The Mosel Region in Germany belongs to one of Europe's most fascinating valley landscapes with the most common impression being one of tumbling vineyards laid out on seemingly impossible slopes.

The Mosel Valley is a great place for cycling. Most of the routes run along the riverside and are gently undulating. For the real Rocket Sprockets among us there's always the chance simply to turn into the Vineyard trails and take to the hills. Steep going but great views.

Trier (Augusta Treverorum, Secunda Roma,) and the Porta Nigra or Black Gate. Best preseved Roman gate north of the Alps but of course it wasn't always black. It must have been an impressive sight when the sandstone was new. It was preserved when St. Simeon's church was built around it and then forgotten for a few hundred years! (Bit like my hard disk :-))

To the left the Porta Nigra again, this time looking through the gate and along the pedestrian precint towards the medieval Market Square. It certainly dominates this part of town. It may sound like a very touristy idea but I can well recommend a trip on the Roemer-Express, a pseudo-train offering sightseeing tours. It's certainly the best way to see the sites of major interest, saves on the shoe leather and saves the strain on the nerves caused by city traffic. Trier is only 37 kms. or 20 minutes by car.

Traben-Trarbach, renowned for its Art Deco architecture of which this gate does not seem to be an example. Like all of these double-barrelled Mosel Valley names this is really two communities . Traben is on one side of the river and Trarbach on the other. 40 kms from Neumagen and a very comfortable day-trip by ship.

Cochem - The Reichsburg. A former ruin, rebuilt by a Berlin industrialist during the last century and now a major tourist attraction, the Burg at Cochem glares out over the town. It's a heck of a climb from the main street to get up there but the view is tremendous. Alternatively you can drive around and up the hill to get to a nearer starting point. There's a restaurant/bar at the top so a medicinal brandy is a possibility after the climb. There are English language guided tours about every two hours. It's an attractive little town but it gets busy! It's a 45 min. drive via the autobahn or 2 hours along the riverside.

Mettlach - Villeroy & Boch

New at the exhibition centre for 2001 is the acquistion of the worlds largest ceramic puzzle designed by Stefan Szczesny along with the 14 metre high "Erdgeist" (Spirit of the Earth) by Andre Heller. These spectacular works of art, composed of 137000 ceramic "puzzle" pieces, were exhibited at the WWF Pavillion during the Expo 2000 in Hannover. Following the successful acquistion by Herr Wendelein von Boch, one of the company's directors, it will take pride of place at Villeroy & Boch's Ceramics Museum in Mettlach.
Opening Times: Mon-Fri 09.00 - 18.00h, Sat 09.30h - 16.00h, Closed Sundays and Public Holidays