Moselle by Boat and Bike: Metz to Cochem

Day 1 – Metz | Arrival
You can check into your hotel in Metz from 4 p.m. Use the evening to walk through this handsome old city on a Roman trading route. Saint-Étienne Cathedral is the obvious first stop, the third largest Gothic church in France, with flying buttresses and stained glass by Marc Chagall. Then there is the architecture, the flowers on every corner and cafés that invite you to sit down. Sleep well: the riding starts tomorrow.

Day 2 – Metz to Thionville | Transfer by bus
At 11 a.m. your tour leaders meet you at the hotel. You leave the bags behind for a while and explore Metz with a knowledgeable local guide. After lunch and bag pick-up a bus takes you to Thionville, where the ship is waiting. You meet the crew, get fitted for your bike and go out for a short test ride with your tour leader, and the day closes with a welcome dinner on board. Thionville was the heart of the French steel industry, but underneath it is an ancient town: medieval ramparts, gardens, old lanes and the basilica of Saint-Maximin.

Day 3 – Thionville to Remich | 45 km
Your first full day in the saddle takes you through French countryside and friendly villages, past the fortress of Sierck-les-Bains, once a residence of the powerful Dukes of Lorraine. You follow the Moselle valley and cross into Luxembourg at Schengen. Everyone in Europe knows the name from the agreement; almost nobody knows it belongs to this small village at the three-country border, where you now cross without so much as a glance from anyone. Close to Remich you stop at Nennig, where the mosaic floor of a Roman villa still lies in its original place: three million tiles showing gladiator scenes from the amphitheatre.

Day 4 – Remich to Saarburg | 40 or 48 km
Here the Moselle is the border between Germany and Luxembourg. You start on the German bank and soon hop over to the Luxembourg side, where you visit a cooperative specialising in Crémant, the valley's answer to Champagne. Then you choose: the longer route is easy and stays along the rivers, the shorter one is a bit more demanding through the hills. Both end in Saarburg, a beautifully kept old town in the loveliest part of the Saar valley, with wooded banks, a tenth-century castle and a twenty-metre waterfall dropping through the middle of town past an old working mill.

Day 5 – Saarburg to Trier | 32 km
A short ride after breakfast brings you into Trier around lunchtime. After a guided walk you have the afternoon to yourself. Trier is the oldest city in Germany, founded around 15 BC as Augusta Treverorum, and its Roman golden age left an extraordinary number of monuments behind, none more striking than the Porta Nigra. There is no dinner on board tonight, which is a good excuse to pick a restaurant in town.

Day 6 – Trier to Schweich and Bernkastel-Kues | 27 or 53 km
You cruise during breakfast and start riding in Schweich. This is the Romantic Moselle, the unofficial name for the middle stretch of the river, and the vineyards run as far as you can see: Trittenheim tucked into a hairpin bend, Piesport and its famous golden droplets. Around lunchtime you reach Neumagen, an important wine centre already in Roman times, where you can either rejoin the ship or keep riding to Bernkastel-Kues. This old and very photogenic town produces the best wines of the middle Moselle; its market square is ringed with timber-framed houses, and the walk up to the castle is worth it for the view.

Day 7 – Bernkastel-Kues to Zell | 45 km
Today you ride to Traben-Trarbach, a romantic little town on the left bank known for its Art Nouveau villas, and then follow the river on to Zell, where you spend the night. Zell is famous in the wine world for its Zeller Schwarze Katz, and there is no better place to work out which Moselle whites you actually like.

Day 8 – Zell to Cochem | 39 km
Beilstein, the Sleeping Beauty of the Moselle, is the highlight of the day: one of the best-preserved historic villages on the river, with the ruins of Castle Metternich above it, open for a wander. From there you roll on to Cochem, wedged between steep wine terraces and wooded hills, with an imposing castle above the rooftops and a square of timber-framed houses and cafés below. A visit to the Reichsburg is on the programme, and afterwards a glass of local wine is very much in order.

Day 9 – Cochem | Disembarkation
Breakfast on board and disembarkation by 9.30 a.m.