The river Moselle infos and river cruising experiences

cruiser02,

I agree, Mainz is well worth visiting and the surrounding area is lovely. Here is a fun fact. From Mainz on the Rhine to Bernkastel-Kues on the Moselle a river cruise ship on a typical itinerary, i.e. with stops, takes something like two to two and a half days. If you go cross country in a car you can do the trip in an hour and twenty minutes. Past Ingelheim and through the Hunsrück hills. It is a nice drive but of course you miss out all the castles. ;)

Checking distances on google routeplanner I came across the shop of "Bonbon-Willi". He has a small workshop for boiled sweets made in old style in Bernkastel Kues: http://www.bonbon-willi.de/ Looks like a place worth checking out.

notamermaid

cruiser02,

 

I agree, Mainz is well worth visiting and the surrounding area is lovely. Here is a fun fact. From Mainz on the Rhine to Bernkastel-Kues on the Moselle a river cruise ship on a typical itinerary, i.e. with stops, takes something like two to two and a half days. If you go cross country in a car you can do the trip in an hour and twenty minutes. Past Ingelheim and through the Hunsrück hills. It is a nice drive but of course you miss out all the castles. ;)

 

Checking distances on google routeplanner I came across the shop of "Bonbon-Willi". He has a small workshop for boiled sweets made in old style in Bernkastel Kues: http://www.bonbon-willi.de/ Looks like a place worth checking out.

 

notamermaid

Ingelheim I haven't thought about that town for years. What about the longer land route thru Bad Kreuznzach & Idar-Oberstain to Bernkastel ?

Also sounds a nice route. Bad Kreuznach on the Nahe with its bridge houses has something about it and Idar-Oberstein with its church in the rock and the gemstone museum is great for a day visit. I have not been to the area for years, a real pity. The Nahe, tributary to the Rhine with the confluence being at Bingen, has some good wines, too!

Idar-Oberstein is an unusual place, unfortunately it is a bit far from the Moselle to that town by coach, around 55 minutes. It would merit an excursion on a river cruise otherwise.

notamermaid

I have mentioned that the places on the Moselle tend to be overall smaller than on the Rhine. Yet, they are very popular and increasingly so. With land trippers, day trippers and river cruisers alike. Tiny Beilstein, quaint Bernkastel-Kues or picturesque Cochem. Cochem, how busy is it? I have not been to the town for a few years and cannot say how busy it feels. But the sheer number of river cruiser ships docking there this year struck me. It is a long list: http://www.cochem.de/stadt/dateien/stadt_hafenhotelschiffe_dateien_Datei_49.pdf

21 pages full of ships, sizes ranging from 33m to 135m. In some red spaces you see the word "Schleusensperre" or "Sperre". It means the lock/lock system/river is closed to shipping for what is normally regular maintanance work. You will find the dates for coming years right at the end of the list. So, known to the shipping industry far in advance.

By the way, this year's list is two pages longer than last year's.

If you have further question concerning the list please ask away.

notamermaid

Great post notamermaid! Hard to believe that there are still people who think docking 'just happens'.

Is there any way to find out what the color coding means on the Cochem schedule, in addition to your note on the lock closings?

Thanks

Thanks.

Yes, the colour coding. Unfortunately they have not printed the explanation of that on this year's list but it is on the 2017 one. I will check how the two lists' colours correlate and get back to you.

notamermaid

So here goes, the colour code in Cochem. Yellow rows indicate that the ship is staying longer than 24 hours. The ships marked in blue are 135m long and may occupy two landing stages, i.e. apparently needs to be marked as needing more than the normal space. The column after the length of the ship shows the nautical words for upstream or downstream, giving the info in which direction the ship is headed. Grey sections in that column indicate a need to clarify and get more info on the ship (for example upstream - downstream). The last column gives the location of the ship, i.e. where it docks in Cochem. The colours are not explained in the 2017 list either, apart from the brownish colour that shows very busy dates when there appears to be shortage of space due to overbooking! (?) Now idea what that entails for the cruise ships, apart from extra work for the harbour master.

Just for your interest: the last column says Viking sometimes and you will see from the names preceding those entries in the respective column that they are Viking ships. Viking has its own landing stage in Cochem and agreement with the town council of "first serve", i.e. Viking always has preference over any other cruise ship wanting to rent the landing stage for docking. This info I go from a local newspaper report discussing what the situation might be in Winningen if Viking builds their own stage there and comparing it to Cochem.

notamermaid

Excellent research notamermaid. Many thanks!

