The Mosel Valley

After managing to get away from the roar of the race track, we meandered down to the Mosel river valley.

Quite a different scene awaited us here with medieval towns and towering castles around almost each bend. A truly wonderful and very tranquill place, with vines covering almost every imaginable space along the river banks, those not covered by vines, being full of the lush green verdancy of spring.

The beautiful Mosel River

Beilstein on the Mosel

Cochem on the Mosel

We found a great central spot on the river to stay, and when we say 'on the river', here's what we mean!

Bike maintenance at our campsite

River traffic

The view across the water from Wickse

Enjoying the view from the river

Our main plan was to spend a full day visiting the surrounding villages and sampling their local delicacies (Mosel Riesling) on our bikes.The Mosel you see being the spiritual homeland of this delicate, appley wine. And although the wine didn't disappoint, the bikes certainly did, with us suffering from 4 punctured tires throughout the afternoon...bummer!

A Mosel vineyard

The entire riverbank covered in ancient vines

The first of many (before it became inappropriate to take any more photos of punctures!)

The star of the show

Hmmm...now which one do I like best?

The beautiful village of Beilstein

Crossing the Mosel River, Beilstein

Vines in your backyard, Bernkastel

Burg Eltz

Giving up the two wheels for four, we spent the next day following the Mosel right down into Luxembourg, where it became very industrial, before heading back up the other bank to Koblenz, derived of course from the latin word for 'confluence' (thanks Rob!), meaning the meeting of two things, in this case, the Mosel and the Rhine rivers!

Although the weather was beginning to pack in (after 4 weeks of total sunshine we can't complain!), it's true to say that the Mosel is definitely one of our favourite destinations so far, and we definitely recommend it!!!

The confluence of the Mosel (left) and the Rhine (top and right), Koblenz