Trier, Germany
September 27-28
Day 1 - Trier
I arrived in Trier via a train from Paris with Carolyn and Mike – a couple I met on my Rick Steves’ Eastern France in 14 Days tour in the fall of 2015. We had started our GAS tour the same way we ended the Eastern France tour: having dinner in Paris at Le Relais de L’Entrecôte (in a word, yum!).
We took a cab to the hotel, one of the more unusual accommodations on a Rick Steves tour. The Residenz am Zuckerberg Trier is both a hotel and a German retirement home. All the hotel rooms were enormous – they contained a bedroom, bathroom, living room, and small kitchen, plus outdoor patio/balcony. Additionally, the hotel was a short walk to the city center (like all hotels on a Rick Steves tour).
After we checked in, we found my fellow Boston-based friend, Anna, and made our way to lunch (see “Food Porn” page for all meal photos). At 4 pm our group gathered in one of the hotel’s meeting spaces to officially kick off the tour.
Our official Rick Steves guide, Fabian Rueger, introduced himself and the tour, and went around the room so all 24 of us could begin to put names to faces. At first, it always seems like such a lot of people to get to know – but I guarantee you, by the end of the tour you will all know each other so much better (and some you’ll even get to know so well, you decide to book another tour together!).
Immediately following the introductions, Fabian herded all of us cats on a short walking tour of Trier to help us all get our bearings. He ended the tour by taking us straight to our first group dinner at Weinstube zum Domstein where we sat in the basement amongst Roman artifacts that were found in excavations done in Trier.
Day 2 - Trier, Beilstein, Burg Eltz
The second day of our tour started with a full walking tour of Trier with a local guide, Ben. He showed us the main historical sites of the city, starting with Cathedral, continuing to the Roman Imperial baths, and ending at the Porta Nigra – the only remaining Roman-built gate into the city. I am always amazed on my tours of Europe at the vastness of the Roman Empire, and how there are ruins everywhere. Trier’s are definitely worth seeing.
After the walking tour, we said goodbye to Ben and hopped on our coach for the first time – meeting our driver for the next two weeks, Sylvan. We drove to the town of Beilstein, which sits on the side of the river Mosel, and had lunch outdoors overlooking the water. Beilstein is one of those postcard-perfect European villages – it is tiny and definitely off the beaten track. After a wonderful lunch at Hotel Haus Lipmann, we had time enough to wander through the few streets to take some pictures before getting back on the bus to head to Burg Eltz.
Burg Eltz is Rick’s favorite castle in Europe – and I could see why. First, it is actually still used by the family that has owned it for the past 850 years. There’s actually three separate homes that make up the castle – and on the guided tour, you get to see two of them. Our very enthusiastic guide, Daniel, took us through the interiors in about 45 minutes.
After the tour, those of us who were interested took a long, winding walk through the forest back to the bus. This hike was completely worth it, as the woods are just gorgeous. It is a forty-five minute hike, much of which is uphill, so if it is very warm out, make sure you have layers you can remove and plenty of water. Although we were there at the end of September, it was a very hot day for us.
Day two ended with dinner on our own. The group seemed to scatter to every direction of Trier – there are plenty of places to dine.