Hi, My Wife and kids and I will be in Germany on 5th Sept for a few days and were looking for a short itenary if anyone knows the area near Cochem ? WEe are travelling from Luxembourg on the morning of the 4th Sept to Trier and having a look around and then planned to check out Cochem. We need to be in Cologne by 7th Sept morning or maybe 6th Sept Evening. We wanted to see as much as we can but thought about a river trip north from Cochem to some place nearer Cologne. We have the Deutschland tickets for train travel also so transport shouldn't be an issue. Any help much appreciated, thanks !

Yes to a river trip on the Mosel (and sorry, can't help you out with the specifics of this). I have done the Mosel by car, as the road follows the river. Many charming little towns and seasonal wineries with Roter Rauscher for sale in people's garages. The river culminates in Koblenz, which is also a Rhine city - in fact the point of confluence is called Deutsches Eck, worth seeing. I would not bother with a cruise up the Rhine beyond that as it is not picturesque, nor is the train. The next interesting city is Bonn, with pretty gelato-coloured buildings and the Poppelsdorfer Schloss. Before that is Remagen, which is the site of where a bridge across the Rhine got blown up in WWII (there was a 1969 film The Bridge at Remagen). Cologne is a good choice too - I was last there in 2023 with my daughter, and we saw lots of museums (chocolate museum and Farina Haus perfume museum in particular). And of course there is the cathedral, a must-see.

Lavandula

I've cycled the Mosel, holidayed many times and lead a wine tasting tour of the Mosel and I can suggest a few things.

Cochem is a very efficient space as it has a lot of restaurants and hotels so is sort of tourist central. I've stayed there once and it is an easy stay but not my favorite.

Burg Elz is another big drawer, easy to do by train.
The cycle path is easy to follow and many of the smaller towns have bike hire running through the summer, all very safe and pleasant
Up on the cliffs there is this https://en.visitmosel.de/hiking/moselsteig-trail-stages which offers great views, chances to see nature up close
Other than that wine tasting is a big thing but not sure what age your kids are, 14 is the age limit for alcohol in Germany
You will also find, in the smaller towns, a local type of restaurant that is taken over by different farms during the summer to sell their product.

Trier, of course, has the Marx house, some large amount of Roman remains and some great wineries
Koblenz is as dull as ditch water with a statue.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I did chuckle a bit lol. It’s not going to be too much of a cultured trip. Basically my Wife and kids are going to see our country N.Ireland play Luxembourg then Germany in Cologne. The Lux game is on the 4th Sept in ( you guessed it ) Luxembourg and the Germany game is on the 7th Sept. Between Lux and Cologne I was just trying to put some short sight seeing tour together for my Wife and kids. I’ll probably have a walkabout and some food in Trier and travel north from there ( appreciate the info on certain places but might not have time ) and hope to be in Cologne on 6th afternoon. So barely 2 days really. Where would be a good spot to stay the night in a hotel etc ? Cochem maybe ? I do want to do a short boat trip maybe at Trier or Cochem. Thanks again for all replies. Appreciate you taking the time. My Wife enjoys some fine wine but I’m all about the German beers 🍺 ! Ha ha

Do you speak German, or at least enough to order food, ask for simple directions etc?

If not then Cocham is a good bet.
If you do then I'd recommend say Traben Trarbach, Urzig, Berkastel. Choose accom with a river view. You'll find some stunning deals as the area is not that popular. Their equivelent to Art Nouveau is Jugendstil and there are lots of accom with those features plus delightful places with river gardens (but not too close because of flooding).

Listen to your wife, the wine is stunning. You'll find the beer is even better in Belgium ;-)

Unfortunately no we don’t speak much except the very basic words everyone knows lol. Thanks for the advice on towns etc. much appreciated. 🍻

Actually the Bridge at Remagen was the bridge that wasn’t blown up by the Germans, allowing the first access across the Rhine into Germany by the allies. Great little historical town if you visit..

Oops, thanks for correcting!

Lavandula