The Rhine and Mosel Valleys

On Friday, Brenda and Tony took the train into Cologne to see the sights of the city. Mikayla and I stayed home so that we could get some shopping done and also rest up for the big trip we had planned for the next day, which was to drive down and see some of the castles in the Rhine and Mosel river valleys. After much research and figuring out which of the many many castles that are in the area we really wanted to see, we narrowed it down to two castles. Originally we had thought about trying to drive the entire Mosel valley as well, but once we found out that it would be about a 4 hour drive, we changed our minds.

Both of the castles that we picked, Marksburg and Burg Eltz, are among the most well-preserved castles in Germany. Both of them have stayed pretty much in the same family line and have managed to avoid most of the war and conflicts that destroyed other castles.

We started the day by driving straight to Koblenz, which is the city where the Rhine and Mosel rivers meet. Most of the interesting castles on the Rhine are south of Koblenz, and from there south is what is called "the Romantic Rhine." Marksburg wasn't very far south of the city, which is one of the reasons why we picked it since it wouldn't be too much of a back track to get to the Mosel river valley.

Our first view of Marksburg, which turned out to be the best overall castle shot since you couldn't really get a good view of it any where close to the castle itself.

Darren and I helping Mikayla up the stairs

Darren posing half in and half out of the wall

The main entrance to the castle

Since the only way to see the inside of the castle was to join a tour, we bought tickets and went along. The tour was all in German, but they did have English guide books that you could rent so we could understand what we were seeing.

Looking back over the entrance structure of the castle

A view out over the Rhine river

A castle tower

A view down the steps to the wine cellar and of the kitchen. It was really interesting to see how a medieval kitchen was set up.

A hanging kettle

Mikayla and I going through a very short door

The ceiling of the castle chapel

Darren posing with a knight's helmet

After leaving Marksburg and eating the picnic lunch we had brought along, we got back into the cars to drive to our next destination. It was nice that the drive was long enough that Mikayla had a good nap in the car on the way.

The first castle that we saw in the Mosel river valley, Burg Thurau.

And then we were at Burg Eltz. I wasn't really prepared for how beautiful the castle was, even though I had seen a couple of pictures. Its setting on a small rise in the middle of a large valley was breathtaking. We parked the cars and then had to hike for about 15 minutes down the hill before you turn the corner and there it is. It was definitely worth the hike, although we did figure that for the hike back up the hill we would pay the shuttle van to take us.

Our first view of Burg Eltz

Darren, Mikayla, and I with Burg Eltz in the background

Brenda and Tony with Burg Eltz in the background

The other side of Burg Eltz

The courtyard of the castle

Mikayla being entertained by Darren as we waited for the castle tour to start. Again, they wouldn't let you actually see the inside of the castle without a guided tour. We had to wait for a bit for the English one, but it was so nice to be able to understand what was being said in a tour that it was definitely worth the wait. They wouldn't let us take pictures of the inside of this castle, but it was very nice and well preserved on the inside with a lot of original furnishings. There was a bit of renovation work going on so that they could stabilize part of the castle, but it was still a very interesting castle to see and we enjoyed it.

A castle door

After the tour ended and we had a bit to eat in the castle restaurant, we headed back to the main road to see about the shuttle back to the cars. As we were on our way there, it started to pour down rain. This is a picture of Brenda and I as we took a bit of shelter from the downpour in the arch of the gateway.

Darren and Mikayla running back through the rain to the gate where the rest of us were. Mikayla loved the rain and getting wet and it was hard to get her to stay put under the arch and out of the rain. Luckily, I had packed along a dry change of clothes for her in the car so that she didn't have to sit in drenched clothes for the drive home.

After leaving Burg Eltz, we decided to drive a little further up the Mosel river valley to see a couple more towns before turning off to head back home. It was a very pretty drive.

The castle above Cochem

Vineyards were everywhere

We had a spectacular sunset on the way home.

Bacharach and The Rhine River

The weekend that my brother, Nate, was here visiting us, we decided to go to Bacharach, a cute little town that we had heard about that is located in wine country along the Rhine River. We had heard that the town was a bit touristy, but worth the trip. When we looked at booking a hotel online we weren't able to find one actually in the town of Bacharach (and the good Bed and Breakfast place we had heard about from a friend was booked), but we were able to find one that didn't look like it was too far down the river from there. So, we got in the car and drove the two hour drive to see the sights.

