The Moselle River

Travelled:168km

Visited:Moselle River, Cocham, Bernkastel-Kues

Stay:Kues- € parking during day, free at night (signs says no, but elderly German man said OK. There are 6 of us), € services GPS N49.91119 E7.06721

There are no quiet nights to be had along the Rhine River. The train and the barges go all night. There is no escape unless you leave the river and go up into the vineyards. It was another foggy start and it remained that way all day but it was pleasant and it didn't rain. We followed the Rhine River down stream to Koblenz, before turning off and heading west to the Moselle River. It is a smaller river and thus has smaller vessels travelling along it. The villages are quaint and are set between the river and the vineyards.

 There where many camp grounds and motorhome parking areas and we could not believe how full they were. Obviously it is a very popular area to visit, especially on a long weekend. We were lucky to have arrived early enough in Cocham to find a parking spot just at the entry to the village. We rode the short way into the centre and then walked around. There were many pretty buildings but we found that we didn't appreciate some of the tacky clothing shops clutering up the already narrow streets. 

After a cup of tea in Bluey we continued up river enjoying the beautiful landscape. We headed for the next town mentioned in our Lonely Planet travel book 'Discover Germany', Bernkastel-Kues.  This is such a lovely town with lots of atmosphere. The half timbered buildings in the main square were great to look at, not one had a straight wall!  

We again immersed ourselves and enjoyed a few local beers, some currywurst with pommes, hash browns with apple sauce and a giant snitzel sandwhich.

 Feeling very satisfied we rolled back to Bluey and hope that the Moselle offers us a quieter night...