From our hotel it is a short drive to the city. We left in the early morning so we can still enjoy a quiet city. When we arrive in Cochem, we see that there is not a lot of traffic, so we made the right decision. We drive to the parking ‘Parkplatz an der Kreisverwaltung’, in the middle of the center. Yesterday, we had to wait till a parkingspot was available while today we can choose between a couple more. We quickly stop at the bank across the parking to get some cash and walk to the city center.

Before we start with the climb to the castle, we take a walk through the quiet streets of the city. There are already some tourists here, who probably had the same idea as we did. As the other cities, this city is also full of history. We walk through a old gate to the center.

We notice a sign that mentions a monastery. Interested, we decide to follow the path the sign indicates. Fairly quickly we notice that the monastery is located in a higher part of the city. We have to climb quite some stairs to reach it. When we are finally at the top of the stairs, we see a cemetery. The monastery is nearby and we walk towards it. It looks like we hit a dead end. Google maps tells us something different. Through a gate we can reach the Klostertreppe. These are a lot of stairs, but they give you an amazing view over the city. Definitely worth it to walk these stairs.

When we are back downstairs, we walk to the Marktplatz. This is a very beautiful square with different shops and restaurants. From the square, there are multiple roads to the castle. We decide to walk via the Oberbachstraße. Also here we find the sign to the castle fairly quickly. We also follow this sign and make our way up. The climb is very though and considering the amount of stairs we already did, it is not going very well.

We reach the foot of the hill that has the castle on top and see that there is still quite some road left to cover. Because we already see our end-goal, we have some more motivation to climb further. There are already more people at the castle than we expected, but still easy to avoid. When we finally reach the top, we decide to go for a drink on the terrace. You can also decide to visit the castle, but we skip this visit.

Via a souvenir shop you can reach the terrace. Because we are walking back inside this means; wear your mouth mask. The terrace gives you a good view over the city. But because of Corona, we cannot leave our seat. Unfortunately for us, they’ve placed us in the middle of the terrace so we decide to watch the view from afar. This drink feels yet again as a reward after the climb up.

After the drink we take a short amount of time to make some photos from the castle. It is getting more crowded and we decide to walk back to the center. Back at the foot of the hill, we decide to go for the second road; Schlossstraße.

The city is also getting more crowded. We decide to take a lunch here and then we’ll leave Cochem. For our lunch, we go back to the Marktplatz. Here you find Cafe Rathaus, which has a very diverse lunchmenu. Outside there is a small terrace where you can enjoy everything on the square. The tables are at two meters of each other, but since this is a terrace; you have to wear your mouth mask till you reach your table. The staff also has their mouth masks on. After our lunch we quickly return to our car.

In the afternoon we decide to take a rest in our hotelroom. We enjoy the view on the balcony, the Moselle area is really beautiful. I could get used to it. We decide to stay in the village so we both can have a drink with our dinner. We find a hotel that also offers dinner for people who don’t stay in their hotel. Alte Winzerschenke is a short five minute walk from our hotel so we decide to go there.

We have a perfect timing, the owner had only one table left. After we received our beer, a new couple walks in who want to get a bite to eat. Unfortunately for them, they are full. The owners are very nice people and it really feels like you are in their living room. Not every dish on the many is available anymore, so we decide to go for a schnitzel again. This time with the typical ‘Zigeunersauce’. The schnitzel yesterday was already very big, but this one was even bigger. A huge plate with a huge schnitzel. And it was very delicious!

Completely full, we walk back to our hotel. We already hear voices from behind the hotel and decide to go for a wine. There are already multiple people sitting in the area and they are all talking to each other. We decide to only listen, but we are being asked where we are from. We answer that we are from the Netherlands and spontaneously they switch to Dutch. The owner of the hotel doesn’t understand it, they are German guests. Still, they happen to know a bit of the Dutch language. We switch back to German and enjoy our evening. It’s sad to leave tomorrow, but we will go to our second destination; France.