Bernkastel-Keus is one of our favorite Mosel River towns in Germany. Known for its incredible hillside vineyards and incredible wine selections at ample wine shops, there’s few places prettier to stop and do wine tastings along the Mosel River. There’s also a ton of excellent restaurants, as well.
Best Things to do in Bernkastel-Kues
1 – Bernkastel is all about wine. So make sure to stop at their many wine bars, vineyards and winery distributors and have a wine tasting. One of the best places to stop is Weingut Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler. The little old lady behind the counter will sit and talk with you forever letting you try all their wines. They also do fantastic group wine tastings if you’re part of a tour or in a large group. They have the coolest wine cellar in a cave beneath their main store as well, where everything is lit with candles.
2 – Visit Weinstube Spitzhäuschen, the Mosel River Valley’s oldest building, constructed in 1412. This famous, tilted, half-timbered wine bar is one of the most genuinely authentic places you can visit in all of Germany. This home’s narrow base is topped by a much larger, precariously leaning, upper floor. The odd construction was originally to allow carriages the ability to pass through the narrow alley to the marketplace. Here you can taste over 50 of the Schmitz family’s local wines.
3 – Do even more wine tastings. Theirs wine shops, wineries, and wine bars throughout the city as well as tours that will allow you to taste as much of the regions wine as you can handle. Check out these places in particular:
– Mosel-Weinmuseum und Moselvinothek
4 – Visit Kloster Machern. This ancient, 13th century, monastery now serves as an awesome brewery that makes its own beer in giant copper vats. Their restaurant and bar are fantastic and incredibly picturesque.
5 – Visit Burg Landshut and it’s excellent restaurant for great views over the Mosel River and Bernkastel-Kues.
6 – Check out Bernkastel-Kues’ best confectionary and chocolatier shops, Bonbon-Willi. Here you can watch them make their treats as they use centuries old techniques to make their chocolates and infuse some of them with Mosel Valley wines.
7 – Grab some food at some of Bernkastel-Kues’ best restaurants.
– Restaurant Graacher Tor: One of the best meals along the Mosel River. They have a fantastic tasting menu, but even better than that they offer every one of their main courses as a small dish so you can essentially build your own tasting menu. As a final topper, they will expertly pair each dish with a glass of the Mosel River Valley’s most exceptional wines. The best part, though, is the incredibly reasonable price. My wife and I split 5 small plates, a dessert, each had 4 small glasses of wine and a cappuccino after the meal…the price…about 100EUR.
8 – Check some of these other activities like kayaking, golfing and bike rentals by checking out Bernkastel’s own tourism home page.
