The most beautiful river-bends between Eifel and Hunsrück.
It's quite international on the Moselle - why, you ask? Because in the border triangle you can see from Germany to France and Luxembourg. And because the history of the Romans brought Mediterranean influences to the region. What's more, the wines that thrive on Europe's steepest slopes are drunk in the finest restaurants between New York and Hong Kong. For you on this tour, this means plenty of enjoyment, the best views and fantastic locations!
Details of the tour from Trier to Koblenz
Ten days on the Moselle start in the "second Rome" - in Trier! The Porta Nigra, the cathedral, the Church of Our Lady: the list of great sights is long. The first stage leads along the foothills of the Eifel and the river Kyll. The next day, it's high up from Traben-Trarbach. At the Kirster Grat, the landscape becomes almost alpine before descending again towards Bullay. In the evening, the first-class wines of the region are tasted here.
Other great experiences on this tour include the climb up the Petersberg, a visit to the "most beautiful Moselle town" Beilstein, a hike through the Dortebachtal nature reserve and the imposing Eltz Castle. Day 8 takes you to the 1000-year-old Michaelskapelle and on day 9 the Blumslay viewing platform offers a spectacular panorama. Why not review the trip over a good glass of wine in Koblenz?
Highlights of the hiking tour with Eurohike
Fantastic viewpoints: The panoramic views from the mountain ranges, vineyards and also from many a castle ruin, such as the Franzosensteig of Grevenstein Castle, will amaze you!
Vineyards & traditional winegrowers' taverns: The vines grow on more than 8,600 hectares in Germany's oldest winegrowing region and are cultivated by more than 2,800 winegrowers. The efforts are worth it, because the wines are excellent!
Tranquil villages with half-timbered houses: The local architecture is not only beautiful, but also highly interesting. Traben-Trarbach, for example, was once the second largest wine trading town. The prosperity that developed as a result gave rise to magnificent Art Nouveau buildings .
Imposing castles, fortresses and palaces: Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel would certainly enjoy Eltz Castle and Metternich Castle.
Unique boxwood forest: Let yourself be calmed by this special natural spectacle. Wildly growing boxwood is very rare in our climes, but the mild, sunny climate along the Moselle makes it possible.
Useful information about the 10-day tour "Best of Moselsteig"
The Moselsteig runs over a total of 365 kilometres and is excellent in the truest sense of the word. It is one of the certified premium hiking trails in Germany, which means that the route is of the highest quality. A certain level of fitness is advantageous for the 14 to 24 kilometre stages, but these can also be shortened.
Hiking in central Germany is not only diverse, but also a high-quality travel experience - especially with Eurohike. More information about the Moselsteig can be found here.
Trier, Germany’s oldest city, entices you with numerous historic sights. We highly recommend you visit the famous ‚Porta Nigra‘, Roman excavations and the opulent St. Peter’s Cathedral. A stroll through the bustling historic centre is the perfect way to prepare for the upcoming hiking week.
To start off your holiday you cross the river Mosel and ascend to the colorful sandstone rock located at the Trierer Stadtwald-forest. Along a marvelous high-altitude path with views into the depth onto the river Mosel and views into the distance all the way onto the Hunsrück-mountain range you proceed to Biewer and the Eifel-foothills. You hike through extensive forests and plateaus all the way to the ‚Ehranger Kanzel‘ and downhill to the river Kyll, onwards through the Eifel-forests onwards to Schweich. By train you reach the charming village on the river Mosel Bullay with its numerous inns called ‚Straußwirtschaften‘.
You reach the start of the tour via the legendary Mosel wine railway and cross Germany’s longest hanging viaduct in the art-deco town Traben-Trabach. You ascend on steep terrain to Grevenstein castle and proceed on the ‚Franzosensteig‘-trail via spiral staircases and via ferratas straight through the ruins. Spectacular too is the view into the depth down to the river. An alpine hiking section along the ridge Kirster Grat leads you accompanied with great views to Enkirch, where we highly recommend you visit the historic half-timber houses. Onwards through wine growing areas and the vineyards you proceed to Bullay, where a wine tasting of the best Mosel wines awaits.
