Rhine Valley & Mosel Valley

The Rhine and Mosel valleys are not a mountain region, and nothing here should suggest otherwise. Both are steep-sided river valleys, terraced with vineyards, cut through slate and shale rather than granite or limestone, and grouped together here because the two rivers meet at Koblenz, at the confluence point known as the Deutsches Eck. What earns them a place in a walking guide is the ground above the vines, where forested ridges rise several hundred metres above the water and carry two of Germany’s established long-distance footpaths.

The Rhine Gorge

Between Bingen and Koblenz, a roughly 65-kilometre stretch of the river known as the Upper Middle Rhine Valley has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002, recognised for a landscape of vineyards, castles and river traffic shaped continuously for two thousand years. Its narrowest and deepest point is at the Loreley, a slate rock rising about 130 metres above the east bank near St. Goarshausen, associated since the early 19th century with the legend of a siren luring boatmen onto the rocks below. The Rheinsteig footpath runs the length of the east bank and beyond, 320 kilometres between Wiesbaden and Bonn, staying on the high ground above the river rather than following the towpath, with repeated steep climbs into and out of side valleys.

The Mosel

The Mosel is quieter, and in places steeper again. Its best-known vineyard, the Bremmer Calmont near the village of Bremm, is commonly described as the steepest in Europe, with slopes reported at up to 65 degrees; a cabled route, the Calmont-Klettersteig, helps both vineyard workers and walkers cross its steepest sections. The Moselsteig footpath runs 365 kilometres in 24 stages between Perl, on the Luxembourg border, and Koblenz. Trier, near the trail’s western end, holds the best-preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps, the Porta Nigra, part of a group of Roman monuments awarded UNESCO status in 1986. Further downstream, Burg Eltz stands on a rock spur above the Elzbach, a tributary stream that joins the Mosel at Moselkern; unlike most castles on this stretch of river, it was never destroyed in war and has belonged to the same family for more than 800 years.