My pleasure, xmaser.

While researching a bit in the last few days about new developments as regards river cruising on the Moselle I came across the subject of that delightful wine village Winningen and its attractiveness for river cruising companies. In 2015 Viking had started talking to the local authorities in earnest about building a landing stage in Winningen. It would have become "Viking's own" like in Cochem. Talks became a bit "complicated" with arguments for and against voiced by many, financial burdens and impact on nature being two topics. As of this season Viking still has no landing stage in Winningen and busses its passengers on an excursion from Koblenz to that village. It is a short ride and quite pleasant I would say. I found an informative video on youtube filmed by a Viking passenger, which you can find under the name "driving in Winningen, Germany". It shows you what to expect as regards driving along the lower Moselle and in Winningen.

notamermaid

The Moselle valley might not be on everyone's radar or bucket list yet, but it is far from a hidden gem. Congratulations to the valley on making number 10 (out of 100) in the 2017 Germany tourism foreigner's hitlist: http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-cities-culture/top-100/content/the-moselle-valley.html

It beats Cologne Cathedral, by the way, which is at number 11.

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Trier are named separately and reached number 15.

notamermaid

I've really enjoyed your threads on other rivers and ports. I've now decided what my ideal river cruise would be. How about a Trier (or Nancy) to Stuttgart cruise? I think that it would have some of the most beautiful river scenery in Europe! If you run across that one, sign me up!

Hello FuelScience,

"I have signed you up for the Nickocruises river cruise on the MS Casanova from 2 June to 9 June 2018 with a pre-cruise stay in Paris and Nancy. Fly into Paris, relax in a charming hotel of your own choice and take the train plus coach to Nancy the following day. Guided tour bookable at the tourist-information centre in Nancy: http://en.nancy-tourisme.fr/stay/city-tours/ Your charming hotel in Nancy will be the "Hotel des Prélats". After a restful sleep a train will take you to Metz. Have a stroll around Metz and after a quick lunch board the next train to Forbach with a connection to Saarbrücken. In Saarbrücken you will be taken to your ship. From Saarbrücken your cruise will take you to Trier, down the Moselle and into the Middle Rhine valley. From there you head upstream till you enter the Neckar. Heidelberg is another highlight on your cruise and in Stuttgart a post-cruise day ends your journey before you are taken by train to Frankfurt and fly home."

:D Ok, joking aside, this would be a doable part-DIY trip along the Moselle, Rhine and Neckar with some of the Saar for good measure. If one wanted to, a more direct route from Paris to Saarbrücken is possible.

I phoned nickocruises and the information as regards English-speaking tours is this: a few dates on this itinerary are bilingual/designed for English-speaking guests. Which those are one needs to find out directly by phoning nickocruises or sending them an e-mail (it is handled by different employees than the one I spoke to on the phone).

This has been my attempt at being a travel agent. It has been fun trying to get this together (I normally travel DIY myself) and although this company might not appeal to you I do recommend keeping Nancy in the back of your mind (it has been on my bucket list for quite a few years since a dear lady told me that it is great and I love Metz) and the hotel I mentioned has got something about it from the look of it. :)

notamermaid

Hello FuelScience,

 

"I have signed you up for the Nickocruises river cruise on the MS Casanova from 2 June to 9 June 2018 with a pre-cruise stay in Paris and Nancy. Fly into Paris, relax in a charming hotel of your own choice and take the train plus coach to Nancy the following day. Guided tour bookable at the tourist-information centre in Nancy: http://en.nancy-tourisme.fr/stay/city-tours/ Your charming hotel in Nancy will be the "Hotel des Prélats". After a restful sleep a train will take you to Metz. Have a stroll around Metz and after a quick lunch board the next train to Forbach with a connection to Saarbrücken. In Saarbrücken you will be taken to your ship. From Saarbrücken your cruise will take you to Trier, down the Moselle and into the Middle Rhine valley. From there you head upstream till you enter the Neckar. Heidelberg is another highlight on your cruise and in Stuttgart a post-cruise day ends your journey before you are taken by train to Frankfurt and fly home."

