Along the Mosel to Bernkastel-Kues

Today’s blog post is going to be short as we’re both done in. We decided to meander a bit further along the Mosel River to the twin city of Bernkastel-Kues, but the overnight park we found was a 3km walk into the city. So this afternoon we’ve walked around ten miles to get there and look around. Not a huge feat as we are fairly fit, but in 27c temperatures, it has taken its toll.

The road hugged the Mosel river, despite an umleitung (diversion) to get here. Spotting a supermarket, and not knowing how close or accessible the ones at Bernkastel would be, we dived in. Only there wasn’t any food, just drinks, aisles of wine and beer. It turns out there were two parts to the supermarket, one side for food and one side for drinks. Jay made the most of it and stocked up on several varieties of alcohol-free beers before we left one shop, and headed into the other one to buy food.

The food seemed very expensive compared to back home, maybe it was the type of supermarket. The Edeka logo looked like it would be a Lidl or Aldi rival, but the prices certainly didn’t reflect that.

Back on the road, we drove through Bernkastel, then across the bridge into Kues before arriving at the stellplatz a few kilometres further down the river.

It’s right next door to a campsite, we can see them all through the wire fence, but a fraction of the price at €14 per night (plus €1.50 tourist tax each) and includes water, disposal and electric. You can get your tables and chairs out, so we have everything we need here on the stellplatz (it looks like the campsite is around €35 for its cheapest pitch). We parked up on the front row, opened all the windows and skylights and closed the blinds facing the sun. It was already over 27c in the van, so we sat out in the shade of the awning enjoying the view while we had some lunch.

Between the stellplatz and river there’s a cycle path which takes you all the way into the city. The air was cooler there in the shade of the trees and we had a leisurely stroll. Arriving at Kues, we headed back over the bridge to Bernkastel.

As we crossed I took one look at the castle on a hill overlooking the city and decided it was too hot to trek up there, so instead we headed to the Tourist Office, hoping it had air conditioning. Picking up a map and some leaflets we walked towards the old market square, along with hundreds of other folks.

It turned out that Bernkastel-Kues is a tourist hot spot, and a couple of river cruise boats had just docked. There were nine boat jetties in total, and I have no idea how this small place copes when they are all occupied, the ice cream queues were already huge and every seat taken in the cafes.

It was great to see so many folks out and about seeing the world, and the river cruise seems to be the choice of the older generation – crutches and wheelchairs were not stopping them. We’ve talked about it a lot these past few days, and while we can see the appeal of the cycle and cruise type trips, we’re not sure we’re quite ready for the full on river cruise yet.

We followed the pedestrianised area until the crowds thinned out, then we carried on further. Soon we saw a sign for a waterfall and the idea of the cooling air drew us along. When we finally found it, we didn’t stay long as a girl was wading out to get a photo of herself in front of the waterfall – her mates egging her on. We were far too British and carried on, following a set of steps up through the forest. The steps reached a road, off which there was a footpath, and before we knew it, we were up at the castle.

We sat in the shade and looked out along the river and over the cities below. I’m not sure if they are both cities, but they have hyphenated their names so I’m going with that. They don’t seem to be one place like Buda and Pest in Hungary, so it’s a tad confusing.

Knowing we had a decent walk back and with dark storm clouds looming, we managed another amble around the old part of the town, which had quietened down considerably, before making our way back to the stellplatz.

We’ve had some long walking days recently, clocking up around 100km in total over the past week. So its no wonder we’re starting to feel it a bit. We had planned to stay in Bernkastel-Kues for a couple of nights, but we’ve both agreed that we aren’t going to be up for doing that walk again tomorrow. Sorry Bernkastel-Kues. Another time we’d have loved your cute streets, but it’s hot and we’re tired, so we’re going to move on and find somewhere else.

If you are thinking of visiting the area, there is another campsite closer to the city or a daytime only parking by the river with motorhome spaces (we spotted them from the castle!).

We’ve got the maps out to find somewhere that we can stay a bit closer to stuff, but not to touristy – we’re starting to sound like Goldilocks (of the three bears fame), this place is too quiet, this place is too touristy, we need one that’s juuust right.

Ju x

UPDATE – After a good nights sleep and a much cooler morning, I jogged back into the city for another look around while it was empty, while Jay headed out for a run in the vines. It is such a pretty little place and we may visit again one day. Today though the clouds are rolling in and the much needed rain is finally here, so it’s a good driving day.