Germania Travel

Our route takes in the Rheingau, Mittelrhein and Mosel wine regions of Germany, as well as excursions into Luxembourg and Lorraine. Meals offer a good mix of hearty, country cooking and more refined cuisine – always with superb local wines.

This tour has been designed to share our passion for Riesling and the stunning landscapes where it is grown. Your local bilingual guide, a wine and travel journalist, has accompanied wine tours through Germany for more than 20 years.

On this 5-day programme we will visit traditional wine estates as well as experience what the dynamic, younger generation of wine-growers has to offer. Estate visits and meals offer many opportunities to sample elegant, crisp Rieslings, bursting with fruity aromas and flavours. The spectrum of Riesling also includes lusciously sweet dessert wines – not to be missed. Excellent white Pinots (Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris) and the ancient white specialty, Elbling, are also part of this tour.

The tour begins with an overnight in elegant Wiesbaden, a spa town since Roman times. We’ll meet for a casual ‘welcome get-together’ in the Kurhaus, a few minutes’ walk from the hotel. The casino is also located in the Kurhaus, should you want to try your luck.

Our wine journey officially gets underway the next day, in the Rheingau wine region, with a tour and tasting at the former Cistercian monastery Kloster Eberbach – renowned not only for its wines, but also its Romanesque and Gothic buildings. Lunch at the Schloss Johannisberg castle restaurant, overlooking the vineyards and the Rhine, including a glass of Spätlese – Schloss Johannisberg is the birthplace of these special wines. Do you know how Spätlese got its start…with the delayed courier?

After lunch, it’s ‘on board’ in Rüdesheim, for a Rhine cruise through the magnificent, romantic Rhine Valley – with castle after castle (many a ruin, but no less impressive) overlooking steep, vine-clad slopes in the Mittelrhein wine region, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

At journey’s end we drive through the Hunsrück Hills to the Mosel Valley where we’ll stay overnight and enjoy a tasting and cellar tour at one of the renowned estates on the Middle Mosel.

Our journey down the Mosel takes us across the border to Luxembourg. After a guided tour through the old town we enjoy a wine tasting with Riesling and Pinot Gris wines from the Luxembourgian Moselle. From here we’re only minutes away from the celebrated Saar and its wines from famous sites such as Scharzhofberger or Ockfener Bockstein.

Our luxurious hotel, nestled between vineyards on the Saar is ideally situated to explore Trier, Germany’s oldest city during the day and to be back in time for dinner in a traditional ferme auberge in Lorraine where roasted duck and wild boar are on the menu.

On our final day we depart via the Saar and travel to the northernmost section of the Mosel valley with its extremely steep slate sites for an estate visit and light lunch. Our tour will end in Koblenz where from the main train station there are excellent connections to Frankfurt airport and other destinations.

• Return transfer by train from Frankfurt Main airport or train station
• Sekt reception in Wiesbaden Kurhaus
• 2 nights and breakfast in five star accommodation
• 2 nights and breakfast in three star accommodation
• All lunches and dinners of the programme
• All tasting and sightseeing fees
• Guided tour Luxembourg
• Guided tour Trier
• Use of hotel’s Spa facilities
• Services of local experienced wine guide