The Mosel valley is a popular destination in Germany and there are lots of places to stay both in towns and in the countryside, so making a decision on where to stay rather challenging. Bernkastel-Kues is roughly in between the larger cities of Trier and Koblenz with a reasonable number of restaurants and well-priced rooms, so we made it our base for three nights.
Our drive from the Rhine region to the Mosel was wet and led us through countryside and occasionally forest. As we approached Bernkastel-Kues the road got curvy and steeper.
After getting the keys to our apartment we walked into town. We immediately noticed that the river was quite high, at least 2-3 feet since many of the parking spots along the river were underwater!
Views along the river were great, and the older part of town was small but charming.
There are vines right up against the edge of town too.
Up the hill from the old town we found the Bernkastel wasserfall, which was an easy hike from a roadside parking spot to a nice small falls.
From there we continued up the road to Burg Landshut. We could see this castle from our apartment, and the views here were incredible – providing a panorama of the river valley and town!
Where we stayed
Communication was good before our arrival and we received the lock box code during our drive. However, we couldn’t retrieve the key when we arrived. Leandra contacted the owner through Whatsapp and although she seemed skeptical that there was an issue, she stopped by and we were validated when she couldn’t get the key out either! Thankfully she had a spare and she took some time to show us how to access and run the washing machine in the basement (so important on these longer trips).
Located on the second floor, the apartment has a nice view of Burg Landshut castle in both the living room and bedroom. The living room had a comfortable couch and table, and the patio looked nice but was not used by us in the cool and wet October weather. Internet connectivity was consistent, with speeds ranging from 20/50 to 50/50 Mbps.
The kitchen was nicely equipped with a dishwasher, wine glasses, reasonable knives, etc. Notably we missed having a vegetable peeler and the refrigerator was off upon arrival, which required some time to cool down (and chill our wine).
The bedroom had a comfortable bed though the pillows were disappointingly soft. Thankfully it was very quiet and dark.
Finally, the reserved parking spot made returning to town easier each day. Overall we enjoyed our stay here and would return.
Food + Drink
Wein-und Pilsstube Kelterhaus: this small bar has a cozy cave area in the back, and we ended up here twice.
On our first visit, I tried the Bernkastel Lay Spatlese (lots of pear! Med sweetness, not cloying.) and Leandra had the Spatburgunder-Dornfelder (nice, with some smoke, leather, dried dark cherry). We were snacky so we paired our drinks with a flammkuchen of bacon and onion. Germans add much more onion than the French did in their Alsatian tarte flambees!
On our last night we returned to try the Federsweisser, a local young wine. If I had tasted it blind I would say it was an apple cider, very juicy, and you can’t tell if it’s alcoholic!
Burg Landshut: On our last evening, after checking out the waterfall and castle, we decided to stay ‘uphill’ for dinner. I ordered the Grauburgunder to pair with my wiener schnitzel, and Leandra had the dry red cuvee with her Flammkuchen. The restaurant was half full when we arrived, and got lively after 6pm. As expected, the views were nice too, and it would be great at sunset. Seems like a good spot to reserve a table, order a bottle, and enjoy a leisurely dinner. Note that the bathrooms are outside across a courtyard and the posted signs suggest 0,60€ to use the facilities but no one was checking.