The whole region is beautiful, with steep slopes going sharply up from the river on each side. You can see why it is such a popular destination for tourists to come and explore. It was breathtaking to see the vineyards on the sides of the mountains, up slopes so steep you wonder how the grapes are harvested to make the wine. The river itself is a beautiful and fairly fast-moving river. Along the way there are many castles dotted along the hills. From the town of Bacharach, while you were standing in the castle above the town, you could look out and see at least four other castles along the river. Many people come and tour this stretch of the river by boat. There are lots of different tour lines where the boats run all day between the little towns and you can get on and off as you like to tour the towns and castles then get on again on a later boat.

We had a good time looking around the town of Bacharach. We had a nice lunch at a restaurant with a river view, although Nate wasn't a fan of either the sweet Riesling wine (the regional specialty) nor the sweet beer that he ordered by accident. After lunch, we hiked up to see the castle above the town, Burg Stahleck, and then along the castle walls, and back down to the river.

The church in Bacharach

A view down the well in the castle

A look at the vineyards surrounding Bacharach

The view down the Rhine River from Burg Stahleck, which is a hostel where you can stay

Burg Stahleck

Nate, Mikayla, Darren, and I with part of Burg Stahleck in the background

The vineyards and the ruins of and old chapel in Bacharach

Downtown Bacharach

Darren and Mikayla and Bacharach city walls

Nate and Mikayla chilling on the steps. She had fun with her Uncle Nate.

After we toured around the town, we decided that it would be good to go check in to our hotel, which was located in the town of Rüdesheim. The site that we booked the hotel through said it was only about 13 km away from Bacharach, but didn't tell us that it was on the opposite side of the river from where we were. There aren't many bridges across the Rhine in this area, so we started thinking that we might have to do some good backtracking before we could get to the side of the river we needed to be on. Luckily, though, there are lots of ferries that shuttle people and cars back and forth across the river and several spots. We didn't have to go far before we found one. We drove up, saw that the ferry was there, drove on to the ferry, and it took off. Perfect timing.

On the ferry

Once we got to Rüdesheim, we checked into our hotel. We had reserved a "Junior Suite" that said that it fit three people. What we pictured from the words "Junior Suite" was quite a bit different than what we got. We were hoping for a couple of rooms so that we could close the door and Mikayla could sleep in one of them. What we got, though, was a long room that had a wall that went part of the way and stopped. No door. It wasn't a bad room, although we were near enough to the busy train tracks that it was pretty loud in there every time a train went by. They did have a great pool, though, which Darren, Mikayla, and I tested out after dinner while Nate went for a walk around the town.

After the pool, I let Darren and Mikayla head to bed while I went out to see if I could find Nate and to do a little exploring of my own. The town was really great, and I discovered that we might have a been a little hasty in finding a place to eat. We enjoyed our meal, but there were lots of fun restaurants along a street called Drosselgasse that looked like a lot of fun. In one, as I walked by I could see someone playing music and pretty much everyone in the restaurant singing along. I saw Irish themed bars, typical German restaurants and bars, Italian restaurants, and even Chinese food. It was fun to just wander around and see a little bit of the night life of the city. I never did run in to Nate, but met up with him back at the hotel.

Darren and Mikayla enjoying the pool

The next morning, we decided that we wanted to take a ride up the gondola that we could see that went up the mountain from Rüdesheim. They had a package that included tickets up the gondola from Rüdesheim, a couple of miles of walking through the forest at the top, a ride down a chairlift to another town, and a boat ride along the Rhine back to Rüdesheim. For an extra euro we could have included a castle tour in the trip, but we thought we were a little short on time to throw that in. It was a beautiful trip and we had a good time.

Mikayla and I on the gondola

Nate on the gondola

A view back towards Rüdesheim from near the top of the gondola ride

Darren posing

The Niederwalddenkmal, which was built to commemorate the foundation of the German Empire, after the end of the Franco-Prussian War. It was finished in 1883.

Nate on the chair lift back down the mountain

A view of a castle on the Rhine from the chairlift

Another castle, this one viewed from the boat back to Rüdesheim

After we got off the boat, we looked around the town a bit more, did a little souvenir shopping, then got in the car to go back home. We decided to drive the long way down the Rhine River on the side that we were on to see the sights, rather than taking the ferry to the other side and getting on a quicker road back to Embken. It was a beautiful drive.

Uncle Nate