The Rhine, Mosel and Bonn

Week 4 – 25th June to 1st July

The Rhine

The next day the rain is back, clearing only in the late afternoon meant we didnt cycle along the Romantic Rhine as planned. Surely the rain must stop soon!! We decide we will do our cycle the next day, whatever the weather and yes, of course it bloody rains! Donning the waterproofs we head out anyway, it isn’t pouring at least. It’s a 15km cycle to the town of Bopart which takes us along the Rhine. Indeed the Rhine banks us to the right side but to the left it feels like we are cycling down the side of the A1!

Feel a bit of a philistine for saying this, but we don’t think the Rhine is all its cracked up to be. It’s raining of course which does always tend to blur opinion, but honestly looking through the weather, its certainly pretty with some lovely little towns but wouldn’t say stunning.

The Mosel

Next stop on the tour is the Mosel River; according to some travellers we encountered this is more attractive than the Rhine. We decide on the town of Cochem and as we drive through it does look lovely.

Actually our campsite turns out to be in a rather smaller town some 10km on and a little later on we are thankful for that. Camp is lovely and right on the river, the local little town offering some lovely scenery and sweet little restaurants.

Heading back into Cochem for the afternoon, as soon as we scratch the surface, we realise that behind the initial lovely appearance of narrow streets and half timbered houses with the fairy tale castle looming above, is actually a very touristy ambience with the kind of markets you would expect to find down Hessle Road (for the Northerners) and Kilburn High Street (for the Southerners). Initially we were concerned there wouldn’t be enough time in the 2 hours we had before the last bus, as it turns out we were done in about 40 minutes and only through determination that there must be more did we make ourselves stay; there wasn’t but there is of course always beer to pass the time.

Back in the village the next day we set off on a hike which took us through the vineyards and up through the forest.

Weather is still a bit wet but the sun does keep intermittently shining. Nordic walking seems to be all the rage out here, perhaps it is at home as well but it just wasn’t our scene (most likely) but here they have boards dotted all over the walking routes with stretches and exercises, impressive service. We walk very little back in London, unless its trawling the city streets or on the golf course; its reminded me how much I enjoy getting out there in the countryside and wouldn’t it be good to continue when we get back…hmm, we will take wagers! Even Andrew is starting to enjoy the walks, well he prefers them to cycling at least; before the trip he thought when people referred to the great outdoors they meant drinking in a beer garden! Now he takes his compass everywhere and is even known to do a little off roading! If he tells the story that will mean him climbing steep rock faces and traversing ferocious rivers whilst combating wild animals and still managing to protect the damsel in distress…ill leave it to your imagination.

After the hike – about 12km I reckon, we cycled to a town we had passed which looked very pretty, about 5km away. So a round trip of 22km, no wonder it ended in this…

So the Mosel vs the Rhine…the Mosel doesn’t have such sheer mountain face but we do think it prettier.

Bonn

Since this used to be the capital and Lonely Planet gave a good write up, we thought it worth a visit and perhaps even a night out but we were wrong! The outskirts of many cities are not particularly enticing but Bonn especially so and Andrew had an uneasy feel from the moment we parked up a few kms out. Walking into the centre didn’t help to alleviate that and it seemed we heard more sirens on that walk into town than we have heard the whole time we have been away.

Perhaps its one of those towns that you grow to love if you stay or are prepared to dig around a little, but we weren’t. After 90 minutes we were back in the van and that included a 30 min walk each way and lunch…well we decided a shitty city deserved a shitty lunch so we hit Maccy D’s.