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Heart of Europe: Bike & Barge Metz-Cochem - Detailed Itinerary

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Day 1 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Depart US/Fly overnight to Strasbourg

Depart from the U.S. for France. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary and airline tickets.

Day 2 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Arrive in Strasbourg/Begin your Trip Extension.

Upon arrival in Strasbourg, France, claim your luggage and clear customs. If your luggage is lost, fill out a PIR form before leaving the customs area: VBT representatives are not allowed into the customs area. (Please note: Also make certain your VBT luggage tags are affixed to your bag so that your VBT representative can identify you.) After exiting customs, enter the arrival hall and look for your VBT representative or driver, who will be holding a VBT sign. The VBT representative will help you transfer (approximately 10 minutes) to your centrally located hotel in Strasbourg. Please note: Lufthansa sometimes travels between Frankfurt airport and Strasbourg using a motor coach instead of an aircraft, but the airline takes care of your transfer and luggage just as it does on a regular flight. At the hotel, you receive a city information package that helps you discover this unique city. You are free to do as you wish today.

Hotel: Hotel Maison Rouge

Day 3 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration of Strasbourg.

Continue to discover this amazing capital of culture and art.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Maison Rouge

Day 1 of AIR PACKAGE Depart the U.S. and begin your crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

VBT Air Package guests: Depart from the U.S. for Luxembourg City/Luxembourg. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary and airline tickets.

Day 1 of BIKE TOUR Begin Bike Tour

VBT No-Air Package guests: Upon arrival at the Luxembourg City Airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. After exiting the customs area, transfer on your own to Hotel Le Royal Luxembourg (Boulevard Royal 12, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; telephone +352 24 16 16 1). You are responsible for your own transportation to the hotel. Taxi cost is approximately 25 euros/$30 USD (travel time approximately 20 minutes). After checking in, spend some free time in Luxembourg City before meeting your VBT Trip Leader at 2 p.m. in the hotel lobby. If you miss this appointment, make sure you join the group at 6 p.m. for the briefing and cocktail reception, or call the Front Desk and leave a detailed message for your Trip Leader. VBT Air Package guests: Upon arrival at the Luxembourg City airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. If your luggage is lost, fill out a PIR form before leaving the customs area: VBT representatives are not allowed into the customs area. (Please note: Also make certain your VBT luggage tags are affixed to your bag so that your VBT representative can identify you.) After exiting customs, enter the arrival hall and look for your VBT representative or driver, who will be holding a VBT sign. Please wait here while the representative helps you transfer via taxi or minibus (approximately 20 minutes) to your hotel in Luxembourg City. Pre-Trip Extension guests: This morning, transfer from your Strasbourg hotel to your hotel in Luxembourg City (approximately 2 hours). Your VBT Representative meets you in the lobby just prior to 9:30 a.m., in time for a 9:30 a.m. departure. Once at Hotel Le Royal in Luxembourg City, check in and spend time exploring and having lunch on your own. Your VBT Trip Leader meets you at the hotel at 2 p.m. If you miss this appointment, make sure you join the group at 6 p.m. for the briefing and cocktail reception, or call the Front Desk and leave a detailed message for your Trip Leader. Tonight, dinner is on your own at a city restaurant.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Le Royal

Day 2 of BIKE TOUR Explore Luxembourg City

After breakfast, continue your exploration of the city. Your Tour Leader conducts a short orientation tour this morning, during which you can get some inside tips. Luxembourg City overlooks the Petrusse and Alzette valleys and sits high on a rocky outcropping. It offers a combination of cobblestone-arched narrow streets and small elegant palaces like the Palais Grand-Ducal and the Chambre des Deputes. The beautiful Chemin de la Cornice is said to be Europe's most beautiful terrace, with a pleasant promenade that passes restored ancient homes. The Casemates du Bock, a defensive labyrinth excavated in 1745 in the rocks beneath the city, is partly open to visitors. Other remarkable places include the Place de la Constitution and the cozy Place du Marche, still used for weekly flower and vegetable markets. Tonight, dine on your own. The city boasts more Michelin stars per square mile than any other, and has a lively atmosphere in its many cafés, pubs and pizzerias. The biggest ethnic community here is from Portugal and adds a Latin flair.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Le Royal

Day 3 of BIKE TOUR Transfer to Metz/Embark barge/Warm-up ride

After breakfast this morning, transfer by coach (approximately 1 hour) to the city of Metz in France, then take a pleasant walk into the city center via charming bridges and romantic corners. Pass the elegant 18th-century city theatre and the Palais de la Prefecture in the Place de la Comedie. Soon you see the imposing Cathedral of St. Etienne, one of the most beautiful Gothic cathedrals of France, built around 1250. Visit inside with your Trip Leader and admire the fine stained-glass windows, including a modern one by Marc Chagall. Stroll the city and the Saturday morning local market, shopping or sightseeing on the lively Place St. Louis and Place Saint-Jacques. Lunch is on your own. At 2 p.m., board the Sailing Home. After meeting the crew and your second Trip Leader, settle in before participating in a bike safety session and a short warm-up ride on quiet bike paths along the Moselle. Later, return to the Sailing Home and gather for a welcome dinner onboard while the barge cruises out of the city. Afterward, the captain gives a talk on navigation and our planned route. The barge moors in the quiet French village of Talange.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Barge Sailing Home

