Schönburg

Rhine Valley

LoginSave

Sumptuous Schönburg's 25 palatial rooms are richly furnished with antiques and chandeliers; some have four-poster beds and open fireplaces. Parking is 250m below the castle, but you and your luggage can travel to the property by electric cart. The gastronomic restaurant is also open to non-guests by reservation.

Legend has it this was once the home of seven beautiful but haughty sisters who rejected all potential suitors until all seven were turned into stone and submerged in the Rhine.

The castle was saved from ruin when a New York real-estate millionaire purchased it in 1885.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Maria Laach Abbey, the west end with the paradisium, a narthex enclosing a garden. Maria Laach Abbey (iAbtei Maria Laach) is a Benedictine abbey situated on the southwestern shore of the Laacher See (Lake Laach), near Andernach, in the Eifel region of the Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany in July 2020.

    Abteikirche Maria Laach

    29.77 MILES

    Serenely tucked within beautiful Eifel countryside, Abteikirche Maria Laach is one of the finest examples of a Romanesque church in Germany. Part of a 900…

  • Burg Eltz

    Burg Eltz

    19.02 MILES

    At the head of the beautiful Moselle side-valley the Eltz, Burg Eltz is one of Germany's most romantic medieval castles. Never destroyed, this fairy-tale…

  • Gutenberg-Museum Mainz

    Gutenberg-Museum Mainz

    25.16 MILES

    A heady experience for book lovers, the Gutenberg Museum commemorates native son Johannes Gutenberg, who in the 15th century ushered in the information…

  • Festung Ehrenbreitstein

    Festung Ehrenbreitstein

    18.99 MILES

    On the right bank of the Rhine, 118m above the river, this fortress proved indestructible to all but Napoleonic troops, who levelled it in 1801. To prove…

  • Heiligtum der Isis und Mater Magna

    Heiligtum der Isis und Mater Magna

    24.8 MILES

    In a darkened, dungeon-like space, a glass walkway leads you around this extraordinary Roman archaeological site, which was discovered in 1999 during the…

  • Mainzer Dom

    Mainzer Dom

    25.08 MILES

    Topped by an octagonal tower, Mainz’ immense cathedral, built from deep red sandstone in the 12th century, is quintessentially Romanesque. Its predecessor…

  • Landesmuseum Mainz

    Landesmuseum Mainz

    24.76 MILES

    Highlights of this well laid-out state museum include an ensemble of exquisite Jugendstil pieces, outstanding collections of Renaissance and 20th-century…

  • Burg Rheinstein

    Burg Rheinstein

    9.52 MILES

    In the 1820s, privately owned Rheinstein, 6km downriver from Bingen, became the first Rhine castle to be converted – by Prussian royalty (a branch of the…

View more attractions

Nearby Rhine Valley attractions

1. Liebfrauenkirche

0.26 MILES

In the southern Altstadt, the High Gothic Liebfrauenkirche, known as the ‘red church’ for the colour of its facade, dates from the early 14th century and…

2. Oberwesel Kulturhaus

0.63 MILES

Every April, Oberwesel crowns not a Weinkönigin (wine queen), as in most Rhine towns, but a Weinhexe (wine witch) – a good witch who is said to protect…

3. St-Martins-Kirche

0.82 MILES

Easily spotted on a hillside at the northern end of town is the enormous early 14th-century St-Martins-Kirche, popularly known as the ‘white church’. It…

4. Pfalzgrafstein

1.9 MILES

Across the river from the village of Kaub, the boat-shaped toll castle Pfalzgrafstein, built in 1326, perches on an island in the middle of the Rhine. A…

5. Loreley Besucherzentrum

2.85 MILES

On the edge of the plateau above the Loreley outcrop, 4km southeast of St Goarshausen, this visitors centre covers the Loreley myth and local flora, fauna…

6. Postenturm

3.14 MILES

Once part of the city's 14th-century fortifications and now surrounded by vineyards, this tower on the upper section of the wall affords panoramic views…

7. Lorelei Sculpture

3.19 MILES

At the tip of a narrow breakwater jutting into the Rhine, a bronze sculpture of Loreley's famous maiden perches lasciviously atop a rocky platform. Access…

8. Peterskirche

3.24 MILES

This late-Romanesque-style Protestant church, completed in 1269, has some columns with vivid capitals – look for the naked woman with snakes sucking her…