After a couple of failed attempts to visit the Rhine Valley, we both had huge smiles as the Lufthansa 747 left the ground on the way to Frankfurt, Germany. We had twice planned this trip having gone through the exercise of researching the locations, choosing and reserving great hotels, and making detailed maps of what to see and do. All this only to have the rug pulled out from under us due to pandemic related travel restrictions.
Of course, to add a little drama, German rail workers and airport workers had been holding strikes at key airports affecting train and airport services in the days leading up to our departure. A couple of days before we left, Berlin Airport was shut down with thousands of stranded passengers. A week prior it was Düsseldorf. Fortunately, our flight to Frankfurt was ok and even though we left almost two hours late we were thrilled. Finally on our way to Germany!
Getting there
We had booked a direct flight with Lufthansa out of Miami to Frankfurt. But it was actually cheaper to connect by train to Cologne via Frankfurt than to get out in Frankfurt without taking the train. Some kind of promotion to promote rail connections which are being increasingly favored to eliminate the carbon emissions of short flights. We came to learn that strikes aside, rail service in Germany is reliable, efficient, and fast.
Once on board our outbound flight to Germany, we waved goodbye to our faithful cat and did our best to get a few hours of shut eye as we dreamed of castles along the Rhine River.
Lufthansa service
It really was nice to get to enjoy some great service with a smile. Hot croissants, expresso, and a nice meal. A big step above our recent experiences with local US airlines.
Arriving in Frankfurt was smooth sailing and connecting to the train was quick and intuitive despite being a long walk from our arrival gate. Before we knew it, we were on the long-distance train traveling at 250 km/h towards Cologne.
One can easily spend weeks in the Rhine Valley and still not see everything. We followed some advice we had heard and preselected some of the more famous castles and picked a few good spots to stay, what follows is a recap of our 12-day adventure around the Rhine, Moselle, and Neckar rivers.
Cologne (or Kohn), Germany
Arriving in Cologne by train from Frankfurt was fast and easy. Only 50 minutes, much faster than by car. The Deutsche Bahn trains are smooth, fast, and run just about every 15 minutes!
The first thing you see exiting the train station is the huge and magnificent Cologne Cathedral. Our jaws literally dropped when we first laid eyes on it. It is enormous.
It’s free to visit, but there are boxes for donations that go towards the restoration and upkeep. We spend many hours there admiring the cathedral as a whole. Be sure to go down into the crypt and treasury.
While it is indeed an effort, we did not regret climbing the 500 or so steps to see the top of the tower. It’s a gorgeous view and you get to see and appreciate the grandeur of the gargoyles and all the ornamentation and decorations that look so tiny from the street below when looking up.
We also wandered around the Old Market Square and visited some other churches and just enjoyed finally being in Germany. We stumbled upon a mouthwatering dessert place where we sampled some delicious Bing cherry pie. For dinner, we found a lively authentic beer garden for our first goulash soup, Wiener schnitzel and of course one of many apple strudels to come.
Heading to Boppard, Germany
After one night in Cologne, we headed off to our first destination along the Rhine River, Boppard.
We chose Boppard mainly for its central proximity to the many castles along the Middle Rhine. It is a charming town quite typical among many along the banks of the river. Our hotel, the Bellevue gave us a nice view onto the Rhine River and even had indoor parking. Parking, even before high season was hard to find on the street. We were happy to have a spot reserved.
We finished our day arriving in Boppard where we would be spending the next three nights at the waterfront Bellevue Rheinhotel, a hotel with a rich history. There were even photos of the Emperor of Japan who had seemingly stayed in our room some years back.
We chose the hotel because it was on the waterfront and had the KD river cruise boat leaving from just a few steps away. Truth be told after visiting, we realize that the KD stops can be found in just about every town and there is a myriad of good options for hotels on the waterfront.
Boppard was a charming town, another good choice could be Bacharach where we also stopped by car to explore.
Brühl Castle
This was one of our favorite castles of the tour. Reminiscent of a French château it brought back memories of our trip to France’s Loire Valley. It is only accessible with a guided tour, but the guide was great and took her time.
The Rococo style castle dates to the 18th century and is a nice addition to a Rhine Valley trip. One of the most amazing features was the intricate marble staircase.
The gardens were also impressive, and we expect that further into the summer these would have been filled with flowers.
You can also get a combo ticket to visit the adjacent hunting falconry lodge where they trained falcons to hunt herons. Interestingly enough we learned that the herons that were hunted were only marked and not killed. While better than killing I suppose letting them be would be the nicest thing to do!
Drachenburg Castle
Our second castle, Schloss Drachenburg, was really like a fairytale castle complete with turrets with spiral staircases. While it’s built in a medieval style it was built in the late 1800s as a private villa.