Day 4 of BIKE TOUR Bike to Thionville/ Picnic at Fort Hackenberg, France

This morning's cruise brings you to the French city of Thionville. From there, after breakfast on board, you cycle along the Moselle River, on a very quiet biking path, to Koenigsmachen. There, a turn inland and a pleasant rolling route in the Canner Valley leads you to the largest fort of the Maginot Line: Fort Hackenberg. The Maginot Line was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine-gun posts and defenses built by France along its borders with Germany and Italy after World War I during the run-up to World War II. It was a complete failure: The Germans easily maneuvered around it and invaded France. With an expert guide, ride a narrow-gauge railway to see the various blocks on the way to the fort's heart. Visit the central magazine, kitchen, barracks, hospital, the power station that today moves the electric trains and lifts, and the fuel and water reservoirs. Soldiers were able to live and fight here for three months without supplies from outside. After the visit, stop for a picnic lunch outside the fort, where one of the locals joins us and shares stories about the region. If you like, take an optional downhill ride back to the barge in Keoningsmacher, and from there into Remich, in Luxembourg. You may bike or cruise this afternoon. Dinner tonight is on the barge, followed by a special treat: A local visitor joins us to share a glass of Cremant wine. The barge moors in Remich.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Barge Sailing Home

Day 5 of BIKE TOUR Cycle Remich/Nenning/Wasserbilling/Saarburg

Begin biking from Remich to Nenning: In a short time, you reach the local museum, where you admire Europe's largest Roman mosaic (remarkably, it's 90 percent original and perfectly restored). Continue riding along the Moselle on easy biking path. The river forms a natural border between Germany and Luxembourg. Our route, on the German side, has the best views of the high vineyards. Follow the Route du Vin, or wine road, famous here for its outstanding Riesling and Cremant wines, then stop for lunch on your own in Oberbilling, a pretty fishing village. You may cruise or continue cycling from this point. Pass by Konz, a small city at the confluence of the Moselle and Saar rivers, then continue cycling into the Saarland along the more intimate Saar River. Wooded mountains and wide meadow valleys, scattered with farmsteads and villages, alternate in harmony between the two rivers. Later this afternoon you reach Saarburg, a medieval jewel at the foot of a castle that towers above the river. The middle of town boasts a roaring 20-meter-high waterfall. Spend the rest of the day exploring this lovely town, then dine tonight on your own in a romantic restaurant on the Leuk River. Savor the hearty food and viez (apple wine) typical of this region. The barge moors in Saarburg.

Meals: B  Hotel: Barge Sailing Home

Day 6 of BIKE TOUR Bike and cruise Saarburg to Trier

This morning, walk to the nearby clock factory and museum, “Mabilon,” which produced clocks until 2002. From there, pedal south of Saarburg along the Saar River back to our barge, where lunch awaits. Shuttle up to Mannebach in the afternoon, then ride downhill on a mixed road surface — partly on gravel in a thick green forest —that leads to Konz. In Konz, rejoin the Moselle bike path and ride to Trier. (If you prefer, you may cruise from Saarburg to Trier.) A slogan for Trier, a lively tourist and university town, claims that it is possible to see “2,000 years of history in 2,000 paces.” The Romans established their local capital here. In the Middle Ages, Frankish kings and the archbishops of Trier reigned. A local guide conducts a walking tour in the city center, where you learn about the Porta Nigra (“black gate”), the city landmark and largest city gate of the ancient world. Then visit the Amphitheater, the medieval Main Market and the Church of Our Lady (where you can see the throne of Constantine the Great), the rococo Electoral Palace, the Imperial Baths and extensive subterranean service passages. Trier's monuments are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Tonight, the barge moors in Trier. Your group eats dinner together in a centrally located restaurant.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Barge Sailing Home

Day 7 of BIKE TOUR Piesport/Trittenheim/Bernkastel-Kues

After breakfast this morning, leave Trier and cycle toward Bernkastel-Kues, passing Piesport and Trittenheim along the way. Both of these wine-making villages lie in scenic hairpin turns on the Moselle. See a reconstructed Roman winepress house in Piesport. Stop for lunch in Neumagen, where there are more ancient signs of the Romans. From there, shuttle to Bernkastel-Kues or continue biking among vineyards and orchards, watching for swans and other birds. On arrival in Bernkastel-Kues, meet the barge, then rest or explore before dinner on board. Bernkastel and Kues, united in 1905, were once two small cities divided by the Moselle. The pride of this small city is the market square, with its picturesque timber-framed houses and decorated fountains, some dating to the 17th century. After dinner, stroll to the fascinating cellar of Josef Zimmermann via an elegant district of fine Jugendstill villas, many of which display “winegut” (winery) signs. The simple, fourth-generation Zimmermann operation contains a century-old cellar, wine barrels and the inviting tasting hall, where you taste five different wines.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Barge Sailing Home

