Trip on the Mosel River
 

Where should one start and end?

Koblenz to Trier or vice versa.

Make sure you spend time (a lot) in Trier and definately do not miss Burg Eltz (although it is touristy).
Try to see the castle at Cochem and Burg Thurant as well.

It's really a nice area, but I only spent one day by car between Bacharach on the Rhine and Trier. I got good sense of it, but a day's not enough.

Just a thought, you might try to find one of Rick Steves' early tapes (probably 1994 or so) on the area. I recall it giving a good overview of what it all looks like--including Burg Eltz, Trier and some of the Rhine. If nothing else, I'm sure his latest book covers it.

if you are going outside of the winter, and if you like outdoor activity, you will want to try to hike/visit wineries or even ride a bike part of the way.

this is a vacation haven.

i am including my trip report that may help you with some ideas. there are other good reports in the forum. do a search.

I would not miss:

Bernkastel-Kues
Cochem and its castle
Bacharach
Deutsche Ecke
and choose another castle or two.

I do think you need to include the rhein to get the real feel of all those castles up and down both sides, and sometimes in the middle! it is amazing.

http://tinyurl.com/2p6mkd

Bacharach may be my favorite town in Germany (I have stayed there for part of my last three trips to Germany), but it is not on the Mosel.

If you are going to do the Rhein then this is the best place to stay in my opinion. They have several nice hotels, and a beautiful hostel (that I have never stayed in) in the castle above the town.

We just returned from a wine tasting trip to the Mosel. My favorite village was Bernkastel-Kues for some of the old, quirky buildings. They built them with a smaller base since the taxes were assessed on the ground footprint and then the higher levels were larger. In the main square, there's a really interesting one!

Luckily, since we were there in the off-season, it wasn't teeming with tourists. I preferred the sleepy little villages to Trier, which comparably to me, seemed very sterile.

The best villages, IMO, for tasting was Wehlen (we loved wines from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard--all the Prums are located here as well as Kerpen) and Leiwen (stop by the new tasting room at St Urbanshof to view the dioramas of the different soil types). Some relatives of the owner also run Landhaus Urbanshof which I'm planning to visit for dinner on our next trip.

We stayed in Zeltingen at Weinhotel St Stephanus which was nice, although the pool in the basement produced a smell in the hallways that I didn't like. We had a view of the Mosel, but they are working on the locks right there, so our view was of a construction sight that resembled a slag dump. The restaurant was very good and there was a large breakfast buffet. The village itself was quite small and not much to see or do. On a return trip, I'd stay instead at Weinhotel Richtershof which is right next to the Max Ferd. Richter Weingut. Very nice atmosphere and dinner here at their Culinarium was the best of the trip--about a 20-30 minutes drive south from Zeltingen. Both hotels had "wine spas" although we didn't have time to visit either one. The Richtershof is definitely more upscale. There were great deals to booking at the last minute at www.booking.de.

Be prepared that a lot of things close in the off season and many of the shops, etc. were closed even on Monday morning, although their signs said that they would be open.

If you want to see other sights, Burg Eltz shouldn't be missed. If you have some extra time, I'd skip Trier and head into Luxembourg City. My husband is a WWII buff and there's a cemetery nearby where George Patton is buried. Luxembourg City has some great views and interesting casements.