Koblenz, Germany

The last destination on my first trip to Germany was Koblenz. We stayed two nights, so didn’t have time to do a lot, but it was enough time to get a feel for the city.

The first evening we just walked around a bit and enjoyed the sunset over the Mosel River while our son played on a local playground. Dinner that night was really good Italian at Pizzeria Sole.

We stayed at a quirky hotel, the CONTEL Hotel Koblenz. The service was good and everything was clean. The décor was kitschy and colorful. The location was okay and there was parking on site. It wasn’t in the heart of the city, but it was right near a bike path along the Mosel, and a quick drive to the center. The bathroom/WC/toilet (whatever you choose to call it!) had a bidet, as many do in Europe. This was the first time our son had ever seen or heard of a bidet and he thought it was hilarious.

We only had one full day to see the sights in Koblenz. We parked in the city center and wandered through a huge flea market along the Rhine River on our way to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. We got really lucky and were there on a day when the Historienspiele Festival was taking place in the fortress.

The Ehrenbreitstein Fortress sits high above the Rhine, looking over Koblenz and the point where the Mosel and Rhine Rivers meet. You get there by riding cable cars up and over the Rhine. We rode up and enjoyed a few (hot!) hours taking in the sights of the Historienspiele Festival. This included period music, canon blasts, gladiator fighting, and other performances. We had a perfectly German lunch there of sausages, hot pretzels, and beer.

After the festival, we returned to the city via the cable cars and took in the sights from The Deutsches Eck (“The German Corner”) at the point where the Rhine and the Mosel meet.

That evening we grabbed some food from a local grocery store and enjoyed a nice picnic along the Mosel near our hotel. We had a funny experience there seeing a muskrat in the river. This wasn’t that exciting for us, but it was pretty exciting for the locals around us. Apparently, muskrats aren’t usual sightings over here! They had no idea what it was and took lots of pictures. We did not.

It was a quick stay for us in Koblenz. We missed seeing some parts of the city, including the old town, but it felt like just the right amount of time to see and do what we wanted and get a feel for the city.