Day 8 of BIKE TOUR Daun/the “maars”/Bernkastel-Kues

Board a private coach and shuttle (approximately 45 minutes) through the Eifel Valley to the city of Daun. From there, take an exhilarating bike ride that starts out flat, then zooms downhill along a former railway track that is now a cycling path. The ride (partially unpaved) includes stretches through tunnels, over bridges and by small lakes formed from volcano craters (maars). See castles, vineyards and green forests before cycling through quiet villages. On the way, stop in Strohn for a visit to a small volcano museum. The region is scattered with “young” volcanoes that are around 12,000 years old. The typical craters found here, called maars, are actually volcano cones disguised inside the earth. In Strohn, stop to share a simple meal with a local family. Later, continue cycling to Bernkastel and relax before dinner on board.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Barge Sailing Home

Day 9 of BIKE TOUR Zell/Bullay/Cochem

Today, cruise out of Bernkastel to follow the Moselle downstream. After breakfast and a morning route talk, you arrive in Traben-Trarbach, an architectural jewel of Jugendstil surrounded by woods and extensive vineyards. Traben-Trarbach was at one time the world's second-largest wine-trading center in the world. At the turn of the century, the city's wine merchants built a number of fine Art Nouveau buildings, many of which are carefully preserved and continue to operate as wineries. An entire range of “Belle Époque” splendor was attracted to Traben-Trarbach, making the city a favorite destination for lovers of the baroque and classical styles. After exploring Traben-Trarbach, cycle along the river bike path to Zell, one of the largest wine-producing communities on the river. One of the best wines produced here, “Zeller Schwartze Katz” (black cat), is produced with grapes from 16 different locations. Continue to Bullay, another big wine name. Enjoy your provided picnic lunch (prepared by the barge chef) at one of the many picnic areas that you find on your way. Arrive and moor in Cochem later this afternoon, then freshen up for a festive farewell dinner on board the barge.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Barge Sailing Home

Day 10 of BIKE TOUR Cochem/Koblenz

After breakfast, say farewell to the crew and walk into Cochem. This characteristic Moselle town has steep wine mountains, wooded hills, medieval buildings and a picturesque center with beautiful timber-framed houses. Climb up to the Reichsburg, a castle you visit with your Trip Leader, for spectacular views of the Moselle valley and its vineyards. The fairy-tale castle includes seven rooms of fine furniture and objects from different periods and styles. After your visit, you may shop and eat lunch on your own before boarding a private motor coach to Koblenz. Settle in to your centrally located hotel, then explore the city. Later tonight, gather with the group for dinner at a local restaurant.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Hotel Brenner

Day 11 of BIKE TOUR Depart for U.S. or begin your optional extension in Berlin

VBT No-Air Package guests: Your trip ends after breakfast at the Koblenz hotel. Continue to the central railway station (approximately 15 minutes, longer during rush hours), then transfer on your own to some German and other European cities. Taxi cost to the railway station is approximately 15 euros/$20 USD. VBT Air Package guests: After breakfast, meet in the hotel lobby to transfer to the Frankfurt airport for your flight back to the U.S. Please be sure that you are waiting at the designated transfer time and location. Check your “transfer reminder” for the scheduled time. Please note: VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense. Note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available. Please check with the Front Desk to verify the times that breakfast is served. VBT Post-Trip Extension guests: If you have chosen the optional Post-Trip Extension, transfer to the Frankfurt airport according to your flight schedule to board your flight to Berlin. When you reach Berlin Tegel airport, a VBT representative meets you and helps you transfer (approximately 1 hour) to your centrally located hotel, where you receive a city information package that will help you enjoy your stay. The rest of the day is yours to explore the city independantly. Meals are on your own. Later tonight, VBT's local representative is available at the hotel to answer your questions and recommend some activities for the rest of your stay. Your representative also provides you with a transfer reminder that includes the time a taxi will meet you at the hotel's reception area on the last day of your extension and take you to the airport for your flight back to the U.S.

Meals: B  Hotel: Art 'Otel Berlin Mitte

Day 2 of POST-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration of Berlin

Continue your independent exploration of Berlin. An optional City tour by bus will be available. This three-hour program may be booked with your VBT representative upon arrival in Berlin (it may not be booked in advance of travel). The approximate price is 250.00 Ero per group of 10 and includes the costs of a private bus, and the services of our local English-speaking guide.

Meals: B  Hotel: Art 'Otel Berlin Mitte

Day 3 of POST-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration of Berlin

Continue your independent exploration of Berlin. An optional tour in Potsdam will be available today. This half-day program may be booked with your VBT representative upon arrival in Berlin (it may not be booked in advance of travel). The approximate price is 350.00 Euro per group of 10 and includes private transportation to/from Potsdam and the services of our local English-speaking guide.

Meals: B  Hotel: Art 'Otel Berlin Mitte

Day 4 of POST-TRIP EXTENSION Berlin Extension concludes/Depart for home

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight home. Please be sure that you are waiting at the designated transfer time and location. VBT recommends that you check your transfer time in your “Transfer Reminder.” The transfer is prearranged by VBT and is prepaid. . Please note: VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense. Note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available. Please check with the Front Desk to verify the times that breakfast is served.

Meals: B