Moselradweg (Mosel Cycle Path)

Tarmac cycle path beside the Moselle near Nittel, with vineyards on the far bank

Photo: Cobatfor, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Distance
about 311 km (193 miles)
Countries
Germany, Luxembourg, France
Difficulty
Easy
Type of trip
Cycling route

The Moselradweg follows the Moselle down to the Rhine at Koblenz. The international route starts in Metz, in France, passes Thionville and then runs along the border with Luxembourg past Schengen and Remich. The German part starts at Perl, where Germany, France and Luxembourg meet, and goes through Trier, Bernkastel-Kues, Traben-Trarbach and Cochem to the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz. The official tourist board splits the German part into 10 stages. Perl station is right by the route and Koblenz station about 2.5 km from it. Trains run along the valley between Perl and Trier and between Cochem and Koblenz, with a branch line to Traben-Trarbach, but not in the winding middle section. You sleep in hotels and guesthouses in the towns and wine villages, and there's nothing to book for the route itself.

The official site says it's mostly tarmac, with short stretches of concrete, mostly on cycle paths or lanes away from traffic, and flat. In 2024 the ADFC gave it four stars. You can ride both banks for most of the way, but the signed main route keeps to one side at a time and switches over, with white-and-green signs carrying the route logo. Seven ferries take bikes across, and many towns have bridges. Some of it follows old railway lines, such as about 6 km between Leiwen and Neumagen-Dhron. It isn't all quiet riverside. Some stretches use town streets with heavy traffic. Wikivoyage says the path from Cochem to Koblenz runs nearly all the way beside the main road, and near Wolf there's about 1.5 km on the B53 with no cycle path. In France, between Metz and Perl, you can hear the motorway for much of the way.

Highlights along the way

  1. Trier: The official site names Trier's UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the route's sights. The Porta Nigra is in the town centre.
  2. Bernkastel-Kues: Wikivoyage ends a day here, 67 km from Trier. It has a historic old town and the ruin of Burg Landshut.
  3. Traben-Trarbach: The town is on the Moselweinbahn branch line from Bullay, so it's an easy place to start or finish a section by train.
  4. Cochem: Cochem has the Reichsburg castle. From here to Koblenz the railway follows the river again, with regional trains stopping at Treis-Karden on the way.
  5. Burg Eltz and the Deutsches Eck: Burg Eltz is reached on foot from Moselkern, or by bike bus from Treis-Karden if you book. The route ends at the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz, where the Moselle meets the Rhine.

Distance

About 311 km (193 miles) from Metz to Koblenz, according to German Wikipedia; Wikivoyage rounds it to about 300 km (186 miles). The German part, from Perl, is 248 km (154 miles) by the official count, and German Wikipedia gives 239 km (149 miles). Wikivoyage also describes the French upper river from the source near Bussang in the Vosges, which adds about 200 km (124 miles).

Best time to go

The official site doesn't name a season. The bike buses up into the hills run from April to the end of October, and the passenger boats run daily from mid-April to October, which helps if you want to cut a day short. As of 3 November 2026 the official site said local trains in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland carry bikes free when there's room, from 9 am on weekdays and all day at weekends and on public holidays. For closures and diversions, for example because of building work, it points you to radwanderland.de, so check there before you go.

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