Beautiful paths lead you high above the river up Mount Petersberg, where the summit cross offers stupendous views down onto the Mosel river bend. After the descent and the river crossing near Neef you ascend Mount Calmont on the other side. You hike up Europe‘s steepest vineyard, where grapes are grown on an incline of up to 55 degrees. You proceed via a Roman high-altitude settlement with a view onto the rock spire ‚Eller Todesangst‘ past the ‚Galgenlay-Pavillon‘ and reach Cochem by train.
You get to visit Beilstein, the ‚most beautiful of all villages on the river Mosel‘ with its lovely half-timber houses and the Carmelite monastery. You proceed to the Fankel-barrage and continue in close proximity along the Mosel riverbanks. In Bruttig we recommend a break before you ascend again through the ravine of the Kabainerbach-stream. Hiking directly through the hillside vineyards you cross the rocky Brauselay-mountainsides, which steeped in legends tower as a black cliff over the river. In the afternoon you marvel at the Cochem imperial castle this time from the water during a pleasurable boat ride.
You ascend to the Pinner-cross, a marvelous rock pulpit located above Cochem, either on foot or by chair lift. Along hiking paths high above the river you proceed to the legendary refuge ‚Wingerts Budche‘. The Dortebachtal-nature reserve, the Pommerer Forest and the via ferrata through the Schilzer-basin provide pleasant walking conditions in the shade. Through green vineyards you reach Mount Martberg, where you can visit a nicely restored Roman temple complex. Narrow trails snake their way through dense woodland down into the valley and into the Day Finish Treis-Karden.
The impressive boxtree-trail welcomes you with evergreen forests and steep rock steps. You start from Müden and proceed along historic pilgrim trails into the highlands to the legendary Eltz castle. After a break in the beer garden you continue uphill to the Maifeld-area and along the steep edge via little climbing sections to Hatzenport. If you have energy left, you can climb over slate rocks up Mount Rabenlay.
Today you cross the river Mosel twice actually. From Alken to the lovely Thurant spur castle and via rocky steep trails you descend to the Michael’s chapel, one of the oldest churches on the river Mosel dating back more than 1000 years. After that you hike through the vines to the pilgrimage church located on Mount Bleidenberg. Best views all the way into the ‚Vulkaneifel‘-area accompany you along this marvellous high-altitude path to Oberfell. Then across a sunny high-plateau to the panoramic cliff Hitzlay - enjoy the view before descending to Niederfell and reach today’s Day Finish via the bridge ‚Moselgoldbrücke‘.
For the finale again numerous highlights await: the castle ruin of Kobern Niederburg-castle, the Romanesque Matthew-chapel and again and again high-altitude paths with panoramic views. The Blumslay-viewpoint spoils you with spectacular views onto the mighty construction of the Mosel-valley bridge with a height of 136 metres. You continue for a final time through the lush vineyards all the way to Güls-Koblenz, the official end of the Moselsteig-trail. After a short train journey you reach the centre of Koblenz, where you enjoy the end of your impressive hiking week at the so-called ‚Deutsches Eck‘ (German Corner), the confluence of the rivers Mosel and Rhine.
You mainly walk on well-maintained hiking paths and trails, on graveled vineyard paths and remote forest paths. The panoramic paths featuring great views lead you in parts across steep terrain and rocks, here surefootedness is a prerequisite. The ascents and descents of the mountain ranges of the Mosel river valley are mastered easily with a good basic fitness level. Daily tours can easily and comfortably be cut short by train any time.
Abwechslungsreiche und teilweise anspruchsvolle Wanderung.
Fast mediterrane Pfade durch Eichenwälder mit Blicken zur Mosel wechseln sich mit Wegen durch das Hinterland und die Weinhänge ab. Der Moselsteig ist sehr gut ausgeschildert, an schönen Aussichtsstellen stehen Moselbänke für eine Rast. Am Calmont ist die Abweichung Klettersteig zu empfehlen (Stöcke verstauen). Die Wanderstrecken waren manchmal ziemlich lang, können bei Bedarf gut mit der Bahn abgekürzt werden. Für Trier und Koblenz Zusatztage einplanen, um die Städte zu erkunden. Die Hotels lagen alle sehr zentral. Für die Wanderungen Proviant einplanen, im Herbst und wochentags gibt es wenig Einkehrmöglichkeiten unterwegs.
