Four days bicycling along the Mosel River just isn’t enough.  Four to five days is easily enough to cover the distance from Trier to Koblenz, but if you really want to experience this river, you’ll definitely want more time, at least I did. The more time you spend in this region, the more you want.  I didn’t even plan to love it as much as I did, it just got under my skin.
It’s time for me to move on to bicycling along the Rhine, but before I do, I want to share some of my most favorite things about bicyling along the Mosel:
Trier, the oldest city in Germany
The incredible scenery along the Mosel
A fantastic bicycle path
Gorgeous towns on both sides of river
Amazing vertical vineyards
Black Cat Wine from the town of Zell
The peacefulness of the river
Kaffee and Kuchen
There are so many more favorites from my time on the Mosel, but I’ll stop with these for today.  My time bicycling the Mosel is over, but I will be back.  In the meantime, I’ll look forward to sharing more about this fantastic bicycle path with you in upcoming posts.
Thanks for that information about the Mosel River Route. I especially appreciated the photo and caption that read, “Car-free cycle paths or cycle paths separate from car traffic most of the route.” I look forward to that.
Hi Kevin!
I have spent every minute of my time on the Mosel doing “Mosel things”, talking with residents, tasting wine, exploring local attractions, etc, so much so that I always ran out of time to write! I’ll try not to say too much about the Mosel so that you can form your own opinion of the route. But, regarding your comment on cycle lanes, you can feel comfortable. inwould say that from south of Trier to Koblenz that about 85% of the route is cycle paths, seperate from car traffic. You will have bike paths sometimes next to a highway, but with a seperate cycle lane, sometimes with traffic coming toward you, but with a barrier between you and the cars. It’s totally safe,mjust a little wierd!
The signage is extremely good, but inwill caution you that you need to always keep your eyes peeled as it is very very easy to miss a turn, and if youndo, you can get off track quickly. This happens especially in and out of towns, and where you have left turns. For some reason, some of the left hand turn signs are on the left, rather than right side of the road, and it makes it very easy to miss them. On the Mosel there are 12 switchbacks, which made my husband crazy as you seemed to always be going the wrong direction. I don’t think that i have ever bicycled on a route with as good of signage as inhave encountered on this trip in Alsace, the Mosel and the Rhine.
Am writing tonight about the contrasts between the Rhine and the Mosel. Won’t say which I like better, you’ll need to make your own decision. Lots of fun though! Quite a trip. You have a lot to look forward to.
Maggie
Thanks for that information Maggie and a special thanks for the tips. I especially appreciate the heads-up about the signage along the trail. I’ll keep my eyes peeled. I look forward to your post about the differences between the Mosel and Rhine since I’ll be on both of them.
Safe travels and happy trails.
Hi Maggie. I’ve got a (semi) quick question for you and/or your readers.
What is your advice about helmets on European trails? We will be vacationing for almost two weeks before starting the bicycle portion of the trip, and I’m not too keen on carrying a bike helmet around all that time. So I’ve got 3 options:
– suck it up & carry the helmet around in my luggage for two weeks
– buy a helmet once I start touring (on a Scroogian budget)
– (gulp) ride helmetless (I understand that is predominant in the Netherlands but less so in the rest of Europe.)
I wear my helmet 99% of the time while biking in the states but am not opposed to occasional helmetless rides to the local coffee shop in the morning. I noticed, from your photos, that you wear your (very fashionable) helmet on rides. Would I be breaking rules or taboo to go w/ out one (mostly slow riding on dedicated bike paths) in Europe?
BTW – I know all the arguments for and against helmets. I’m mostly interested in the helmet laws, customs & culture in Europe. (specifically when it comes to the bike paths)
Thanks.
Hi Kevin!
Not surexwhat the law is in all European countries on mandatory helmets. I would never cycle over here without one, so never really thought about it! Regarding whether to carry around or buy a new one, I cant imagine trying to find a good fitting helmet in a pinch. If it was me, i’d carry the helmet around. Hope this ingo helps!
Good morning Kevin!
Hope my note made sense to you! I think I fell asleep at the end! Please let me know when you leave for your trip and I will try to put a few more notes together for you!
Maggie