 

:D Ok, joking aside, this would be a doable part-DIY trip along the Moselle, Rhine and Neckar with some of the Saar for good measure. If one wanted to, a more direct route from Paris to Saarbrücken is possible.

 

I phoned nickocruises and the information as regards English-speaking tours is this: a few dates on this itinerary are bilingual/designed for English-speaking guests. Which those are one needs to find out directly by phoning nickocruises or sending them an e-mail (it is handled by different employees than the one I spoke to on the phone).

 

This has been my attempt at being a travel agent. It has been fun trying to get this together (I normally travel DIY myself) and although this company might not appeal to you I do recommend keeping Nancy in the back of your mind (it has been on my bucket list for quite a few years since a dear lady told me that it is great and I love Metz) and the hotel I mentioned has got something about it from the look of it. :)

 

notamermaid

Notamermaid!

You're too good to me! It looks great. I just sent a note to Nikko to ask about dates for bilingual cruises on the itinerary. It looks like a very appealing trip. I'll let you know if it works out.

Oh, good! :o

Just noticed, I forgot to post the link to the cruise. If anyone else would like to have a look at it: https://www.nicko-cruises.de/en/expose/neckar-rhine-moselle-saar/

notamermaid

Oh, good! :o

 

Just noticed, I forgot to post the link to the cruise. If anyone else would like to have a look at it: https://www.nicko-cruises.de/en/expose/neckar-rhine-moselle-saar/

 

notamermaid

Go down to bottom of link and pick 'Event Selection', the dates have little flags to show the 2 dates that will have English spoken.

The pricing looks nice as the tours aren't included. Great route, thanks for posting this and all the other great info. We're under 250 days now until we're on the Mosel.

Thank you ural guy for spotting this. I did not see it. You know more of the website than the lady I spoke to!

With German companies it is still the case that very often you do not buy an "all-inclusive" river cruise. They often provide a relatively basic product and you buy an excursion package and/or a drinks package sometimes. I bought some of the tours, some where included and some I did not buy when the day felt too full on my cruise on the Danube.

I am sure you will love the Moselle.

notamermaid

Along the Moselle it is overcast with mild rain and it looks as if we will have a slightly cooler approach to Spring that we would like. Rain over the next few days, also in France and along the Saar, will make the river level rise but not enough to cause flooding.

notamermaid

Spring is coming to the Moselle and the temperatures are forecast to rise during the week, after some rain, up to possibly 23 degrees on Sunday, 8th April, in Trier. Talking of Trier: it has a new "tourist attraction". With Karl Marx's 200th birthday this year coming up Trier has installed traffic lights (for pedestrians) depicting Marx: https://www.thelocal.de/20180321/pedestrians-of-the-world-unite

By the way, a cultural events programme called "Cultural Summer Rhineland-Palatinate", this year, focusses heavily on industry and its role in culture as well as its impact on society. Karl Marx (born in Trier) and the social reformer Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (born in the Westerwald hills North-East of Koblenz) are the two historical figures representing this Summer of events and its theme.

Easter has many traditions along the Moselle - and in many other places they appear in very similar form - that are explained in this video: https://www.swr.de/landesschau-rp/gut-zu-wissen/osterbraeuche-in-rheinland-pfalz-vom-kibbeln-und-kleppern/-/id=233210/did=19109806/nid=233210/a1q5r9/index.html

The first is "Kleppern": as the church bells remain silent from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday the young go around using wooden implements to inform worshippers.

The second is "Eierwettlauf" in which a runner and a gatherer of eggs compete against each other.

The third is "Eierkibbeln": two people hit their eggs together, the person whose egg stays whole wins. This is a real competition and much fun, I have done it myself :)!

And the Easter fires that represent Jesus having overcome death. The egg, of course, is a symbol of life. Children enjoy painting them in many colours.

notamermaid

I have mentioned before that the Moselle valley has long been a tourist attraction for land tours and has in the last few years grown in popularity with North-American river cruisers. River cruise ships of the smaller type, operated by Dutch, German and Swiss companies and also chartered by British, etc. companies have been sailing the river for quite a few years now, long before the 135m ships "invaded".

