The Route to Trier

June 9, Wednesday

The Route to Trier

An early start took us via Bonn, the old German Capital and the birthplace of Beethoven. We drove along the Rhine River through to Koblenz where majestic castles line the hills of the valley. Had breakfast on the river in the van.



One of the many castles on the route

We continued to Alken where vines were additional to the beautiful Schloss (trans. Castle). We stopped and had coffee at an old hotels restaurant along the riverside. The entire road in Alken is taken up by little hotels along the Moselle (trans. Mosel) .

If anyone is keen, this is a must to drive through. The road is the B49 and has continuous scenery. Although touristy, everything is preserved for Germans. No English to be seen anywhere nor spoken which takes away from the commercialism.

Via Klotten and more natural spa baths, we stopped at Cochem to see the castle. Out the valley of Cochem, up a steep hill – Ruby went at a cool 26km p/hr – involuntarily giving us the opportunity to enjoy our surroundings. We reassured her - “what comes up – must come down”. (Not sure what she'll say when we get to the Alps...)

Ediger was next along the route. It's very character filled with leaning buildings again along the river Mosel. With plenty camping spots – it would be a lovely place to stop over night. However, we moved on and had left over stew on bread for lunch in Alf.



Lovely setting for lunch!

Further along the road we found a farm stall for erdbeeren (trans. Strawberries). With lots of munching as we started Ruby up, we were so enthralled by the flavours our tastebuds were encountering – I saw a road sign and called it out. It turned out to be a wrong turn.



Wild Poppies near the farm stall.

TIP: Even if you find a strawberry stall – pay attention to the Tom Tom/GPS.

This was only the start of a few wrong turns but we managed to get to Trier close to 16h00. We set camp up at Igel. The second cheapest campsite so far at 16 euro including electric. A 40 min cycle (slow)/15km approx. to Trier along the river Moselle. A lovely ride. We were starving – so we locked up the bikes, ate supper at a Doner place (nothing like the ones in London - much better) and took the walking tour we were given by Onkel Norby.

First stop – UNESCO World Heritage Site – Porta Nigro. Built in 200 AD – the Romans built this as this city gates. A group of scholars stood outside and we wondered if they even thought how great this site is. Our clever Onkel Norby also told us that in Roman times Trier had a population of 200 000 and today there is still a population of 200 000. It is also the oldest city in Germany. This is where Norbert and Elisabeth were both born. It is stunning and you can almost tell a story from the cobbled streets. Again, there is a beautiful palace that is easily accessible which is surrounded by a wonderful old town. We spent 3 odd hours here and road home. Showered and climbed in. Long day!



Porta Nigro