Cochem Transportation

I hired a car at Hahn Airport with 'Sixti Car Hire' where you can hire a car (a 'Smart') as cheap as 5 euro a day! You have to read the fine print though, as there are quite a few things you have to pay attention to. But this can be a very cheap option if you don't need the car for a long distance and travel off-season.

There are some extra costs involved when you hire a car here, so the 5 euro won't fully cover it. The main thing to think about it the insurance at 6,50 euro a day. Maybe you also want / need passenger accident insurance which costs 3 euro a day and additional driver at 3 euro a day. And last, but not least... the car cleaning through SIXTI for 15 euro!!! Not cheap, but you can save on that though if you make sure you return a clean car (we did that and it was no problem).

The last catch in the contract is the maximum mileage. I think it is maximum 200 kilometres. For excess mileage you have to pay 0.15 euro per kilometre. But even with extra mileage this may turn out into a cheap deal.

I didn't rent the 'Smart' but opted for a slighter bigger car which was only a little bit more expensive. The car was in great condition, really new, absolutely nothing to complain about.

you can walk to the reichsburg (castle) but it is quite a hike. i personally recommend taking the bus. for a small fee you can get a bus to the castle from cochem's bus station. at the castle stop you then have a 200 meter walk to the castle gate. the bus leaves every 30 minutes.

It's called Panorama Bahn and a ride takes about 25 minutes.
You can discover Cochem instead of walking and climbing :-)
You can simply buy a ticket with the driver.

Price: 4,70 euro (adult), 2,70 euro (children up to 12). And adults get a glass of Mosel wine!
You can get onto the Panorama Bahn near the bridge.
Prices: 2007

Cochem has a train station. From there it is a very short walk to the center. Or you can take a shuttle bus to the castle (also a short ride). There's also plenty of parking space near the train station.

For all info about trains in Germany, you can use the website below.

Oh, and... don't forget to send a postcard home!

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As I said somewhere else on this page, parking is busy here but possible.
Either park along the Mosel if you find a spot. Or go to the parking garage in Endertstrasse.

We parked twice in Cochem. Once dead center near the bridge on Bockbrunnerplatz (parallel to the Moselpromenade) where we paid 2 euro for 2 hours (which is the max. time you can park here) . We came back after about 2 hours, filled up the meter (photo 2) and went to do the cablecar ride.
Then for our castle visit we drove back, direction Trier, and parked for 80 eurocent per hour (but we could park there for 10 hours max.). That's photo 1.

So you see, there are differences in price and parking time, depending where you park the car.

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This street sign gives you an idea of where you are when visiting Cochem. 88 kms from Trier, 49 kms from Koblenz. Also, if you are coming from direction Trier, you should know that parking possibilities stretch out right along Cochem. So don't get nervous to park the car anywhere, there's still plenty of parking space once you pass under the bridge, towards the trainstation (Bahnhof).

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Along the Mosel where the riverboats dock, you can hire a bicycle. Not necessarily to explore Cochem because that's done best on foot. But all along the Mosel are cycling paths and you see many people of all ages doing that.
A day's hire (24 hours) costs 8 euro (2007). To hire you need to show your ID and pay 20 euro deposit per bicycle.

Fahrrad = bicycle in German
Fahrradverleih = bicycle hire

Park your car somewhere along the Mosel. About the nearest would be Oberer Weg, paralel to the Mosel promenade. If you park along the Mosel in this area, the parking is free. Or it would cost you 80 eurocent per hour (Oberer weg).
Then you walk through the 1st gate which is Martinstor. This is a bit of a climb. Between Martinstor and Rochuskapelle it gets even steeper.
After the chapel you go down a bit to the little tiny Maria chapel (not on the map) and from there some steps up to the castle. When you arrive above you'll see a parking space on your left for only about 20 cars. This takes you about 15 minutes on foot and quite a bit of panting!

See the map.