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Traveling the Mosel River ValleyOktoberfest Every Day in Western Germany's Wine and Castle Country
Tourist Center Traben-Trarbach, villages like Beilstein and Eller, vineyards of Riesling and Muller-Thurgau grapes, weinstubes and weinfestes equal year-long Oktoberfest.
The Rhine is Germany's most publicized river, but most travelers who visit the Mosel River Valley agree that the latter is a winner for those looking for a more relaxed holiday. The river begins in the Vosges Mountains of France as the Moselle, flows on to become the border between Luxembourg and Germany -- changing its spelling to Mosel -- then wiggles north until it joins the Rhine at Koblenz. Around each of these wiggles is a town. Some of them are only hamlets. Others, grown into tourist centers, have burst their boundaries to merge with another village down the road or across the river and take on hyphenated names such as Traben-Trarbach and Bernkastel-Kues. Tourist Center AttractionsIf you favor upscale accommodations and lots of action, you may want to stay in one of these centers. Despite traffic jams on the narrow streets and people literally cheek to jowl in the pedestrian malls, they have managed to hang onto the charm that initially brought tourists. Red and pink geraniums cascade from restaurant window boxes and balconies (menus are prominently displayed in glass cases by their doors). Shop windows, cluttered with cuckoo clocks, beer steins, souvenir coasters and alpine hats lure customers inside. Sturdy German matrons navigate the candy shop steps, clutching cellophane cornucopias tied with ribbon frills. And in the town squares, photographers take pictures of other photographers and frosting-trimmed buildings from the middle ages. Travelogue GermanyIt's in these tourist centers that you're most likely to come upon the Germany portrayed in travelogues. In the Traben-Trarbach bandshell on Sunday afternoons, for example, the local music mistress, in sensible shoes, black skirt and white blouse wields her baton as two dozen teenage accordian players squeeze out polkas and other old German favorites. Village CharmSome of the Mosel's most delightful villages aren't mentioned in the guidebooks, but they're the places to stay for a non-tourist's glimpse of daily life. One of the most charming little towns is Eller (population 480), with six or seven small hotels facing the water. The town is especially interesting during the month of October when the grapes are harvested -- first the Riesling, then Muller-Thurgau and other varieties that take longer to mature. At first light each morning, growers go out to the vineyards in their jeeps or small tractors, with wagons behind. While some of them come home at noon with the morning's harvest, others have lunch in the vineyards and return only at sundown, carts heaped with green and lavendar grapes. Then the whole family joins in, shoveling the grapes or feeding them through a large hose to the wine press, which seems to be standard equipment in every garage. Idyllic BeilsteinWherever you wander, you'll feel as though you're walking past a series of picture postcards. The ruins of Metternich Castle brood above Beilstein, most architecturally appealing of the Mosel villages. With vineyards as a backdrop, the half-timbered houses, arched doorways, and terrace cafes reflected in the water look like a painting by one of the Old Masters. You can follow the narrow cobblestone streets to the parish church of St. Patrick or up the worn stone steps leading to the vineyards and castle. In each of the little towns, cabbages and marigolds; dahlias and squash grow side by side in the gardens. WeinfestesAll of the villages along the Mosel have annual Weinfestes (also called Oktoberfests), most of them taking place in July, August and September. Merrymakers go from one Weinstube (tavern) to the next, joining in with the singing as they enter. Each establishment provides musical entertainment -- a small band, an accordion player or someone on the keyboard -- along with the beer and wine.
The copyright of the article Traveling the Mosel River Valley in Germany Travel is owned by Connie Emerson. Permission to republish Traveling the Mosel River Valley in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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