point the way to the castle; if you take that detour, you will end up at a tacky hotel, instead. Other than Berg Eltz, we found the section between Trier and Cochem to be the most scenic, partly because views were not spoiled by the railroad. There are a lot of nice places to stay along there. We enjoyed our stay and a winetasting at the S.A. Pruem Winery Guesthouse (http://www.sapruem.com/home3.0.html) on the edge of Bernkastel-Kues, which is a much prettier town than Cochem or Trier, but it probably offers less nightlife than those towns. In any case, the Mosel has a lot to offer. I will send a link to some photos in a later message.

If you are interested in what to expect along the Mosel, I have posted pictures of some of my favorite places along the Mosel and Rhine valleys at this site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37015584@N04/

We are also going to that area - for five days in July, staying in Boppard. I have a question about Berg Eltz. Do you know how to get to it if you don't have a car. I remember reading about it and it seemed like a long hike so kind of dismissed the idea, but summero, your photos do make it look great. So if you have any ideas how to get there I'd love to hear them.

Here is detailed information from Ben's Bauernhof website, one of the most reliable sources for those of us who populate Fodor's:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/burgeltzfrommoselkern.html

Thanks, very helpful. Another question though, Summero's photo's are shot from above the castle. The hike brings you to the castle at or below it. How much extra hiking is required to get to where those photos were taken?

Very nice photos, summero. We'll be there this summer, so it's always nice to see what's in store!

isabel, as far as the views from above the castle, I've read that from the carpark, it is a 10-15 minute walk DOWN to the castle. So perhaps that is where the pictures were taken. We'll have a car, so that is helpful for me to know as well.

bettyk, great link!

Re Access to Berg Eltz: Those pictures were shot from an overlook near the main parking area for the castle. You have to walk down a hill and back up another one to get to the castle from there, but it is supposed to be a lot shorter distance than the hike from the valley. I got the road directions from the Rick Steves Guidebook on Germany (one of several guidebooks we checked) and followed the official roadsigns, not those posted by a local hotel.

>>> You have to walk down a hill and back up another one to get to the castle from there

There is (or at least was a few years back) a shuttle that would take you from the parking lot to the castle entrance for a few Euro. (I would suggest walking at least one way to get the spectacular view.)

According to the 2009 Rick Steves' Germany book, there is a red castle shuttle (1.50E one way) to/from the castle from the carpark.

My DH took some great photos as we were walking from the carpark to the castle. It is mostly downhill going to the castle, but remember that it will be uphill coming back!

One of our favorite days in Germany was when we rented bicycles in Cochem and took them on the bus about 20km upstream along the Mosel. A leisurely ride downstream takes you past hillsides brimming with vineyards. There are places to stop every mile or two. We took the ferry across the river to Beilstein and then back across to finish the trip.