As we came to learn, like many of the castles here, we had to find a spot in town to park and then hike up a hill to the castle. At Drachenburg, there was a funicular which we could take up to the castle and even to a viewpoint above.
This was already a full day so we headed off to check into our Boppard hotel for the night.
Famous Rhine Valley Castles
Stolzenfels Castle
Next day, we headed to our next castle, Stolzenfels. You can see the imposing structure from across the Rhine but unfortunately for us arriving at the castle’s gate the castle turned out to be closed. This was despite a conflicting sign saying that it should be open on the day and on the date we were there. Oh well.
We walked up the hill and made it through the main gate which was unlocked and unmanned letting us get some good views of the outside. Sure enough, the ticket office was closed however and the main entry way to the castle was locked. Since we had our days planned out, we opted to just take a few pictures and move on.
Marksburg Castle
For our second stop that day, we crossed over to the opposite side of the Rhine to visit the Marksburg Castle. This is claimed as the only castle on the Rhine that was not completely destroyed during WW2.
This castle is a famous one and a must-see in the Rhine Valley. It retains some original walls and even a ceiling from the year 1200. You can only visit with a guided tour, so we signed up and waited only a few minutes for the tour to start.
Unfortunately, the English tours are fewer and further apart, so we took a German tour and were handed a small paper with information and numbered locations. This served as a good reference and our tour guide knew a little English and gave us some tidbits of information during the tour which was much appreciated.
Koblenz, Germany
Following our castle visit, we headed off to Koblenz where we wandered around looking for parking for a while. There are various zones with numbers. It was confusing and just to be safe we opted for an indoor 24-hour public parking spot. Parking was always reasonably priced here (well perhaps except at the hotels), 1 euro usually got us an hour or more. The inside parking for a half day here was 5 euros.
Much of Koblenz historic center is possible to explore on foot. We wandered around the Palace (which was closed to public) admiring the gardens. The famous Deutsches Eck monument marks the confluence of the Moselle and the Rhine rivers. There are boat tours that cruise both rivers, but we were a bit early in the season in late April and we couldn’t find a tour that fit our schedule.
Be sure to take the cable car over to visit the Koblenz Fortress too for some great views. While there was not a whole lot to see at the fortress itself except for the massive size of the place we did sample the apple cake at the restaurant which was excellent.
We saw the dark clouds forming and thought it best to return to our car park with the return ticket on the cable car (which would actually stop working in case of bad storms). Were we ever glad we did. Rushing to the car we started to head out and shortly after we got pelted with half inch hail stones. Pulling over we hid under the alcove of a gas station to ride it out along with other drivers. Everyone was shocked to see the large hail.
Boppard Old Town
Back in Boppard once the rain had subsided, we got out to explore the Old Town and to visit the historic Church of St. Severus next to the Market Square. The basilica was completed 1236 and built atop ancient Roman baths. There is also a small archeological site with the vestiges of a 4th century Roman citadel.
While the hotel had a nice dining venue, we also enjoyed trying some of the other local spots in town along the waterfront.
Bacharach, Germany
The next day, we also explored Bacharach, another charming little town along the Rhine and another nice place to stay from which one could take day trips. We climbed up to see the ruins of an old chapel (Ruine Wernerkapelle) on a hill and saw the Kirch St. Peter Church.
In the area there were many hiking trails, some of which went from castle to adjacent castle.
Rhine River Cruise
Just steps from our hotel, there was a KD cruise called the Loreley which did a return trip from Boppard to Sankt Goar. It cruises past many of the castles as well as the Loreley Statue. We enjoyed this different vantage point and it was a great way to take pictures of the Katz Castle and the Maus Castle among others.
Further down the Rhine there is also a small castle on an island, the Pfalzgrafenstein Castle. It was originally built as a toll station for all the navigational traffic.
And of course, there were more castles to see. Some are only available to be seen by appointment, but you can still get some great pictures as you travel along the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle.
Staying in a castle
Everyone should have this on their bucket list! Staying in a castle is something that we had tried in Ireland (link) and very much enjoyed. What’s not to like? It was amazing.
There are venues available for every budget ranging from a hostel in a castle in Bacharach to many converted castles turned hotels up and down the Rhine. You must often book early as these venues are popular and rooms are very limited.
Schoenburg Castle
We stayed at the Schoenburg Castle in a tower room where we had to go up a circular staircase to our room. Climbing the medieval stone steps in our tower was very cool! Like being in a medieval movie.
Our room was literally like a museum with huge antique furniture like what we had seen in many of the actual castle museums we had visited. Even cooler was that as you opened the old vintage dresser drawer, there was a flat screen tv and a mini bar or safe built into the furniture. Modern amenities in a thousand-year-old castle!
As a bonus, staying in the castle gave us a key to the expansive private gardens that we could explore. We felt like royalty opening the big cast iron gate with our private key and entering the gardens that had been visited by royals over the last 1,000 years!
