Mosel Hike
Day 1: Koblenz to Kobern-Gondorf

NOTE: View pictures by clicking on thumbnails; choose size below.
Pictures open in a new window, close that window by clicking anywhere on the picture.
Display options => Full size Sceen size 800 x 600 640 x 480 480 x 360
Postcard => Send clicked picture as email postcard (or alt-click on thumbnail)

6/24/02, 7:00 a.m., on the train from Frankfurt to Koblenz. Sitting here with my 24 oz. Dr Pepper -- what a typical American! We landed at 6:00 and I was able to get my bags, change money (less than a Euro per dollar, yikes!), and buy a train ticket pretty quickly. This year I checked my backpack and a pull-type bag because I have more clothes for the seminar I'm attending in Düsseldorf and also brought along a digital camcorder.

I'm starting today a hike along the Mosel river from Koblenz to Trier. There are actually a number of possible trails to follow. Along almost all the Mosel in Germany there are paths next to the river, mostly for both hikers and bikers. I'm taking the higher Mosel ridge trail (Moselhöhenweg), which rises above the river running mostly through vinyards. It has two branches, on each side of the river. On the Eifel mountain range side, the trail from Koblenz to Wasserbillig in Luxemburg is about 164 kilometers, on the Hunsrück side, from Koblenz to Palzem (beyond Trier), is 224 kilometers. The trail doesn't slavishly follow the very curvy river, but at times cuts through farmland and forest. It's about a 2 week hike (at minimum) to do a round-trip hike from Koblenz to Trier (and back) on both sides of the Mosel using the ridge trail. Since I have less than a week, I'm going to be going back and forth, from one side of the river to the other every few days, trying to sample the trail on each side. I'm starting off on the Eifel side.

11:30, Winnigen. Stopping here for lunch-peanut butter crackers and a Fanta I bought in Güls. To get to Güls from the Koblenz train station is just a short walk of 2 kilometers or so alongside a cemetery. It's also possible to get here on the train or by bus. From Güls here the Moselhöhenweg goes through vineyards, some very steep, with a nice view of the Mosel river. Weather is very nice - 23 C and sunny.


Vineyards - Barge - Stairs up to vineyards

5:40p.m. Kobern. Arrived here around 2:00, walked around quite a bit for a cheap hotel ended up at a hotel/Chinese restaurant for 25 Euro (with TV). I must have looked pretty disrespectable -- they made me pay in advance. Nice trail mostly through forest, but also through some orchards, where cherries are just now ripe. Kobern (actually Kobern-Gondorf) a nice town with a pretty market square, but fairly touristy, lots of places to stay. Had a Currywurst with fries at a Schnellimbiß with drink for 7 Euro.


Kobern and Mosel from overlook - Trail through forest - Picking cherries

Total distance today: 15 km



Mosel Hike - Bob Godwin-Jones
© 2002