04/06/2020
Hop from Koblenz to Trier by Bicycle
A beautiful tour along the romantic Mosel valley between Riesling wineyards, flowers, forests, small old cities and villages. Enjoy the german cuisin and the white wine. The tour is not effortless, but it is well worth and rewarding.
Duration: 4 Days (including the 240 km-one-way drive from/ to home and the train ride from Trier to Koblenz).
Dates: 21 - 24 May
Weather: Mostly sunny with a maximum of 29 C and minimum of 14 C during cycling hours. One day it was light raining. Wind from South / South - West (against the direction of travel).
Reliable weather websites: www.wetteronline.de / www.wetter.com
Cycled Distance: 220 km (according to the smart watch).
Bicycle used: Lady City Bicycle - 8 gears.
Terrain: Flat with some ups and downs (especially on first day). Manageable with a normal city bicycle. The bicycle had to be pushed up couple of times per day for short distances.
The general impression was that making the tour from Koblenz to Trier was lighter with more / longer downhills and therefor less effort has been involved.
The bicycle lane is generally in good condition.
Transportation: The bicycles have been transported by car, but there are companies renting bicycles in Koblenz and the Mosel area.
Free parking: available in the area behind the train station (e.g. Otto-Fohl Strasse, Koblenz).
The way back has been done by RE1-train from Trier to Koblenz (look up for the offer under Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket)
! For short distances like Trier - Koblenz it is not needed to pay extra for taking the bicycle on the train !
During non-corona times there are special buses driving the Mosel Valley and they are equipped for bicycle transportation.
Accommodation: www.booking.com has been used to find places, but booked privately by calling them (german language knowledge is required most of the time if you want to book privately). By reserving privately cheaper prices have been obtained, but this involves some negotiations in German language. The average price 75 euro per night for 2 persons for double room with private bathroom and breakfast included.
Most of the accomodations come with covered space / room for bicycle storage.
Food & Drinks: Restaurants and terraces are open (now during corona-time it is needed a face mask inside restaurants, shops, hotels etc). In Cochem it is advisable to avoid eating in the restaurants along the Mosel (the food / drinks have higher prices for a disappointing quality).
Supermarkets are open Monday to Saturday; Sundays and during national holidays shops are closed.
Total trip cost: approximately 500 euro for 2 persons.
Many shops, restaurants etc accept only cash.
Route: It is well marked with the sign Mosel-Radweg and goes sometimes through the centre of villages / villages.
Follow the sign. It's well worth seeing those villages.
To follow the route I used also Google maps and not only the signs.
Day 1 Route (~54km):
Koblenz Deutsches Eck > Kurt-Schumacher-Brücke > Marktstraße, Winningen > Marktstraße, Kobern-Gondorf > Hauptstraße, Lehmen > Moselufer, Löf > Moselbrücke Löf-Alken > Brodenbach > Burgen > Pommern > Klotten > Moselpromenade, Cochem.
Day 2 Route (~56km):
Cochem > Ernst > Ellenz-Poltersdorf > Nehren > Ediger-Eller > Bremm > Sankt Aldegund > Alf > Doppelstockbrücke Alf-Bullay > Zell > Briedel > Pünderich > Burg(Mosel) > Enkirch > Traben-Trarbach
Day 3 Route (~47km):
Traben-Trarbach > Lösnich > Zeltingen-Rachtig > Graach an der Mosel > Bernkastel-Kues > Mülheim (Mosel) > Brauneberg > Wintrich > Piesport > Neumagen-Dhron
Day 4 Route (~44km):
Neumagen-Dhron > Leiwen > Köwerich > Thörnich > Detzem > Mehring > Moselufer, Schweich > An der Bastion, Trier > Markusberg, Trier > Kaiser Wilhelm Brücke, Trier > Porta Nigra, Trier
Must see: there are tones of beautiful places, but Koblenz, Cochem, Bernkastel-Kues and Trier are a must.
The distances and overnight stops can be adjusted according to your own pace and the available time you have for this trip.
The actual time spent cycling was between 3.5 and 6 hours / day; therefore it has been not much time to visit the places on the way.
If you and your group would like to visit some places / museums etc, I do advise to invest more time in this tour or do just parts of it.
Hop the world and have fun! :)
