For our trip to Germany next May, we would like to spend our first 2 nights on the Mosel. I understand that Cochem and Bernkastel are about the same size, but don't know if one is better than the other for accommodations, restaurants, etc. If time permits, we plan to visit both towns as well as Burg Eltz.

Betty, we had the same thoughts as you on our recent trip the Germany. The Mosel is beautiful and you'll love it. I might recommend Cochem. Try the website Cochem.de and hit the tourismus link for a list of hotels and guesthouses. Our snag was we went during the 4 day holiday for Ascension (May 20) and not a single place had any rooms available. We ended up staying in the nearby Hunsruck mountains in a delightful village called Sohren. You might even consider this, although it doesn't have the river scenery. However, it is very centrally located--we left from there to explore Bernkastel and Zell the first day and Cochem the next. In 2 days, you'll have plenty of time to visit Bernkastel and Cochem and mostly likely Burg Eltz, also. They are probably about 45min to an hours drive apart, depending on how many towns you stop to visit in the meantime!

Well as you may know from your research,....Cochem is about 18 miles from Burg Eltz. I highly reccomend this castle too!
Cochem offers many inns( more than Bernkastle) to choose from. The town is very picturesque and is in one of the best wine regions of the Mosel valley.

There are many restaurants to choose from. A reccomendation for a hotel there is the Burg Hotel. We requested a room with a balcony overlooking the river. It had a panoramic view of the vinyards and river. It was lovely. The inn keepers have a HUGE collection of ancieant weapons, armour and artifacts. You could spend hours just lookinig at these things located throoughout the hotel. This hotel offers 2 restaurants, both good,not great.
Oh, cochem has a castle as well that we enjoyed.
Have fun!!

I agree. I stayed at the Burg also. There's a lot of agreeable walks around Cochem and our early morning walk to the top of the castle was one of the highlights of our entire trip.

usbeauty, the walk to that castle in Cochem is lovely--we liked it to! The joke of our trip was the fact that we didn't tour the castle. 3 of us were content to just take the walk, see the outside of the castle and watch the falconeer. The last tour was taking off and the castle would close in 30 minutes. No one seemed to care to take the tour. 2 days later, one of the party said "I can't believe we walked that whole way and didn't take the tour!" So that became our joke--"well, we can't do it because it costs 4 euros."

Hah! That's cute, MzPossum. Well, I didnt take the tour either. In fact, last summer was so hot in Europe I barely drank any of the wine in the Mosel, and that was the reason for going! Next time...

Well, it sounds like Cochem is the overriding choice! I'll check out the Burg Hotel also. Thanks.

Anybody else?

Cochem is a definite. My husband and I stayed in a lovely hotel called Hotel Schneider. We had a beautiful room with a balcony and great view of the river and the castle.The restaurant is quite good also. Have fun.

Thanks, kbob, I'll also check out the Hotel Schneider.

Oh, usbeauty, to miss the Mosel Wine! Yes, there has to be a next time. We went to Zell specifically for the Zeller Schwartz Katz! But, when it's hot, nothing does the trick like plain old water. Our crew was as much into the different beers as wine. Kerner Pilz is my husband's favorite and his memory when he was stationed in the Hunsruck mountains in the airforc.

Hi! We lived near Cochem for 3 years and it's a wonderful place. I would stay in Cochem and travel up and down the Mosel from there. Sohren has a great store called Kaefer's that sells crystal, table linens, etc that are quite inexpensive. Don't miss Burg Eltz! Have fun, you'll love it.

Linda

Thanks, Linda. Kaefer's sounds like my kind of place! I'll be sure to check it out.

bettyk, if you go to Sohren, make sure to eat at the old Bahnhof restaurant. It's not far from the crystal shop and is in the old Bahnhof (obviously!) Delicious Italian food and decorated in lovely, restful colors.

Thanks, I'm definitely taking notes on all this great info!