The Schoenburg Castle is located in Oberwesel and is well situated to explore the Upper Middle Rhine Valley which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Upper Middle Rhine Valley
Rheinfels Castle and Ruins
Next day we continued along the Rhine and stopped at the Rheinfels Castle and Ruins in St. Goar. This too was a wonderful venue to visit and is also available as a hotel.
Although the rooms are adjacent to the castle, you are literally on the castle grounds. Whether staying or not, it was a great place to stop and spend an hour exploring the grounds and what remained of the 13th century castle-fortress.
Sooneck Castle
Just up the road is the Sooneck Castle overlooking the Rhine. This castle seems to hang off the side of the cliffs. It was beautiful with the many terraces, overlooks and towers. Very picturesque.
The castle dates back to the 1200s and is a delight to explore. You can do a self-guided tour following the suggested itinerary. There is also a small café on site.
Rheinstein Castle
Also close by is the beautiful Rheinstein Castle. We loved the outside firepit hanging from the tower (which was seemingly also used for discipline). You could climb up the narrow stairs to the top of the tower for some great views. They had a great numbered map to layout the self-guided tour.
Bingen, Germany
Further south down the Rhine is the town of Bingen. We drove down for the day and started off by climbing up to the Kloop Castle and its small tower. The hilltop castle is home to the city council of Bingen. While closed when we visited, there was a museum. There was a restaurant on site which looked good too.
From the tower we got great views of the narrow Mouse Tower on the river. This 14th century tower served as a signal tower until 1974.
Mainz, Germany
The large town of Mainz is one where we had originally planned to stay in a previous failed attempt at visiting Germany. We drove into town and parked along the waterfront to explore the Old Town and the Mainz Cathedral which was also very impressive.
It’s located near the Old Market Square. This 1000-year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Mainz.
We stopped briefly at the old Castle Gate for a few photos and up the hill to the Citadel for some views, but the best parts were the historical center and the cathedral.
Moselle Valley
Cochem Castle
Next, we were off to the Moselle where we visited the Cochem Castle (also called Reichburg Castle). Much of this castle had been rebuilt like many of the castles along the Rhine but there were some parts that were 700 years old such as the Witches’ Tower (so named because it was the only thing standing after the French burned down the castle in 1689).
After climbing up the steep hill to the entrance, we saw that they offered guided tours every 15 minutes that lasted 45 minutes. While nice that the tours were frequent and we didn’t have to wait, it really felt pretty rushed. Somewhat like an amusement ride where once done we were ushered back outside the gate and into the castle courtyard 10 euros lighter and somewhat unsatisfied. Even so, it is a famous and popular venue, and we were happy to have come and seen what we could.
Moselle River Cruise
For lunch we hustled back down the steep slope and boarded a short cruise tour on the Moselle to get more pictures of this beautiful hilltop castle from the water.
There wasn’t much else to see along the Moselle, but the boat serves some appetizing traditional lunch dishes (and of course more apple strudel!). We enjoyed resting our feet a bit and relaxing on deck.
Eltz Castle
A bit further afield but a famous venue for river cruisers (and crowded!) the Eltz Castle is in the woods on top of a hill. You can hike up, but we opted for the shuttle that drives up and down the steep slope and costs only 2 euros. A good investment to save our legs for the stairs and terraces to be climbed inside.
The 850-year-old Eltz Castle comes complete with towers and turrets, just what you would expect from a medieval castle. It’s located high up on the banks of a small river in the Moselle Valley. While the castle can only be visited by guided tours you can roam freely to view the castle’s treasury. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside the main castle.
Trier, Germany
The next day we drove out to the oldest city in Germany, Trier. This turned out to be one of our favorite cities on our tour.
We started by visiting the colossal city gate, Porta Nigra, dating back to Roman times (160 – 200 AD). We marveled at the Aula Palatina, an ancient Roman throne hall (built for Emperor Constantine in 300 AD) turned Protestant church attached to a castle! Remnants of Roman baths and a coliseum could be found across the city all within walking distance.
Near the Porta Nigra you’ll also find a Karl Marx statue and you can walk up to his childhood home now turned museum.
Of the three cathedrals we saw in Mainz and Cologne and Trier, the Trier Cathedral impressed us the most. Of course, all were spectacular in their own way. But the intricate details and craftsmanship in the marble and wood inside the Cathedral of Trier were just amazing. The hanging organ was adorned with silver flower decorations and was beautiful. We could have spent hours here and not even seen many of the details.
Near the cathedral was the Old Town Square where we enjoyed another traditional meal and found a cathedral cookie shop filled with treats. One of our favorite cities of our trip.
