Smiles from Miles Away

With Ryan’s parents in town we decided to take a weekend road trip to the Rhine River Valley in Germany. This area is *relatively* close to Amsterdam and known for the vast number of castles and the Riesling wines from the area. I put *stars* around being close as we seemed to hit several accidents and traffic so it took longer than expected. You can see the below map that castles everywhere! We started the trip in Rudesheim and then went north from there.

Rudesheim

We started off the trip at a local winery when we arrived and tried several (probably too many) types of Rieslings. The staff were so friendly. My favorite part is when Ryan’s dad tried to order a beer at the winery… The server bluntly corrected his order and told him he is at a winery and can’t get a beer! Sometimes you just need someone to call you out and help you make the right decision. 🤣

Kloop Castle

Our first stop of the castle tour was the Kloop Castle! This castle was presumably built after 1240 and since 1897 has been home of the town administration. Check out model Ryan at the castle- what a stud 😉

Rheinstein Castle

The next stop was along the way was the Rheinstein Castle. It was a steep walk up to the castle, but fun to walk around the entire place with views into the valley. Note, look at some of the gaps in the stairs around the castle- not for those afraid of heights. Although, the castle was built around 1290-1295 so if it has stood up this long it is probably fine 🙂 The bathroom sign also gave us all a laugh so I had to share.

Bacharach

We continued on and stopped in the town of Bacharach which was highly recommended by Rick Steves. It continued to be cloudy here in the morning, but by the time we left after lunch the sun was finally starting to shine! We enjoyed walking around the town with a traditional German feel and even had lunch with a castle view.

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Katz Castle

This castle we saw from across the river while we stopped in Sankt Goat. It is actually a hotel so we just admired it from afar.

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Rheinfels Castle

A castle in Sankt Goat with nice views into the town with (finally) sunny skies!

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Burg Mas

A quick camera snap as we drove along. Many of the castles are private or hotels so you can’t go in them. Plus, it would be impossible to do a tour of every castle- there are simply too many!

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Stolzenfels Castle

We wrapped up the evening with a tour of Stolzenfels. It is more decorated that the stone wall castles we saw earlier in the day. I cheated with my first picture as it from Google since I couldn’t quite get an angle that shows all of the castle together. Also, in this castle we had to wear slippers to walk around as the floors were beautiful original wood! My favorite part was the garden you can see in many of my photos.

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Lahneck and Marksburg Castle

Another few drive-by castles. I hope this helps to showcase just how many castles we drove by, there were also so many we past that I didn’t get photos of!

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Eltz Castle

The next day we headed to the famous Eltz castle which we heard was suppose to be one of the nicest in the area. Spoil alert, it did not disappoint! At one point, the castle was separated into 3 families so there were separate living areas for each. It was cool to see how everything connected.

Cochem Castle

Cochem town was our last stop before heading back to Amsterdam. It was a cute town near the castle and fun to walk around, grab a bite to eat, and people watch.

That’s a wrap on our wine and castle weekend in Germany. Ryan and I have several more fun weekends planned coming up so stay tuned!!

❤️ Melanie