CENTRAL EUROPE BLOG May 5th, 2026 - KOBLENZ, GERMANY

 

5/5/26– 4:30am is way too early, but our train leaves at 6:10am and its check-out day. Our original schedule had us leaving at 7:30am but it changed about a week ago to the earlier time. At least we’ll get to Germany sooner.

We call an Uber and get to the station with plenty of time to board and find open seats for us and our luggage. The first two hours allow us to rest with hardly anyone around, but by the time it gets closer to our stop in Koblenz we notice more people getting on and the train slowing way down. Not sure what the holdup is as the announcements are all in German, but we arrive an hour delayed.

We call an Uber and wait five minutes but the app keeps searching for a ride. This is when I notice the bus can take us straight to our rental car, Enterprise, so we walk the five minutes to the bus stop and as I reach for my credit card to pay the driver exits with a cigarette in his hand while motioning us to just board. So we did. Thirty minutes later we’re getting our rental agreement and on our driving journey in Germany.

First things first as we stop over at McDonalds to get a quick hamburger (something filling this morning) and I try out this Cherry infused Sprite, which is very good. We then drive over to our hotel, B&B Hotel Koblenz-City. Our room isn’t ready yet but we’re able to park our car and rampage the town.

Just as the weather predicted the sun is coming out, so we hurry to the Alstadt quarters (Old Town), take a few photos and continue to the cable car area. The total walk is about twenty-five minutes so our legs are beginning to feel the ache, but once we get in the cable car that takes us over the Rhine River we are very happy. We even get the entire compartment to ourselves (this after asking the couple behind us if they could take the next one).

The glass shell allows us to view the town in all directions as it ascends to the other side, and once the doors open, we step out like a ski lift. Definitely a cool experience.

Not sure where to go from here, we try to follow the path but it seems to take us further away from the Fortress. Weirdly, we stumble upon an artistically designed overlook that I know we would’ve missed if we didn’t venture this far out. It provides a perfect view with the bend of the river and the town.

Going in the proper direction now, we use our same ticket to enter the Fortress and jog around the grounds for a bit. It’s interesting for the most part with several rooms that allow you to see how life is living here, but not much after that.

We take the cable car back to the start and check out the German Corner, where the Rhine meets the Mosel River and decorated with a super large statue of William I on a horse (the first German Emporer).

Going back through Old Town, we stumble upon a wine store which allows us to taste some of their Rieslings before getting some food at Altes Kaufhaus. We order the Sauerbraten, which you’d think would be brats with sauerkraut but it’s actually roast beef with cabbage, heavily marinated sauerkraut and a potato dumpling. It’s very filling as we barely are able to finish.

The last thing we go see is the spitting boy fountain, which is around the corner. Every two minutes or so water spits out of his mouth, spraying on anyone not paying attention. We then try to find a grocery store but wind up in a mall, so we call it a day to be continued tomorrow.

Side note: The rental car company didn’t charge me for the windshield so all is good there.