Hike from Bullay to Zell through the Vineyards in Mosel, Germany

Around this time of the year (September), Dutchman and I went on an extended 3-day weekend getaway in the Mosel River area in Germany.

The village, Merl, between Bullay and Zell.

It is my second time in the Mosel.

Dutchman and I stayed in the idyllic village on the river valley called “Bullay”. We really wanted to stay on the Mosel River, so we picked this village because it was the only one with an available accommodation right off the river. This was a priority for us, a non-negotiable requirement for the trip, so we were so happy to have found this Bed & Breakfast.

When we arrived here, we also found out that Bullay, was in fact, a great base area for hiking. It even has a very scenic route that goes through the vineyards and is very well recommended by many hikers. We were happy campers and felt really lucky because we booked this accommodation fairly late.

This is the Zell village, our destination of the hike.

The first day was spent in lovely Cochem, perhaps the queen town or village in the Mosel, and we did this hike on our second day.

We love to take our time and tend to do things leisurely while on holiday. So we woke up a bit late, followed by a slow warm buffet breakfast at the B&B, then some more casual lounging and surfing (yeah, reading the news online) in the room before we actually hit the road. It was just before 12 noon when we left for the hike.

Dutchman was also searching for the best hiking route. It looks like there is only 1 main hiking route if we are going to Zell. The hiking trail goes through Bullay town, passing a hilly residential part of the village, and then for the most part of this trail, we will be walking on the lush terraced vineyards overlooking the snaky Mosel River.

We used a GPS trail tracker device, a gift I bought for the Dutchman many years ago which he mainly uses for his local bike trips. I believe the route was about 12 kilometers, and it wasn’t a straight route as we had to go zigzag through the vineyards, a small forest, down a small ravine and a couple of small settlements. We even got lost but found our way back. We also managed to do some shortcuts. Yeah, we were cheaters because we took the more scenic shortcut route.

September is the early autumn season which means the vines were flourishing in full green splendour. The leaves have not changed its colours yet (in October they turn to yellow, gold, orange and brown) but we saw everywhere a carpet thick of vineyard scenery, bend after bend, rolling down the terraced valley with lots of grapes! It is magical here. It is a place that can easily be used as a stage set of a fairy tale story. That is how beautiful this place is.

Our hike was similar to this, although we hiked more kilometers and it took us approximately 3 hours including the stops. The Mosel River has so many stunning bends. It is paradise here.

Now I think at this point I will let the pictures do the talking with the occasional caption of course =)

The beautiful Double-deck Bridge (DoppelstockbrÃ¼cke Alf-Bullay) in Alf-Bullay.

A modern quiet residential in Bullay.

We passed by a Jewish graveyard.

Moi at the beginning of the hike in Bullay vineyard area.

The view to the Double-deck Bridge of Alf-Bullay.

Great place to stop to enjoy the views. Isn’t this stunning here?

I got no words for this =)

We passed by a load of tourists on this bend. The Mosel area is where the Riesling type of grape grows and is the third largest wine region in Germany.

The Mosel (Moselle) River.

Panoramic shot and that’s Zell in the distance.

Moi in between the vineyards. It wasn’t that easy climbing up and down to take this picture. Dutchman and I really liked Germany so we will become regular visitors.