Mosel Valley in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Mosel Valley covers 13 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Mosel Valley rewards a detour.

The Mosel Valley route at a glance

• Day 1
• Day 2

Day 1

Day 1 covers 7 stops and about 2.2 km on foot, from Zell and the Black Cat to St. Nikolaus Hospital. 3 longer hops are best done by public transport or taxi. ≈ 2.2 km of walking, about 25 min

Morning

1. Zell and the Black Cat: Zell, a wine town on a horseshoe bend of the Mosel, famous for the legend of the Black Cat, the Zeller Schwarze Katz, which gave its name to the local wine. 5.9 km to the next stop: take transport
2. Enkirch: Enkirch, a small wine village on the Mosel below Traben-Trarbach, with narrow lanes of half-timbered houses from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century and steep slate vineyards above. 3.9 km to the next stop: take transport
3. Traben-Trarbach: Traben-Trarbach, a twin town on both banks of the Mosel, once a great wine-trading centre, with Art Nouveau buildings by Bruno Möhring and deep wine cellars under its streets. 4.4 km to the next stop: take transport
4. Mosel Riesling Vineyards: The steep slate vineyards of the Mosel around Bernkastel-Kues, home of Riesling, with famous sites such as the Bernkasteler Doctor and the Wehlener Sonnenuhr. 0.2 km to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Bernkastel Market Square: The market square of Bernkastel, on the right bank of the Mosel at Bernkastel-Kues, lined with tall half-timbered houses of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries around a fountain of 1606. 0.9 km on foot (11 min) to the next stop
2. Landshut Castle: Landshut, the ruined castle of the archbishops of Trier on a hill of vines above Bernkastel-Kues, burned in 1692, with a keep to climb and wide views over the Mosel. 1.3 km on foot (16 min) to the next stop
3. St. Nikolaus Hospital: The St. Nikolaus Hospital in Kues, founded in 1458 by the cardinal and scholar Nicholas of Cusa as a home for 33 old men, with a Gothic chapel and his famous library.

Day 2

Day 2 covers 6 stops and about 0.8 km on foot, from Mosel Boat Trip to Burg Eltz. 4 longer hops are best done by public transport or taxi. ≈ 0.8 km of walking, about 10 min

Morning

1. Mosel Boat Trip: A boat trip on the Mosel from Bernkastel-Kues, past steep vineyards, wine villages and the ruin of Landshut, on one of the gentlest and most winding rivers of Germany. 21 km to the next stop: take transport
2. Calmont and the Bremm Loop: The Calmont, a slate hill above the village of Bremm with one of the steepest vineyards in Europe and a via ferrata across its slope, and the great loop of the Mosel below it. 5.6 km to the next stop: take transport
3. Reichsburg Cochem: The Reichsburg above Cochem, a medieval imperial castle blown up by French troops in 1689 and rebuilt in a romantic Gothic style in the 1870s for a Berlin merchant. 0.8 km on foot (10 min) to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Cochem: Cochem, a small town on the Mosel below its castle on the hill, with a riverfront promenade, a market square of half-timbered houses, old town gates and wine taverns. 6.6 km to the next stop: take transport
2. Beilstein: Beilstein, a tiny village on the Mosel with steep lanes, half-timbered houses, a baroque Carmelite church and the ruin of Burg Metternich above, often called the Sleeping Beauty of the Mosel. 13 km to the next stop: take transport
3. Burg Eltz: Burg Eltz, a medieval castle of towers and half-timbered upper floors on a rock in a forest valley above the Mosel, owned by the same family since the twelfth century.

Walking distances and times follow streets and footpaths (routing by openrouteservice.org, map data © OpenStreetMap contributors). Times are walking only, at an easy pace; add time at each stop.

Updated: October 26, 2026

Full Mosel Valley guide and all stops →