Moselle by Boat and Bike: Cochem to Metz

Day 1 – Cochem | Embarkation
Check-in opens at 2 p.m. in Cochem. After you have met the crew and settled into your cabin, your tour leader takes you out for a first walk through town: steep wine-clad slopes on both sides, wooded hills above, a square of timber-framed houses and cafés below, and the Reichsburg watching over all of it. In the 2026 programme the visit to the castle is part of the tour; from 2027 onwards you are free to go up on your own.

Day 2 – Cochem to Zell | 39 km
After breakfast you ride to Beilstein, one of the best-preserved historic villages on the whole river, with the ruins of Castle Metternich towering above the rooftops and open for a wander. A little further on you pass the Bremmer Calmont, Europe's steepest vineyard, where the slopes tilt up to sixty degrees. The day ends in Zell, a wine village known far beyond the valley for its Zeller Schwarze Katz. A good evening to start tasting your way through the Moselle.

Day 3 – Zell to Bernkastel-Kues | 45 km
Today you cycle to Traben-Trarbach, a romantic little town on the left bank famous for its Art Nouveau villas, then on through Kröv and its well-loved wines to Bernkastel-Kues. The market square here is surrounded by grand half-timbered houses that have stood since the Middle Ages and are an absolute pleasure to photograph. After a stroll through town you rejoin the ship on the Kues side.

Day 4 – Bernkastel-Kues to Schweich and Trier | 28 or 54 km
Below Bernkastel the valley opens out and the vineyards run as far as you can see. You pass the great names of German wine: Brauneberg, Piesport, Trittenheim, the last of these tucked into a hairpin bend with grapes climbing every slope around it. Around lunchtime you reach Neumagen, already an important wine centre in Roman times. From here you can hop back on board or keep riding to Schweich, where the ship will be waiting. In the afternoon you cruise to Trier, the oldest city in Germany, founded around 15 BC and still full of Roman monuments, the Porta Nigra above all.

Day 5 – Trier to Saarburg | 28 km
Your tour leader takes you into Trier in the morning and walks you through its Roman past, and there is time left over to explore on your own. After lunch you get on your bike and follow the Moselle and then the Saar to Saarburg, a beautifully preserved old town in the loveliest stretch of the Saar valley, with densely wooded banks, a tenth-century castle and a twenty-metre waterfall dropping right through the middle of town. There is no dinner on board tonight, so you can pick one of the local restaurants.

Day 6 – Saarburg to Remich | 45 or 53 km
Two routes today: the longer one is easy and follows the rivers, the shorter one is a bit more demanding and takes you through the hills. Either way you cross into the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, where the Moselle forms the border with Germany. On the Luxembourg bank you stop at a cooperative that specialises in Crémant, the valley's answer to Champagne. Near Remich you can admire a Roman mosaic floor still lying in its original place: three million tiles showing gladiators at work in the amphitheatre.

Day 7 – Remich to Thionville | 35 or 45 km
Again two options. Take the short one and you stay on board as far as Schengen before starting to ride. Either way you cycle through quiet French countryside and villages and cross into France. Around lunchtime you reach Thionville, a steel town until the 1980s but an ancient place underneath, with medieval ramparts, gardens, old lanes and the basilica of Saint-Maximin. The ship stays moored here for the night, so you have the whole afternoon and evening to look around.

Day 8 – Thionville to Metz | Transfer by bus
After breakfast you say goodbye to the crew and travel by bus to your hotel in Metz with your tour leader. A local guide then takes you on a walking tour of the city, built on an ancient Roman trade route. Saint-Étienne Cathedral is the highlight, one of the largest Gothic churches in France, with soaring vaults, flying buttresses and stained glass by Marc Chagall. The rest of the day is yours: good architecture, flowers everywhere, cafés worth sitting in, and a last dinner with the people you have been riding with.

Day 9 – Metz | Departure
Breakfast, a little free time in Metz, and the week is behind you. Check-out is before 11 a.m.