Rhine Valley

Festung Ehrenbreitstein

Koblenz

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…

Kloster Eberbach

Rhine Valley

Dating from the 12th century, this one-time Cistercian monastery, in an idyllic little valley 15km northeast of Rüdesheim, went through periods as a…

Burg Rheinstein

Rhine Valley

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…

Oberwesel Kulturhaus

Rhine Valley

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…

Loreley Besucherzentrum

Rhine Valley

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…

Burg Rheinfels

Rhine Valley

Once the mightiest fortress on the Rhine, Burg Rheinfels was built in 1245 by Count Dieter V of Katzenelnbogen as a base for his toll-collecting…

Deutsches Eck

Koblenz

At the point of confluence of the Moselle and the Rhine, the ‘German Corner’ is dominated by a soaring statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I on horseback, in the…

Schloss Stolzenfels

Koblenz

A vision of crenellated towers, ornate gables and medieval-style fortifications, Schloss Stolzenfels rises above the Rhine’s left bank 5km south of the…