Mosel 2010 – Overview

I’m off again! At the end of May I’ll be going with James and Mr & Mrs Wow to Trier in Germany, following the Mosel to Koblenz, then a bit of the Rhein to Bingen, then returning along the Rhein to Köln where we get the train back to the Hook of Holland and the ferry home. It’s a week long cycle tour and should be great fun. Watch this space for ride reports…

Anyway, we’re off on Saturday 29 May for the overnight ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. James and I will cycle from home to Harwich (16 miles via the scenic route) and the Wows will be coming by train.

Sunday is a Day Of Trains (although not quite as many as Pippa and I took last September when travelling from Hook of Holland to Bamberg). We will be taking the train to Trier which involves a train from the Hook to Rotterdam; Rotterdam to Venlo; Venlo to Kaldenkirchen (a 4 minute journey, unless by then the Germans have managed to get the Dutch to authorise use of the new Eurobahn train on Dutch railways directly from Venlo through Germany); Kaldenkirchen to Mönchengladbach; Mönchengladbach to Koblenz; and finally Koblenz to Trier. If we catch all the trains as planned we should arrive in Trier by 4pm.

Monday – Trier to Bernkastel-Kues (43 miles).

We start our cycle ride along the Mosel river which is well known for its vineyards and lovely scenery. Our destination, Bernkastel-Kues, is a quaint town and is famous for its medicinal wine (Doktor Wein) which I am sure James and Wow will sample.

Tuesday – Bernkastel-Kues to Cochem (47.5 miles)

More Mosel, more cakes, more beer, more wine…

Cochem has a rather handy internet café so hopefully I can write a little report at that point, at least. A 50 mile day is a fair trek for us all but that gives plenty of opportunity to stop for some refreshing cake/beer.

Wednesday – Cochem to Spay (42 miles)

We cycle from Cochem past Koblenz which is the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhein rivers – from this point onward we’re travelling along the Rhein.

The hotel at Spay is really nice – it was Pippa and my favourite overnight stop – and I look forward to their excellent food, along with the bike fettling tools. In fact, I liked the hotel so much we’re having two nights there, doing a mini excursion on Thursday and returning back to Spay.

Thursday – Bingen to Spay (31 miles)

We will get the train to Bingen (opposite Rüdesheim) and will perhaps spend a bit of time looking around Rüdesheim (which involves crossing the Rhine by boat) before cycling back to Spay.

Friday – Spay to Bad Breisig (31 miles)

Along the Rhein and past Koblenz again, continuing northwards through a few industrial bits as well as some lovely scenery. We end up in Bad Breisig which is a quiet but pleasant town.

Saturday – Bad Breisig to Rotterdam by train, then cycle to Hook of Holland (20 miles)
We catch the train from Bad Breisig to Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf to Mönchengladbach, Mönchengladbach to Kaldenkirchen/Venlo, Venlo to Rotterdam and then cycle from Rotterdam to the Hook, or if we’re short of time we take the train.

We take the overnight ferry back to Harwich and should arrive in the UK at 7am on Sunday morning.

Should be a cracking holiday and we’ll take lots of photographs, no doubt. And will eat lots of cake. And the others will drink lots of beer. Probably.

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