We only had two flights to get to Frankfurt, Germany on this trip. First from Denver to Dallas on United, and then Dallas to Frankfurt overnight on Lufthansa. While we were missing some of the luxuries of our last long haul flights on Starlux, Lufthansa made up for it with great service and good food. We tried to get as much rest as we could on the flight, as we had a full day ahead. Despite sleeping on the plane, we were pretty tired on arrival and after navigating Frankfurt's large airport, we rested in the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge outside of baggage claim to eat some breakfast and rest up for about an hour. After that, we picked up our rental car from Hertz which we would have for the entire trip until reaching Amsterdam.

Our first day in Germany, we drove about 45 minutes to the small and scenic town of Rüdesheim am Rhein and then made our way to the town of Cochem, featuring a large castle and overlooking the Moselle River.

Rudesheim am Rhein Cable car and hike

We found the parking lot near where you can take a 2-person cable car up the hill (7 EUR per person one way). The cable car takes you over the wine fields with views of the town and Rhein river, and seemed very popular among local tourists. At the top of the hill there are many walking paths and trails that take you past a few old castles, making your way over to the next town, Assmannhausen. Yes, we did have a few laughs at this town name and a few other German language puns along the way! We ended up walking close to 4 miles throught the forest with various lookouts, stopping for a snack and wine before taking the 4 minute train back to Rudesheim.

In Rudesheim, we took some time to walk through the beautiful town, stopping for our first German beers at one of the many wine and beer cafes. There were a lot of tourists about, but most seemed local to Germany. We started picking up a few German words to get by. From Rudesheim, we still had a 90 min drive to our destination in Cochem.

Cochem town

The drive took us up and over the mountain through farm lands and then back down to our scenic town, this time along the Moselle River. We checked in to our hotel at the Hotel Villa Vie, a converted castle type building with modern rooms. We noticed that a lot of people were doing river cruises on large boats leaving from Cochem. These boats take you past other river towns and you can choose between a short tour of an hour or opt for a longer several hour tour. Even though we were quite tired by this time, we enjoyed a glass of Riesling on our hotel patio while watching the sunset before making the 10-15 minute walk along the river to the heart of town. In town, we enjoyed a traditional German dinner at Zom Stüffje. We tried 2 different styles of schnitzel and agreed the one with mushroom cream sauce was the best paired with a local Riesling and some cheese and grapes.

We spent the day enjoying the sunshine and amazing views along the Moselle river. After a good European style buffet breakfast at our hotel, we packed up the car and then walked up to see the Cochem castle. After our tour of the castle and walking back through town, we made our way slowly past many other small towns along the river. There were many places to stop for wine, food and of course more castle views. We had chosen the Schloss Lieser Autograph Collection hotel by Mariott as our overnight based on its looks as an enormous restored castle (built in the late 1800's) along the river and it did not disappoint. Our room was comfortable and spacious, with river views. For dinner, we walked only a few blocks and shared a pizza and pasta at an Italian restaurant called Der Italiener da Peppe. Back at the hotel, we had to try out their large indoor pool area with 5 different sauna options before calling it a night.

Reichsburg Cochem Castle

After breakfast, we walked up the hill, making our way to the Reichsburg Cochem castle. Perched high above the Moselle River, Reichsburg Cochem is one of the most striking castles in Germany. Originally built around the year 1000, it was destroyed and later restored in the 19th century. You must take a guided tour for 10 EUR per person to gain access to the inside of the castle. We arrived before there were too many crowds and the next English tour wouldn't start for another hour, so we joined the German tour leaving in only a few minutes.

During the tour, you can explore the castle's ornate rooms and admire the sweeping vineyard and river views, looking down on the Moselle 300 feet below. When on the German speaking tour, they offer paper versions of the explanations in other languages. After the tour, we walked down through the town center on its cobblestone streets and also stopped on our way out of town to admire the castle and town from the other side of the river.

Moselle Wine Region

The Moselle region, winding through Germany, Luxembourg, and France, is world-famous for its dramatic steep slate vineyards and exceptional Rieslings. The river's unique microclimate allows the grapes to develop slowly, and you can find a wide variety of Rieslings from dry to sweet. On our drive today, we stopped at several of the small towns along the river, each with their own charm. First, we stopped at the wine tasting room Walter J. Oster. We tried one of their dry Rieslings while sitting outside on the patio. We were hoping for a quick snack but had to move on to the next town as they didn't really have food. After that, we stopped in the town of Ediger-Eller, where we visited the Weingut Karl Schauf. They served flatbread pizzas that seemed popular but we opted for a large cheese and grapes plate with pretzels and mustard while sampling a few of their wines. We found this entire region along the river to be even better than expected as far as its beauty and also the avilability of stops for wine tasting and food.

Vianden Castle

One of the most notable medieval fortresses in all of Luxembourg, the Vianden Castle was built between the 11-14th centuries. It was home to the noble families for many years after which it fell into disrepair. It was purchased and completely restored by Luxembourg starting in 1977 and today is one of the most visited tourist stops in the country. On arriving in Vianden, we parked at a paid lot and walked up to the castle. For 13 EUR per person, you can take a self guided tour making your way through the castle's many rooms. Some of the highlights of the castle were the large kitchen room, the chapel and the outdoor views, as well as the information about how meticulous the restoration process was including old pictures of the castle.

Nearby, you can choose to take a chair lift to the top of a hill overlooking the castle. However, if you are already at the castle, then you're more than half way there already. So instead of going back to town for the chairlift, we found the path to walk up the hill directly next to the castle. We flew the drone and took some great pictures of the castle from above.

Mullerthal Trail Region

Known as the "Little Switzerland" of Luxembourg, the Mullerthal region is home to many miles of hiking trails. We came across this from watching a few Youtube videos on things to do in Luxembourg outside of the city and decided we needed to make a stop on our way. The small town of Echternach is one of the gateways to this hiking region, so we headed there and parked the car. After a quick lunch, we headed out on the E1 trail straight from town. It quickly took us into the forest with moss covering the trees. This region is known for its towering sandstone cliffs and deep ravines which you can hike through on the trail. In several places, there are stone steps guiding you through the narrow canyon.

The hike was a little closer to the main road that we would have liked, but this region consists of 112km of hiking trails, if you have more time to explore. Some of the highlights of the E1 trail are the mossy steps in between cliff walls, the "labrynth" area and a short detour across the road to the slot canyon with very steep stairs. We stopped in the town of Berdorf just after passing through a man built cave. From there, you can catch a quick 5 minute bus ride back to your starting point, which we were appreciative of since it was already late in the day!