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5 stars
Sue K. |20.10.2022
Moselsteig
Excellent trip. Very well marked route with lots of variety. Autumn is a good time with amazing Autumn colours and grape harvesting. One of the best organised trips we have done. This tour does require a good head for heights. There were not many good restaurants which surprised us, its easier to get a glass of wine than coffee and cake!
JuliaWinklhoferanswered:
Dear hiking guest, thank you very much for your nice feedback, we are very happy that you had a great time on the Moselsteig! With the restaurant recommendations in our route notes, we try to recommend the best restaurants that are available on spot.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
5 stars
Thomas Hübner |20.07.2022
Best of Moselsteig (Trier - Koblenz)
Unsere Wanderung begann in Trier und endete in Koblenz. Die Unterlagen haben wir im ersten Hotel empfangen. Alle Transfers unseres Gepäckes funktionierten tadellos. Die Wanderrouten waren detailliert und wurden merkbar vom Verfasser vorab selbst durchgeführt (hat uns einer der Hotelliers verraten :-) ). Die vielen Hinweise auf die Beschaffenheit und das Finden der richtigen Wege waren sehr hilfreich. Trotzdem haben wir uns drei mal verlaufen (passiert, wenn man nicht aufpasst, war aber nicht schlimm). Die Aussichten, die diese Wanderung geboten hat, waren unglaublich. Die Hotels waren individuell, schön und in der Regel zentral gelegen. Die Möglichkeit mit der Bahn "abzukürzen" haben wir zweimal genutzt. Wichtig: Bargeld mitnehmen. Viele Restaurants und einige Hotels akzepierten nur Bargeld. Auch sollte man beachten, dass unterwegs sehr wenig "Einkehrmöglichkeiten" vorhanden sind (Ruhetag, Öffnungszeiten passen nicht oder für immer zu gemacht). Daher immer genug Verpflegung mitnehmen. Unser Fazit: Eine perfekte Reise. Danke für diese wunderbare Wandertour.
JuliaWinklhoferanswered:
Liebe Wandergäste, vielen herzlichen Dank für das ausführliche Reisefeedback. Wir freuen uns sehr zu hören, dass Ihnen die Wanderreise am Best of Moselsteig so gut gefallen hat. Vielen Dank auch für den Hinweis zu den Öffnungszeiten der Einkehrmöglichkeiten. Viele Betriebe haben wegen Personalmangel kurzfristig neue Öffnungszeiten beschlossen, dies war in vielen Regionen in der Saison 2022 ein großes Problem. Wir werden diese Informationen auf jeden Fall überarbeiten und für die neue Saison anpassen. Wir freuen uns, Sie bald auf Ihrer nächsten Wanderreise begrüßen zu dürfen!
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
5 stars
Lars T. |15.05.2022
Fantastisch - traumhafte Wanderungen - Natur pur
Wir sind unglaublich begeistert von unserem Wanderurlaub an der Mosel! Da wir Mitte April gereist sind, waren die Weinberge noch kahl, aber die Wälder wurden bereits grün. Wir hatten acht Tage nur Sonne, blauen Himmel und nicht einen Tropfen Regen - bei bis zu 20°C im Tageshoch - und haben jeden Tag in vollen Zügen genossen. So sind wir nicht nur die empfohlenen Strecken gewandert, sondern haben jeden Tag noch eine zusätzliche Verlängerung gemeistert. Die Wege waren sehr abwechslungsreich, teilweise auch mal recht anstrengend, aber traumhaft schön - der Begriff "Best of" trifft absolut zu. Festes Schuhwerk ist zwingend notwendig und eine gute Grundkondition sollte man auch haben - dann können wir diese Tour jedem empfehlen!