Hi--I am planning a trip to Germany, specifically the Mosel-Saar-Ruhr area. I have not been successful finding suitable travel guides yet and and am wondering if people could help with the following questions:

1. Do you know of any recent travel guides which discuss the area and offer recommendations?
2. Any specific wineries you would recommend I visit?
3. Any specific hotels you would recommmend where I stay?

I would be looking to do this next late summer/early fall. I'm reasonably comfortable speaking German, so I'm not indimidated by the lanugage--I just am looking for some good recommendations and travel nuggets.

Any help or insight is appreciated! Thank you!

Scott

Rip,

My wife and I spent some time in that area late last September.
AWESOME!
Of course...it didn't hurt that we hit the warmest September in the area in 300 years!

We pre-booked one night so we could meet up with another couple (Ronnie & Lady Roots from this board), other than that, we went by the seat of our pants...my wife and I were backpacking, the Roots' had a vehicle.

Koblenz is cool...it is situated at the junction of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers...highly recommended. We rented bicycles and spent an entire day roaming around touring.
My wife and I took a River Cruiser from Koblenz to Cochem (where we meet the Roots')...a scenic 4 hr. boat ride that was extremely slow due to going thru 4 locks.
We also stayed in Cochem, Bernkastel and Urziger (Wurgarten).

We stayed in small hotel's and B&B's...mostly walk-up, I did book the Koblenz room from the internet 2 days before (from France)...lots of rooms late in September.
I did lots of research via Rick Steves books and especially read lots from Fodors.com Travel Forum posts (you can search specific locations)...I got lots of good info and some web links from Fodors.

From North to South on the Mosel:
I would recommend Koblenz, and Cochem to Bernkastel...from Bernkastel to Trier was no big deal...we never really spent anytime on the Saar (Trier- south).

Every weekend one of the villages along the river has a winefest...we happened across one in Urziger and got a room...basically an annual village party!...what a hoot!
The village producers all set up booths and sell wine by the glass...lots of food booths as well...all on a long narrow walking (cobble-stone) street.

They have a great bicycle trial (sometimes on both sides of the Mosel river). We did do some cycling (also rented bikes in Bernkastel)...during the slow boat ride from Koblenz to Cochem a ton of people on bikes passed us

As far as Winery tours...again, we didn't book anything ahead...we just stopped whenever the mood struck us, or when we happened across one.
See my notes here.
JJ Prum and Loosen wineries were not open when we were there...perhaps you would need an appointment...

I realize traveling by the seat of one's pants is not the way some people like to travel...a lot would depend on which season one travel's in.
Being flexible does have it's advantages when out of the peak tourist season (June and September)...

If you are going in August...I recommend plopping yourself in Bernkastel (#1) and/or Cochem (#2) as your base...and don't forget about the area being bike-friendly.

May I also HIGHLY recommend the French Alsace (based in Colmar) while you are reasonably close...also a must see if you haven't been.

Good Luck.

I can only confirm what tyee said. We had a great time there without really planning ahead. I think that if there are wineries that you are sure of that you want to visit them, it would be best to find out if you need an appointment there.

We visited S.A. Prum, Studert-Prum and Willi Schaefer without appointments, but we did encounter some closed doors (I remember Dr. Loosen and Selbach-Oster). J.J. Prum will be very difficult to get in, they don't normally receive tourists.

It's probably good to do a bit of research before you go there. The number of small wineries is enormous, and if you visit the villages without any idea of what you'd like to taste, you'll spend entire days tasting through the (not always likeable) portfolio of every single vintner...

Enjoy!

We've been to the Mosel again last weekend. You can watch some pictures here.

Two more recommendations if you go to Bernkastel: 1. Visit Weinhaus Porn (if this gets blocked, it's p-o-r-n, can't help it, that's just what it's called...) in the street next to the touris information office. They have a great selection of wines from the area, including auction wines and other rarities. They also have a good wine bar with a decent selection of wines by the glass.
2. Have dinner at Rotisserie Royale in the Burgstrasse. Good food and an extensive wine book with some real gems (JJ Prums a.o.).