Burg Landshut
On our way back to our hotel, we also drove up the hill to visit Burg Landshut. This impressive hilltop castle ruin has been converted into a restaurant and offers panoramic views of the Moselle Valley.
We walked around admiring the views of the Moselle and the ancient stone walls which were starting to blend together by now and starting to look somewhat the same. Hard to believe we we’re starting to get castled out. Looking at the pictures when planning the trip from home we were sure we’d want to see them all and they all looked unique, but up close they all started to look quite similar.
Another castle hotel stay
For the Moselle part of our trip, we booked at a wonderful Marriott property, the Schloss Lieser. Being frequent Marriott guests, we were upgraded to a wonderful room that again looked like a museum. The huge balcony overlooking the garden had a couple of nesting pigeons sharing a nook with us between the ghoulish looking decorations along the palace walls.
Our room had antique chandeliers, pottery, and even ceramic room warmers like we saw at the various châteaux. Waking up and having coffee on our private terrace looking into the garden below again made us feel like royalty.
The restaurant downstairs was also headed up by a famous chef. Dinner was served in the former living room of the castle and in what was once a lavish residence.
We were so happy to have the upgraded room and decided we would splurge and enjoy a dinner which was excellent. We had to laugh however when we almost decided to share the €20 rhubarb cake made from the rhubarb from the castle’s gardens. I guess we just assumed it would be large for the price but what came out was about two bites. Well, I guess it is Royal rhubarb and when you’re famous you leave them wanting more. Ha-ha!
Bruchsal Palace
As we headed south to Heidelberg, we stopped at the Bruchsal Palace. We had hoped that this palace would be on the scale of Versailles or Chantilly but despite the online reviews and pictures it did not compare to either.
Unfortunately, much of the palace had been destroyed in the Second World War and while they have been restoring it many of the murals and decorations were painted on and somehow underwhelming. That combined with the somewhat stony-faced curator that demanded I check my small travel purse before entering the castle (like I might try and steal a painting in it somehow!) all kind of soured us towards the venue and we moved on after a quick visit.
Heidelberg, Germany
Back on the road our next and final stop on our Rhine Valley road trip was the furthest south, the town of Heidelberg. The Heidelberg Castle overshadows the whole town and is simply enormous. We saved this for our second day and opted to cross the river and climb up to the Philosophers’ Way to get views of the castle and the town from across the Neckar.
Heidelberg Castle
The castle is simply outstanding. Some parts date back to the 1200s and despite the castle being ravaged by fire and wars, it’s a must-see. The inner rooms can only be visited with a guided tour which is well worth it. There are English tours many times per day, and we timed our arrival around this.
Even after the tour, you can easily spend hours exploring the gardens and the other venues in the castle such as the Pharmacy Museum showcasing old potions and tools from the Middle Ages. You’ll also find what was the largest wine barrel we had ever seen. Holding a record 221,726 liters it is an impressive site. It even has a dance floor on top of it!
Heidelberg Old Town
Making our way down the steep hill into the town we explored the iconic Old Bridge along with the Brass Monkey statue. Made as a reminder to everyone about equality the idea was that it didn’t matter if you lived in the city or outside the city, we are all equal.
We visited some of the other churches and walked in the Old Town.
We happened to be in town for the asparagus festival and every restaurant had white asparagus special dishes. Much milder that the green asparagus we’re accustomed to, we enjoyed tasting the specials consisting of white asparagus spears with hollandaise sauce and new potatoes. A simple but delicious dish!
And back to Cologne
And with that we headed back to Cologne where we would spend our final day before our early train and plane combo ticket back home.
We had some friends of ours come up to meet us from Berlin by train. Nora and Claudia are fellow scuba divers with whom we’ve developed a friendship over the years. They actually adopted our first prototype Dryfob container. As native Germans, they led us off the tourist track in Cologne and showed us a side of the city that most tourists don’t get to see.
We walked across beautiful parks and enjoyed local food at a local cafe (filled with birch trees). We were thrilled that they took the time to come meet us and to make our final day in Germany so special.
Conclusion
Starting out we were not quite sure what to expect in Germany’s Rhine Valley. Would it be like our castle adventure in the Loire Valley, or like Ireland. It actually turned out to be just different. A unique adventure and something we enjoyed having the opportunity to do.
While we tried our best at a few words in German, most places spoke English well enough that we could get by.
We purposefully left out some of the castles further south with the expectation that one day we would be back to enjoy Munich and Bavaria.
When we planned the trip, we thought that the car would be convenient but in reality, the trains and boats were so plentiful and frequent that with a little more planning and preparation one could certainly do this trip without a car and having to worry about driving and parking.
There are also many charming riverside villages to choose from where one could stay, and many castle-hotels and restaurants to be enjoyed. Part of the fun is taking a chance and trying something new. Germany’s Rhine Valley is a wonderful experience not to be missed.