Best Dog-Friendly Hotels in Mosel and Rhine

Before you go

What happens when you get there

Driving from the Channel ports

From Calais or Dunkirk the route runs through Belgium towards Aachen, then down to the Mosel at Koblenz or Cochem, or through Luxembourg to Trier. It's roughly 500 kilometres, a long day or an easy two. Frankfurt serves the Rhine and Luxembourg is closest to Trier, but with a dog the car is the practical choice.

Paperwork for UK dogs

Leaving Great Britain your dog needs an Animal Health Certificate. Coming home, a vet must give the tapeworm treatment 24 to 120 hours before you re-enter, and you come back by ferry, Eurotunnel or another approved route.

Boats

The Kolb family's Moselrundfahrten boats around Cochem and Bernkastel carry dogs free, on a short lead, with a muzzle for dogs that bite, and the crew can refuse a dog if the boat is full. KD on the Rhine and Mosel charges EUR 3.90 for a dog on panorama trips and scheduled sailings, but not on event, party, Lounge or Advent cruises or the KD Moment ship.

Castles

The Reichsburg in Cochem takes well-behaved dogs on a lead on its guided tours, though not at the Gasterey medieval feasts. The Marksburg welcomes well-behaved dogs, guided tour only. Burg Eltz doesn't allow dogs inside the castle rooms, but the grounds and the walk up the Elz valley are fine. At Burg Rheinfels, the hotel next door says dogs on a lead can explore large parts of the ruin and the museum.

Wine tastings

The pattern is outdoors yes, cellars no. At Kloster Eberbach dogs can do the Steinberg vineyard walk but not the cellar, and dogs aren't on the monastery tours, though you can arrange to leave your dog tied up at the Klosterkasse. Schloss Vollrads keeps dogs off its cellar tour. Book vineyard walks and courtyard tastings, and ask before anything underground.

Dogs at breakfast

Most hotels here keep dogs away from the buffet. Richtershof and Kessler-Meyer keep dogs out of the buffet area only. The Bellevue and Villa Hügel hold or assign you a table. At S.A. Prüm the historic parquet keeps dogs out of the breakfast room, but in summer you can eat together in the courtyard. Moselschlösschen and Zum Kurfürsten are a no.

Rivers

There are no beaches, only riverbanks, and no seasonal dog ban. Don't let a dog swim in the main channel of the Rhine, where the current is strong and there's constant commercial shipping. Quiet Mosel shallows and side streams are safer, but check the current first.

Vets

For the Rheingau, Tierklinik Hofheim in Hofheim am Taunus runs a 24-hour emergency service, +49 6192 290 290. On the Mosel side, phone Tierklinik Trier first on +49 651 938660, as it can't cover every night shift, and use the Rhineland-Palatinate rota at notdienst-rheinland-pfalz.de.

Best walks

The Mosel-Radweg riverside path through Lieser, Bernkastel-Kues, Wehlen and Mülheim, with Burg Veldenz up the side valley behind Mülheim and the climb to Burg Landshut above Bernkastel. The Grevenburg ruin above Trarbach. The Moselufer and the Palastgarten in Trier. The Traumschleife Mittelrhein, a loop of about 15 kilometres near St. Goar through woods and meadows. For long days, the Moselsteig runs roughly 365 kilometres from Perl to Koblenz in stages, and the Rheinsteig covers the right bank from Bonn to Wiesbaden past Braubach, the Loreley and Rüdesheim. The steep vineyard stretches have little shade, which is hard on short legs in summer.

When to go

May, June and September for walking weather with the boats running. High summer is hot on the open vineyard slopes, so walk early. The wine festivals run from late summer through October and fill Bernkastel-Kues, Cochem and Rüdesheim, and the harvest runs roughly September to October, when dogs should stay on a lead in the vines. In winter the boats run a reduced timetable or pause, and some hotels, the Bellevue in Traben-Trarbach among them, close over Christmas.