We recently completed a Mosel Valley Skating Adventure, which took place July 17-23, 2016. This is the third time I have run this tour but the first for us in six years. I must admit I was shocked to not have accurately remembered how great the Mosel Valley is for a skate tour!
Here are just some of the reasons I think the Mosel Valley is a world-class skate tour destination:
- Paved or concrete bike paths run on both sides of the Mosel River for hundreds of kilometers, allowing us to choose the best bank (left or right) the entire way down.
- Speaking of down, we skate (and bike) down river the entire tour – just enough to help your wheels roll when you get tired. With almost no hills!
- Cute town after cute town after cute town with a castle perched overhead.
- We do have van support but also make use of the ferry system and local train to shuttle on the short and medium routes.
- Long route skaters and bikers go from hotel to hotel!
- The Mosel Valley is enchanting. Vineyards line the banks almost the entire length of our tour, huge bending curves of the river make for excellent views, and steep hillsides make the whole area picturesque.
- The food is surprisingly good and the wine and beer are excellent.
Any time you attempt to skate hotel to hotel on a seven-day tour you will encounter some difficulties, such as bridge crossings, cobblestones in towns, or sections of poor asphalt. But the German government maintains these trails to an amazing degree, making this one of the best tour locations in the world.
Join us on our next tour in the Mosel Valley in 2018 and please enjoy these two videos, one from the trail and the second from a ferry shuttle. (Just click on the link and press play.)
Skating down the path
On the Mosel ferry
Gorgeous countryside and it looks like the weather was wonderful too. Enjoyed the videos, even though for some reason the Mosel Ferry video was upside-down for me. The hills and water still looked stunning, though. 🙂