We caught a train from Koblenz this morning to Cochem where we had booked an apartment (bedsit) for the night (for only €49 – very cheap). We are looking forward to cooking our own food for a little while. The apartment is about 2.5km from the railway station, hence the shots of me walking along the Mosel River. Plus a photo of me outside the guest house.

Our train trip (of approx 50km) followed the river pretty much all the way and the things we noticed that were different about this river when compared with our travels down the Rhine River (at least the parts we saw) are:
1. The Mosel River is not as wide and flows more slowly than the Rhine
2. This river is in a much deeper valley than the Rhine and the vineyards are growing on some very “serious” slopes, also there are some sections of the valley that appear to be left uncultivated
3. There are lots of camping grounds along the Mosel which looked pretty full at the moment – bearing in mind it is summer and school holidays here
4. There are many more pleasure craft on the Mosel (perhaps because it seems to flow more slowly or maybe because we noticed fewer container boats on this river)
5. Some of the small villages we passed through did not seem to have the same ‘gorgeous’ feel other towns we have seen did, we think because there were fewer flower boxes.

During our tour of Cochem today we were able to book an apartment for the next three nights (Wed – Friday for €60 / night) right in the middle of Cochem with a view of the Mosel River. We plan to use Cochem as a base for walks and river cruises, plus we will be doing our own cooking!

We have finally found the holiday crowds too – they seem to be enjoying the sights of the Mosel. Bus loads of tourists were in the town today as well as at least one big cruise vessel.

The accommodation is much cheaper here than both the Rhine accommodation and the Romantic Road. For example, the average price we paid for double rooms with breakfast per night along the Romantic Road was €75/night (or $88) while apartments here are going to cost us approx €60/night (or $70).

Cochem is a popular tourist spot and I have included a few photos of things we spotted on our walking tour! We plan on exploring the town further tomorrow and then take a full day cruise along the river – heading southwards.