Cochem

The Reichsburg, the Pinnerkreuz chairlift and a boat to Beilstein

Two days in Cochem cover the town and the river. Take the first guided tour of the Reichsburg, ride the chairlift to the Pinnerkreuz for the classic castle view and end at a wine tasting. On day two, take a morning boat upstream to Beilstein, a small wine village with a ruined castle.

Day one. Walk up to the Reichsburg for the first guided tour, about 15 minutes from the Marktplatz. Inside, Ravené's 19th-century rooms are crammed with carved furniture and painted ceilings, and the terrace looks straight down on the town. Walk back down past the Capuchin monastery and lunch in the old town. In the afternoon, ride the chairlift to the Pinnerkreuz for the classic castle view and follow the ridge path through the forest. End the day at a wine cellar tasting; several estates and the Hieronimi cellars on Stadionstraße run tastings.

Day two. Take a morning boat upstream to Beilstein, a tiny wine village with a ruined castle and a Baroque Carmelite church on the hill. Walk up for lunch, then return by boat or bus. Later, cross the bridge to Cond for the Bundesbank bunker, a former secret store of emergency banknotes, and stop at the Senfmühle to see mustard ground the old way.

Day three. Take the train a few stops downstream to Moselkern and hike up the Elz valley to Burg Eltz, the medieval castle still owned by the family that built it. The forest walk takes about an hour each way. In the evening, sit on the Moselpromenade with a glass of Riesling as the castle lights come on.

Moselle wine and food in Cochem

Cochem's drink is steep-slope Moselle Riesling, grown on slate and made in styles from dry trocken to sweet Spätlese and Auslese. Taste it at family estates in Cochem, Cond and Sehl. Food is Rhineland country cooking: Döppekooche potato cake with apple sauce, Eifel trout, Flammkuchen and Riesling mustard.

The Moselle grows Riesling on some of the steepest vineyards anywhere, slate slopes that hold the sun's heat and give the wine its sharp, mineral character. Wines run from bone-dry trocken to delicate, sweet Spätlese and Auslese. The way to learn the differences is a tasting at a family estate; many in Cochem, Cond and Sehl open their cellars, and the Weinstuben on Schlossstraße and Pater-Martin-Straße pour from their own and neighbours' vineyards.

Food is hearty Rhineland country cooking. Döppekooche, a baked potato cake with bacon and onions, is the local comfort dish, often served with apple sauce. Trout from the Eifel streams and Flammkuchen, a thin tart of cream, onion and bacon, appear on most menus, and game from the Eifel forests turns up in autumn.

Mustard is the town's quirkiest product. The Senfmühle has been grinding mustard seed between stone wheels since about 1810, and its varieties include Riesling and honey mustards. Buy a jar to take home.

In autumn, every tavern serves Federweißer, the fizzy, half-fermented new wine, with warm onion tart. Eat on the Moselpromenade for the view, but the more personal meals tend to be in the family-run wine estates, which serve their own wine with simple, generous plates.

Burg Eltz, Beilstein and the Calmont as trips from Cochem

Burg Eltz is the best day trip from Cochem: take the train to Moselkern and walk about an hour up the Elz valley, or use the summer shuttle from the car park. Boats run upstream to Beilstein, and further on the Calmont above Bremm is among the steepest vineyards in Europe, crossed by a climbing path.

Cochem works best as a hub. The easiest and most rewarding trip is Burg Eltz, a fairy-tale castle of towers and half-timbered upper floors in a wooded side valley. Take the train to Moselkern, then walk about an hour through the Elz valley; in summer, a shuttle bus also runs from the car park at the top. Tours are guided and the castle closes in winter.

Upstream, Beilstein is the classic boat trip, a village of narrow lanes below the Metternich castle ruin. Further on, the river loops around Bremm, where the Calmont rises above the bend; it is among the steepest vineyards in Europe, and a via ferrata-style climbing path with ladders and cables crosses it. Traben-Trarbach, with its Art Nouveau buildings and wine cellars, is further upriver.

Downstream, Koblenz is 40 to 55 minutes by train, where the Moselle meets the Rhine at the Deutsches Eck and a cable car crosses to the Ehrenbreitstein fortress. Trier, Germany's oldest city, with its Roman Porta Nigra gate, is about an hour the other way.

Timing matters. From May to October boats, buses and castles all run; in late summer and autumn, the wine villages hold festivals almost every weekend. In winter many sights close, so plan museum and cellar visits instead.

The Eltz family has owned the castle for around 800 years. Guided tours run daily from 1 April to 1 November and cover part of the building, and the treasury in the cellar vaults holds more than 500 objects from the 12th to the 19th century. Older Germans know the castle from the back of the 500 Deutsche Mark note.

The Reichsburg in Cochem is younger in its present form. French troops blew up the medieval castle in May 1689; the Berlin merchant Louis Ravené bought the ruin in 1868 and rebuilt it in neo-Gothic style, mostly between 1874 and 1877. The town has owned it since 1978.