Nine Irish ladies decided to book this trip and we were very pleased. This is truly a wonderful hiking holiday, taking in the very best of the Moselsteig. We particularly liked Cochem – so much to explore. Neill from Wild Rover Travel handled this trip for us, and I must say he did a tremendous job for us. We had so many queries and Niall always answered very quickly. All the accommodation was as described and we had no complaints, the beds were always comfortable, and the breakfast was always really good. We also had a complex booking with some of us staying extra days before the walking started and some of using only doing 4 or 6 days. So just email Niall and make enquiries if you need this.
We really liked the fact that each walk could be shortened by either ending early and taking a train to the final destination for that day or chopping out the beginning or on one occasion the middle section of a walk. We had mixed fitness levels and some of us wanted to walk less, this was very easy to manage on this trip. We got very lucky with the new €9 monthly regional train pass, which just came into being at the beginning of our trip in Jun 2022, so transport was really cheap. We got a taxi at the end of a walk to the hotel one day by popping into a bar and asking them to book it for us. The price was reasonable.
We were provided with a trip pack at the first hotel per room with all the details and prior to that, we were sent a very detailed PDF of all the walks and of course the *.GPX tracks (also printed for us and included in the pack). But even if you don’t use a GPS or App for navigation, no worries the Moselsteig is well marked. Each room was afforded a max of 3 items of luggage for transport and the tags added to the bag did for all the days, hence you get 3 tags and that is all you need – I personally would still have my name and phone number on the bag separately in case the tag came off.
The wine tasting was a lovely experience, in what I can only describe as authentic. I asked the wine-tasting host what the difference between prosecco is and champaign was – he smiled and said I can but only show you – so he did – and what a delight of new knowledge that was – know I know why prosecco is cheap and champaign is not ;-). Give it a bit more than the hour they say, we had a table booked for dinner and had to cut it short when there was still more wine to taste.
A couple of tips that if you have not been to Germany you may not be aware know: German hotels don’t understand what a twin room is, so if you are sharing a room and want two beds, you probably won’t get it even if you ask, because in Germany they do not always exist, rather you get two mattresses on a double bed which does not pull apart, so just be prepared for that and if you don’t like that book a single room. Also, nothing opens in Germany on a Sunday or a Bank holiday, except for petrol stations and bakeries – so buy your water for your Sunday walk etc the night before. Not all the hotel/apartments had a lift, so we had to carry our 20kg bags (did we really need that must suffer – good questions?) up a couple of flights of stairs on more than one occasion – but we are strong fit hikers – even our most senior hiker of 74 was able to carry the bag.
On a final note, for us at least getting ready for a walk, getting a bag to reception for 9 am, walking 24k, finding the next hotel, getting a shower finding a place for dinner and having dinner and getting ready for the next day was a bit too much to fit into one day – if you also want to drink some wine and see the town/village – another reason why cutting some of the walks short was helpful – or maybe if you walk faster than us you won’t have that issue. But if you have the time and money, it would be worth booking an extra night in some of the bigger towns and having a day off to explore and chill.
Everything described in this walking trip by Wild Rover Travel is 100% accurate and I would book a trip again with them with no hesitation. Thanks, Niall for all the hard work in getting our most complicated booking sorted with no issues.
Asta and the gang
