Continental Europe

There are just so many wonderful tours to make in continental Europe that it is firstly difficult to know where to start and secondly even more difficult to settle on your Top Ten Best Tours! However, for me, one of my favourites is the Mosel Valley in south west Germany. It is beautiful and the Mosel itself is one of the longest tributaries of the Rhine so plenty to go at. In Germany you are talking between Trier and Koblenz but of course both Luxembourg and France get in on the act.

Much of the Rhine and the Mosel are prone to flooding in the winter and a consequence of this is the enormous number of sites to choose from in the summer. The banks are not suited to permanent development and so sites set up primarily for the tourist trade are numerous. A look through The Caravan Club Europe guide demonstrates this very well.

So wall to wall vineyards, boats, barges, railways and masses of sites - and aires if your are a motorcaravanner as I am - are lined up to greet you. You could easily spend a fortnight exploring or you can just call in for a few highlights on your way to somewhere else; the choice is yours! The sites in Germany are to a high standard once you get your head round the idea that these are very good commercial sites but will never in a million years come up to the standards we all take for granted on sites run by The Caravan Club. 

A favourite place for me is the charming town of Zell at Campingpark Zell Mosel, 56856 Zell-Kaimt, which is a delight and just a ten minute walk across the river - actually over a footbridge to be precise - takes you right into the town with shops and restaurants aplenty. Just one practical point when travelling in Germany: Germany does not have the credit card culture we have in the UK and whilst you are fine at petrol stations and motorway stopovers, be prepared to pay cash in restaurants, bars and snack bars.

 Boppard is one of the larger towns and I managed to find a spot quite high up to capture the sheer scale of the Rhine and the vital role it plays. It really is a transport asset and so wide that there are not too many bridges crossing it so I took a ferry from one side to the other on more than one occasion - once at The Lorely!

You might even be tempted to jump on a pleasure cruiser!

One of the high spots of my last visit was Bernkastel-Kues. It is one of the most appreciated Moselle towns and is proudly called the centre of the middle Moselle. Guests from all over the world come here every year to find this "international town of vines and wine." Situated on both sides of the river, underneath the imposing ruin of Landshut Castle, the old town invites you to go for a stroll through historical lanes. Discover its unique ensemble of wonderful medieval half-timbered houses. And it sports several bars where only wine is served; no food, no beer so definitely for the purist!

Bernkastel is like many towns where there are good sites close to the centre. For caravanners this represents easy touring and for motorcaravanners there is daytime motorcaravan parking available in the town on the banks of the river; in the evening I selected a site from the CC Europe book and walked the fifteen minutes into town. 

This area of Germany makes everything so easy; it is a joy to visit and I cannot recommend it highly enough!! One last tip - call in on minuscule Luxembourg one way or the other as the fuel is SO cheap!!