Note: Photos have now been added.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our trip down the Mosel River. We are inclined to support the superlatives in our guide map "The Mosel River between Trier and Koblenz is one of the loveliest stretches of landscape in all Europe" but would have to add "in our limited experience". Apparently the appreciation of its beauty is nothing new. 1600 years ago, in the poem "Mosella" by Ausonius, tutor to an Emperor's son, it is described as a "grape vine enclosed amphitheatre".
Among the Mosel Vineyards
There are mountains on each side with grape vines tucked
in wherever they can grow and many castles, some ruined, some preserved, perched high on the ridges. The towns have picturesque churches with interesting spires.
Several Mosel towns have been the centre of wine production for 1,000 years. Wine growing was begun in Roman times and we spied a Roman wine press house along the banks of the river.
The towns along the banks, like those on the Mosel in Luxembourg, are mainly devoted to grape growing and selling and added to this is major emphasis on tourism. During this holiday period which has coincided with a spell of perfect summer weather there are tourists everywhere, and most towns are geared to accommodate them and entertain them. In Cochem, for example, the main part of town consists almost entirely of hotels and guest houses, cafes and restaurants as well as wine shops and gift shops. We saw one bread shop and a single fruit shop. People come here by car, bike, and train as well as on huge river boats including hotel barges, day-
trip boats and ferries from other towns along the river. The towns are beautifully kept with attractive and varied brightly painted buildings and flowers everywhere. We hope the photos do them justice.
A typical Wine Town
As well as the crowds in towns along the Mosel, large numbers of people stay in camper vans, caravans, tents and cabins. There seems to be a large camping area every few kilometres usually packed very tightly. Some are attached to a boat harbour, some around small inlets and others are simply by the river banks. We tied up in one such area attached to a boat harbour. It was over 20 hectares in size. Some of the vans and cabins were probably fairly permanent fixtures (like the "
On-site vans" we are used to). Many had little gardens around them and satellite dishes set up. Flags were everywhere, mainly German. We particuarly liked the satellite dish painted in German colours.
The river is used by rowers, kayakers, jet skis and water skiers as well as a few people fishing or simply travelling along the river. Most of the "sport boat" traffic, that is the non- commercial traffic travelling distances along the river, consists of small to medium sized motor boats from Germany with a good number from the Netherlands. Boats like Anja are very rare in the Mosel below Trier, where the Sarre River comes in. French and British boats favour a loop along the Mosel and then onto the Sarre River and back into France but they rarely venture further North on the Mosel as we have done. The only other Anglo- Saxon boat we have met was a small barge a bit like ours (although smaller) with Americans on board.
Roman Bridge across the Mosel at Trier Marker along the old Roman way from Metz to Trier
Cycling is very popular in this area. There are excellent and well- supported cycle paths along the Mosel and hundreds or thousands of people are using them. Some of the buses are equipped with bike trailers and the trains accommodate bikes as well. There are cyclists of all ages and situations, some travelling in large groups. A few look dedicated and well- trimmed but most are families or couples of a variety of sizes and ages. We also see some very keen hikers climbing great heights. I don't think the Avalon Senior walkers would include these walks in their programme.
Steep vineyards, some of which are at 72 degrees Old castle ruins along the Mosel
Towns along the Mosel are very subject to flooding. The flood levels are marked on the bridges buildings and in some cases have penetrated into townships several blocks away from the river. There was a very serious flood down river in 1993, whereas further upstream, 1983 was the worst in recent times. Building foundations and cellars are made of slate so do not absorb the water, as long as they have not been cement rendered by those not realising the reason for leaving the walls untreated. In one restaurant where we dined, we would have been 3metres underwater in the 1993 flood and that was above the ground floor.
The current assisted us while we were going downstream, particularly in narrow spots, just after locks, and as we neared the junction with the Rhine. It increased greatly after a bout of heavy rain but fortunately slackened off by the time we wanted to turn around and head back against the current.
Big barge, ferry and us squeezed into lock. No room left!
Our reference books and articles about this route warned us about the huge wash from the large barges and hotel boats that travel day and night. In fact we have very little wash and disturbance from them but always notice when a small speed boat or jet ski is passing. There are not many stopping places so we cannot always visit the most interesting towns except by train, bus or cycle. Cochem was a fortunate exception.
Germany has surprised us in some ways. Undoubtedly very naive, we had thought everything would run very smoothly but have not found it so. Our first night in Germany was spent in a marina and we were pleased to learn that the bread van would visit and stop about 20 metres away at 8.30, good timing because we wanted to be away by 9am. At 9.20 we finally heard the promised horn, several hundred metres away and across the Harbour. Dave used all his bread calories reaching the van before it left. Then there is the issue of credit cards. Restaurants generally don't accept them; we spent less than $50 at a gift shop in a major tourist town, and David had to produce his licence and then sign after the card had been swiped through one of the old machines. Even in the back blocks of France, there are always electronic bankcard machines which use PINs.
Huge statue of Wilhelm II (note tiny people on the ledge!) The confluence of the Rhein and the Mosel Rivers at Koblenz
In Cochem and Koblenz we found out about queuing. First there was a long and static queue at the single ticket window for the train. Fortunately with two of us there, one could wait in the queue while the other investigated the ticket machine, found an "English" button and located and paid for the right ticket. We left a bunch of Americans who had arrived at least 20 minutes early bemoaning their fate because they would miss the train and their connecting boat. Then there was no indicator board to tell us which platform to wait on. Again two heads are better than one and we boarded the train successfully. Twice in Koblenz we went to the Post Office and both times found a long queue, making no progress at all. We gave up at that point. Finally we went to the supermarket in Cochem and found one person serving and a queue of eight people, rapidly increasing. Maybe we should expect such experiences in the tourist season. Probably the final straw was having to pay 50 centimes each for every visit to the toilet except for one place which would not dispense change so cost 1 euro though it did dispense a rather useless voucher for 50 centimes. It was good to get back to Anja to familiar rather than tourist territory. On a positive note, the people here have been courteous, the tourist offices helpful and people in small towns ready with assistance.
Best Regards,
Penny and Dave