Trier

Porta Nigra to the Kaiserthermen and up to Olewig

Two days in Trier cover its Roman monuments and the old town. Day one runs from the Porta Nigra along Simeonstraße to the Hauptmarkt, the cathedral, the Aula Palatina and the Rheinisches Landesmuseum; day two goes underground at the Kaiserthermen and the amphitheatre, then up through the vines to Olewig.

Day one, morning. Start at the Porta Nigra when it opens and climb through its galleries; the view down Simeonstraße shows the line of the Roman main street. The Stadtmuseum Simeonstift next door covers the city's later story. Walk Simeonstraße to the Hauptmarkt, with its market cross, fountain and the Steipe, the old council tavern. Pass the Dreikönigenhaus, an early Gothic tower house whose entrance was once a full storey above the street.

Afternoon. Spend time in the cathedral and the Liebfrauenkirche next door, then continue to the Aula Palatina and the pink rococo Electoral Palace in front of it. Its gardens lead straight to the Rheinisches Landesmuseum and its gold hoard, mosaics and the stone wine ship from Neumagen.

Evening. Wine and dinner in the Altstadt, or down at Zurlauben on the river.

Day two, morning. Go underground at the Kaiserthermen, then follow the path to the amphitheatre, where gladiators and animals once waited in the cellars beneath the arena. Walk the Weinkulturpfad up through the vines and down into Olewig for lunch.

Afternoon. Bus back and visit the Barbarathermen and the Roman bridge, then the Karl-Marx-Haus on Brückenstraße. If time allows, walk south to St. Matthias, the abbey that holds what is said to be the only apostle's tomb north of the Alps.

Cross the Moselle on the Römerbrücke at the western edge of the old town. Its nine stone piers date from about AD 142 to 150, which makes it the oldest bridge in Germany, and it has been part of Trier's UNESCO listing with the cathedral and the Liebfrauenkirche since 1986. Two of the piers have lain buried in the city-side bank since Roman times.

Moselle Riesling, Viez in a porcelain jug and Federweißer

Trier's drink is Moselle Riesling, from bone-dry to sweet, best tasted by the glass in a Weinstube. The local cider is Viez, served in a white porcelain Viezporz, and in September and October Federweißer comes with onion tart. Olewig, a wine village inside the city, has the family-run taverns.

This is wine country first. The Moselle slopes, so steep that much of the work is still done by hand, produce some of the world's most admired Riesling, from bone-dry to lusciously sweet. In recent decades growers have added red Spätburgunder and rosé, but Riesling is what to order, ideally by the glass in a Weinstube where you can try several. Ask for local sparkling wine, Winzersekt, as an aperitif.

The other local drink is Viez, a tart cider made from orchard apples in the Trier region, traditionally served in a white porcelain mug called a Viezporz. Some pubs in the old town keep it on tap, and a signposted Viez route runs through the orchard villages nearby.

Food is rustic and generous, shaped by the Eifel and Hunsrück uplands: potato cakes, game in autumn, and trout from the Eifel streams. In September and October look for Federweißer, the cloudy, half-fermented new wine, with warm onion tart.

For atmosphere, take the bus or walk to Olewig, a wine village inside the city with family-run taverns, and the Blesius Garten, a hotel with its own brewery. Beer drinkers in town find Bitburger from the Eifel, a short drive north. In the centre, the streets around the Hauptmarkt and Viehmarkt are lined with restaurants and wine bars, and the student pubs cluster near the theatre on Karl-Marx-Straße. Zurlauben's riverside terraces are the summer favourite.

Summer wine festivals and trips to Igel, Bernkastel and Luxembourg

Trier stays above 15 °C by day from May to October, which makes summer its festival season, with the Altstadtfest in late June and the Olewiger Weinfest in August. The best day trips are the Igel Column, Bernkastel-Kues on the Moselle and Luxembourg City, under an hour by train.

The climate suits a long season. Highs reach 25 °C in July and August and stay above 15 °C from May to October, while January averages 5 °C by day and close to freezing at night. Rain falls through the year; December is the wettest month at about 78 mm, April the driest.

Summer is festival time. The Altstadtfest fills the squares with stages in late June. From May to September the Römer-Leben series brings Roman re-enactors to town on the first weekend of each month, and in August the Olewiger Weinfest lights up the wine village. In Advent the Christmas market sets up on the Hauptmarkt and in front of the cathedral.

Day trips are easy without a car. Igel, a few kilometres up the Moselle, has the Igel Column, a 23-metre Roman funerary monument covered in scenes of the wool trade, also part of the UNESCO listing. Downstream, Bernkastel-Kues is the classic Moselle wine town, with a half-timbered market square and the Landshut castle ruin above the Doctor vineyard; buses and summer boats get you there.

Across the border, Luxembourg City is under an hour by train, with its casemates, Grund quarter and Old Town ramparts; trains in Luxembourg itself are free. Saarburg, with a waterfall in the middle of town, and the Saar loop at Mettlach make a quieter alternative to the south.