Thur 21/11/2019 – Mon 25/11/2019

Stay: AirBnB Kestert

Avg Temp: 1 – 4

A misty cold morning in Mannheim that promised a crispy clear day didn’t eventuate, although we did have a glimpse or two of blue skies on the drive up towards the Rhine region along the way after getting our new wheel fitted.

It’s not a long drive from Mannheim and as soon as we turn alongside the Rhine I see a castle and then another and another!

Our stay for the weekend was in Kestert but as it was only just after midday when we arrived we thought we would find somewhere in the town for a local German cuisine lunch.

This proved harder than we thought as every Restaurant including the tavern was closed until 5pm! We had expected this to some degree as a few people along our travels advised that the further we would get into winter a lot of restaurants would be closed, so we just back tracked to Loreley; about 7km’s and after a few attempts found a charming restaurant overlooking the Rhine called the Cafe Rheingold. I had a Schnitzel with a crisp glass of Riesling and Rob had Sausages and Potato with a local beer.

After lunch and picking up some groceries in Loreley we checked in. Our stay in Kestert was a in a cute little apartment above the main residence. It had up and down steps and quirky sloping floors and lovely 180 views of the Rhine.

Friday was a very cold windy day staying at 1 degree above zero so we stayed in admiring the view, watching all the traffic on the river and catching up on washing.

View from our windows…

Saturday dawned bright and clear at 1 degree with a promise of 4 degrees, blue skies and sunshine too, so we decided to do a drive to Koblenz and then up to Cochem to see the Mosel and then do a loop back to Kestert.

A beautiful drive, we saw amazing castles, swans, little markets and lots of Vineyards! The Rhine banks are peppered with gorgeous Bavarian villages, grand churches and of course all the castles.

Cochem on the Mosel River is a charming medieval town with Celtic origins and mentions as early as 886!

Cochem Castle is high and imposing with views spanning both reaches of the Mosel. We climbed up for a look but then decided to do the tour which was well worth it, especially with an English guide.

After the castle we walked down to Cochem village to look for a warm drink. Castles are always cold and even with the blue skies it’s still only 4 degrees!

Cochem is cute, a classical Bavarian village. We find a lovely warm Gluhwein to keep us going back to the car.

As we drive home, cross country from the Mosel to the Rhine we saw Swans by the river, not castles and had the soft sunset light over the countryside before a magical sunset reflected in the magnificent Rhine River.

A really lovely day!

The next day Sunday also dawned bright, cold and fine. We were expecting rain so got out of the house straight away for an early run!

Back home, after 4 km’s and breakfast it was still fine so we decided on a hill walk. Good choice as it stayed fine and we had a great day! We found that above the Rhine there are many paths and that you can walk all the way along, ducking down to the various villages to stay overnight so you could do a significant walk. Food for thought for another trip perhaps…