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I like to think that Rick Steves knows his stuff, but WOW. How did this not make the “Germany” guidebook?
Sorry Rick, you totally missed the mark on this one. Bernkastel is far better than Beilstein, Cochem and (presumably) Zell—the villages featured in the Mosel Valley section of your book. (Granted we didn’t visit Zell. But then it didn’t exactly get a glowing write-up in the book, did it?)
Rumor is you have to pay to get into a Rick Steve’s guidebook. Perhaps that’s true…and Bernkastel didn’t pony up. Either way, after this (and some bad advice in the Italy book), I’m beginning to doubt the Rick Steves gospel.
I say, ignore Rick Steves. Skip Cochem, even Beilstein, and visit Bernkastel instead. Cochem Castle is worthwhile, but the rest of Cochem is blah, mediocre. Beilstein is lovely, postcard Mosel, but it’s also postcard sized. Tiny.
In Bernkastel, you’ll find all the charm of Beilstein, multiplied to the n-th degree. Bernkastel has more half-timbered houses, a castle, two lovely squares, a large pedestrian area, abundant shops and restaurants, and, of course, wine.
What’s there do? Same thing as every other wine village in the Mosel Valley—meander thru vineyards, hike to a castle, have a drink, test the limits of your credit card, eat an ice cream by the river and vow to return.
We visited Bernkastel twice on our week in Mosel, the second time to visit the castle, Burg Landshut. (Weird that it’s not called Bern Castle, right?) Burg Landshut is basically a shell—the ruins of the outer walls of the 13th century castle. It looks considerably more impressive from below, but there’s a small restaurant (and bathrooms) inside. And the view’s not so bad either.
A bit of advice: Don’t trust your GPS. To get to the castle, we went up some crazy narrow, steep road, as directed by the GPS, when we could have actually gone thru the K101 tunnel and up to a proper parking lot. Oh, Tom Tom.
Note: If you’re reading this Rick Steves, I’m more than happy to personally test your travel tips. Just send me someplace warm this winter. I’m thinking Morocco, Spain, Portugal, you get the idea.
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From Bernkastel-Kues, Germany. Shot May 29 and June 1, 2012 in Bernkastel-Kues, Germany
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From Burg Landshut. Shot June 1, 2012 in Bernkastel-Kues, Germany
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Cochem is the biggest village in the Mosel Valley. To me, it’s also the least charming.
Sure there are plenty of places to shop, eat and sample that great Mosel wine, but Cochem felt, I don’t know, used and tired. Maybe it was the gray, rainy weather. Maybe because it was the last place we visited. It certainly didn’t rival the bright-shininess and enchantment of Bernkastle or Beilstein.
Cochem isn’t entirely without merit. There is a very worthwhile castle (you’re allowed to photograph the interior!) and a chairlift to a scenic overlook. The two are unrelated, however. You’d think: Great avoid the climb to the castle; take the chairlift! Not so. The charilift goes up to the top of a different peak? hill? nowhere near the castle.
There’s also a little playground by the river, near the free parking. I still think: Skip the village. Spend your time at the castle. You’ll see enough of Cochem on the hike up.
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From Cochem, Germany. Shot May 31, 2012 in Cochem, Germany
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Beilstein is all that you expect Germany to be, minus the lederhosen. It’s postcard Mosel—half-timbered houses, narrow cobblestone streets, wine shops and outdoor cafes nestled beneath rolling vineyards and hill-top castle ruins.
We spent the afternoon in Beilstein after visiting Burg Eltz. It’s a cute little town, with emphasis on LITTLE. It’s tiny. Personally, I prefer Bernkastle (it’s just as picturesque and considerably larger), but Beilstein worth the stop if you’re in the area and have an hour or so to kill.
Beilsten did have one distinct advantage over every other wine village in the Mosel Valley we visited: the BEST Reisling ice cream. I don’t know the name of the shop, but it was the eiscafe right at the bottom of the pedestrian zone, just off the main road. Sounds non-specific, but there’s only one pedestrian street (leading uphill from the Mosel river). The ice cream store is on the right. So good.
Going to try to replicate that Riesling ice cream. That and the Westy 12 ice cream at In de Vrede in Westvleteren. Mmmm.
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From Beilstein, Germany. Shot May 28, 2012 in Beilstein, Germany
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We spent a week in the Mosel Valley at the end of May. This was someplace I’d wanted to visit since we moved to Germany three years ago. I’d only seen it from the autobahn. I’d later learn what I was looking at was actually the Rhine Valley. The Mosel and Rhine are two separate rivers (they converge at Koblenz), but from the autobahn they’re the same—steep cliffs and beautiful green vineyards.
The Rhine has more castles, but also more tourists. Both regions produce great wine. Of everything we tried in the week, I’d like to say I have a favorite, but even the cheap 2€ Mosel wine from Aldi was good. It’s really, REALLY hard to go wrong with a white wine from Germany.
We stayed at Landal GreenParks Sonnenberg in Leiwen, Germany. My review: I highly recommend this place. We stayed in a six-person bungalow (6B2 on their web site). It was exactly as pictured. Comfortable enough for six people with fully equipped kitchen, outdoor furniture and parking right outside our front door. There was a small shared play area for Nicholas in the back. Plus a big central playground, a play area by reception and indoor pool. There’s a store on-site, crazy-expensive bowling alley (20€ an hour! wtf?) and an area where you can feed the fattest deer you’ve ever seen. The most surprising thing was how quiet it was. It was busy—a lot people staying there—but never loud.
We got a week as an RCI timeshare exchange, but I’d totally pay to stay here again (as cheap as the last minute rates are, I just might). Added bonus: you don’t have to duck the obnoxious salespeople trying to rope you into one of those timeshare presentations. The only downside is, it’s at the top of the hill overlooking the Mosel River valley. Makes for great views, but you have to drive to get anywhere.
As far as Leiwen goes, it’s typical of a lot of the smaller towns along the Mosel. Tons of guesthouses and places to weinprobe (sample) and buy wine, an ice cream store, an Edeka. Nice little town, but nothing to go out of your way to see. From Leiwen, we day-tripped it to Trier, Berncastle, Beilstein, Cochem, Burg Eltz and Luxembourg.
These are some pics from the day we walked around Leiwen. And here’s a handy link to the map of Landal resorts. There’s one in the Ardennes region of Belgium. Thinking about this one and maybe day-tripping to Chimay, Rochefort and Orval.
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From Leiwen, Germany. Shot May 27, 2012 in Leiwen, Germany
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So I bought this sanddornwein at Norma (grocery store). Sanddorn = sea-buckthorn (a.k.a. sand thorn). Sea-buckthorn is a thorny shrub that grows across Central Europe and Asia. The plant has small yellow-orange berries (think holly berry size) that are rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, amino acids and other good stuff. Sanddorn juice is popular in Germany and Scandinavian countries.
The wine is not bad. Tastes like sweet German Riesling with a little citrus and herbal-ness to it. Hard to describe. The sanddorn balances out sweetness of the wine, which alone would be too sickeningly sweet for my taste.
But here’s the real interesting part: When the berries are pressed, the juice separates into three layers. Top layer is thick orange cream. Middle layer is full of saturated and polyunsaturated fats. And the bottom layer is sediment and juice. The first two layers are used by the cosmetics industry, processed into skin cream and moisturizers. And the leftover third layer is turned into juice, syrup, liqueur and sanddornwein.
So, essentially, I’m drinking a byproduct of the cosmetics industry. yum
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