The Moselle is normally sailed in combination with the Rhine - and others rivers further afield sometimes - but I have found a combination of Moselle and Saar river! Starting at Saarburg and ending at Koblenz (yes, on the Rhine, but the ship actually docks on the Moselle so does not really sail the Rhine) this is a Dutch operated river cruise for the really active, unless you stay onboard when the others are cycling: https://boatbiketours.com/boat-bike-tours/germany/saarburgkoblenz/

If you are looking for splendour and multiple dining venues on a ship this is not for you. If you like the intimacy of the MS Patria in the company of like-minded cyclists of various countries, with in the evening laid-back reflection on the day's tour in a beautiful valley, then this could be for you. The video on the page starts immediately and is a good impression of what you will get, I find. Now all one needs to find out is if the food is "yummy". :)

notamermaid

With Karl Marx's 200th birthday tommorrow, Trier is very much in focus at the moment. Deutsche Welle has published a new article (a photo gallery actually) on Trier, some of the things have been mentioned here before and are well-known but some info might be new and interesting: http://www.dw.com/en/old-older-antique-10-reasons-to-visit-trier/g-43494001

The Moselle will enjoy a splendid warm weekend as the temperatures are rising again. Just in case you are wondering about the impact on cruising and have not read through the whole thread: while the Moselle can flood it is not affected by low water levels much as the navigation channel has been dug out deep all along the stretch that river cruise ships sail.

notamermaid

It's going to be a glorious weekend in the Rhine and Moselle Valleys!

With our heart and soul belonging to the Alsace Region, we've been cruising on the Moselle for a long time. This year, we launched our first cruises starting in Remich on the Moselle:

https://www.croisieuroperivercruises.com/cruise/3-rivers-beautiful-valleys-moselle-romantic-rhine-neckar-classic

That sounds like a very interesting itinerary, CroisiEurope. The coach ride from Strasbourg to Remich is not too long and I expect you will be following the Saar river part of the way. There is some lovely scenery around there and that gives cruisers a good pre-cruise taster of what they can see along the Moselle.

notamermaid

Coming back to the Saar river, a tributary to the Moselle and accessible by river cruise, for example with CroisiEurope. It is an interesting river landscape in the German state or "Land" called Saarland. The Saarland people have a strong sense of identity and have had a quirky kind of political history since the founding of the state in 1920. In 1955 the people famously voted to be included back into the new state Budesrepublik Deutschland but being so close to France the Saarland has retained the French culture influence.

For some fact about the Saarland you can play the quiz by Deutsche Welle: http://www.dw.com/en/saarland-quiz/a-43329683

I highly recommend going to the famous loop of the Saar river, it is beautiful. And sample some wine if you like: http://www.saar-obermosel.de/en/wine/saarwine.html

notamermaid

It's going to be a glorious weekend in the Rhine and Moselle Valleys!

With our heart and soul belonging to the Alsace Region, we've been cruising on the Moselle for a long time. This year, we launched our first cruises starting in Remich on the Moselle:

https://www.croisieuroperivercruises.com/cruise/3-rivers-beautiful-valleys-moselle-romantic-rhine-neckar-classic

We're interested in your 2019 cruises. When will 2019 information be posted on your website?

We're interested in your 2019 cruises. When will 2019 information be posted on your website?

Hi Kathy!

Our 2019 schedule should be published within the next week or two. But, if you call our cruise specialists, they can help you with dates and pricing for the cruises of your choice. Don't forget to ask about early-booking specials on 2019 departures.

Have you visited our brand new website?

http://www.croisieuroperivercruises.com/

Looking at news pages in the river cruising industry I came across the announcement of Uniworld's 2019 brochures being online. I had a look at the 10-day Rhine and Moselle itinerary and found it very appealing. It is unusual in that it starts in Frankfurt and ends in Cologne or vice versa and leaves out Koblenz, i.e. they do not stop there just sail past: https://www.uniworld.com/eu/river-cruise/europe/rhine/magnificent-moselle-and-rhine/2019-frankfurt-to-cologne/day-to-day/

It is the only one so far that I have seen that offers a visit to the Roman villa Borg, and also gives passengers the rare opportunity to take an excursion to the Saar Bow without having to sail the Saar. Edit: The Roman villa Borg and Saar Bow are also offered on their 13-day Rhine and Moselle itinerary in 2018. End edit. Avalon has an excursion to Mettlach on the Saar in one of their itineraries. I have mentioned the river Saar, a tributary to the Moselle, in previous posts in this thread.

notamermaid