A deep way to relax
ARE you finding holiday inspiration in ITV’S Lake District drama Deep Water?
Starring Anna Friel, it is based on Paula Daly’s novels and set against the picturesque backdrop of Lake Windermere.
Premier Cottages offers three-night stays at Mirefoot Cottages, 15 minutes from the lake, from £166.50pp based on four sharing. GERMANY’S most spectacular wine landscapes line the banks of the Rhine and Moselle, within striking distance of Frankfurt. Here, hundreds of artisan winemakers offer crisp, affordable bottles, which flow just as easily.
Slow flow The Rheingau
The north bank of the Rhine, a 45-minute drive west of Frankfurt, is predominantly riesling country – a velvety landscape quilted with vineyards which rise to a forelock of forest.
It looks down on water busy with river cruisers and freight ships, but this is essentially an unhurried place where the locals‘ quality of life is high.
The Rheingau is the most northerly wine-growing region in Europe but the region’s topography creates a microclimate that ensures more sunshine and warmth than in almost any other part of Germany.
After it has flowed past the popular town of Rudesheim, and all its surrounding vineyards, the river Rhine turns north and enters the Unesco-registered Rhine gorge. With rocky outcrops encrusted with castles, it is a romantic landscape that has inspired artists and poets.
For wine lovers there are small weingartens dotted at regular intervals along the river bank in the Rheingau. Winemakers here serve fresh and crisp dry rieslings at very modest prices to customers who can bring their own food.
Seek out Der Weingarten by the waterside in pretty Walluf village. See der-weingarten.com.
Flying chairs Rudesheim
During the season the cheery town of Rudesheim is thronged with international cruise passengers, their boats moored along the bank.
The town’s pretty cobbled streets are lined with half-timbered houses and restaurants, often with musicians playing.
Narrow Drosselgasse is the hub of evening life, and the waterside boulevard that it joins is lined with souvenir shops. Away from the river, the town is surrounded by vineyards. An old-fashioned chairlift departing from the main street of Oberstrasse provides an eagle-eye view as it climbs up above the vines to the Germania monument on the hilltop.
If you want to take the wines seriously in town, seek out the Rheinweinwelt, a winebar run by South African Annette Perabo, with 160 wines in professional dispensers – at just 90p a 20ml shot.
To stay locally, head for the Hotel Baron Knyphausen in the adjacent riverside town of Eltville, the local equivalent of a French wine-making chateau, with its own vintages. Doubles from £90, with breakfast. See gutshotel-baron-knyphausen.de.
Steep vines The Moselle
The Moselle is a tributary of the Rhine which flows across from France, a couple of hours’ drive west of Frankfurt.
It is the Rhine’s smaller sibling, with a lot of the same characteristics – lovely riverside towns and hilltop castles – but more peaceful, and more twisty.
There are fewer cruisers and freight ships at work here so the overall effect is much more serene. The valley is strung like a harp with steep sun-worshipping vineyards, most of them small and family owned.
In fact the steepest vineyards in the world are at Bremmer Calmont on a tight curve of the river by the village of Bremm, north of the town of Traben Trarbach.
A challenging hiking trail – klettertrack – leads le up the hill here and threads through the vineyards. vi It is well worth seeking out to witness w the backbreaking endeavour that must be involved in working at this angle.
Paired nicely Traben Trarbach and Bernkastel B Kues
These Th two wine-trading towns are the honeypot destinations de of the Moselle. The river is at its most m beautiful along the stretch between them. It has an excellent cycle path and a couple of passenger pa boats offering a regular day-time shuttle. sh See moselrundfahrten.de.
Both have castles on the hill behind, riverside pr promenades and restaurants. The quieter, Traben Tr Trarbach’s riverside mansions are in art nouveau st style, while Bernkastel Kues’s pedestrianised na narrow streets are all half-timbered and wonky – rightly busy with tour groups. Both are