Castles from fairytales, bobsled, bikes and Gutenberg – the attractions of Rhineland

Rhineland is amazing with its postcard-like cities, green vineyards and fantastic castles. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be so beautiful! And there’s a lot of attractions for kids and their paRhinets alike.

 

As you already know, charming Rüdesheim lies by the Rhine. It’s perfectly situated in terms of communication – you can easily drive around with a car, ride a train and bike or even sail on a boat. You can also try the gondola or the chairlift. We didn’t manage to use all these attractions, but we prepared a Rhineland attractions list for you anyway. So, what’s there to do if you find yourself in Rüdesheim, Wiesbaden or Mainz?

 

1) BIKE TRIPS – BY RHINE OR BY MOSELLE

 

 

Moselle river valley is the best place to go if you want to see the region by bike. You can take a train from Rüdesheim to Koblenz and then to Cochem for example. The train trip takes about 1.5 hours but amazing views make the it pleasant, especially in places where the tracks go just by the Rhine. In Cochen we jump on our bikes, put the kid in his seat and go! The bike route goes by the Moselle river. River, bushes and occasional camping sites on the right, green hills and vineyards on the left. You can have a break at one of the camping sites, have a bath at the pool, and make a longer stop in the tiny town of Karden in order to have lunch in Schloss Hotel Petry restaurant. Unsurprisingly, we recommend schnitzels or… Swiss rösti with tomatoes, mozzarella and rucola. You can go as far as Koblenz from Karden if you’re fit enough! The rain stopped us from doing so and we had to catch a train back home in Moselkern.

 

 

2) FAIRYTALE CASTLES

 

 

I already wrote about the concentration of castles in Loreley Valley and Rhineland. They look like taken from a fairytale and when we sail the boat on Rhine or ride a train, we see how they suddenly spring up out of the surrounding hills like mushrooms! Our first trip to Rheinstein castle was a bit difficult due to rain so in order to compensate that, we decided to have a look at Burg Eltz that our friends recommended. The Eltz castle looked stunning when we saw it online and in brochures! In order to get to it, you have to leave your car in the parking lot and take a 15 minute walk through the forest, or take a coach. As we travelled by train, we got off in Moselkern and took an hour-long hike. If you decide to walk through the forest from the parking lot, the experience as you approach the point from which you the castle for the first time is going to be remarkable. It’s hidden in the trees, yet perfectly exposed. Makes your imagination go wild. A bit like in the movies, a bit like travelling back in time. Burg Eltz is 850 years old, however it got its today’s looks in the beginning of 17th century. It used to be the home of Eltz family for 30 generations! Inside, it looks like all castles do: old chambers, bedrooms, an armoury, the kitchen, old armours and ages-old furniture. It’s one of the few European castles that were never destroyed – the amazing location might have something to do with it. An adult ticket costs 9 euro. Detailed information can be found here.

On site, apart from seeing the castle, you can have lunch or a bratwurst (obviously Maks had to test it!) in a little place with a beautiful view. Watch out though: credit card payments are accepted from the amount of 30 euro!

 

 

 

3) VINEYARDS WITH THE GONDOLA

 

If you’re travelling with children, you will surely find gondola over Rüdesheim and then the chairlift towards Assmannshausen appealing. A cool and unusual adventure since you usually see snowy mountain tops from gondolas/chairlifts while here it is green vineyards. You can stop for a quick lunch in Assmannshausen. The town, contrary to others around, is known for red wine instead of riesling.

A so called Romantik-Tour is a great way to combine attractions. You buy one ticket and get a gondola ride up the mountain, to the Niederwald monument from Rüdeshein, then you walk down to the chairlift (warning! additional attraction for kids – a flock of deer to feed!). You go down to Assmannshausen with the chairlift, then board a boat that will take you to Rheinstein castle, see the castle and take a boat back to Rüdesheim. A cool thing! Totally worth doing! 🙂 An adult ticket costs 16 euro while children aged 5-13 pay 8 euro.

You can see the peculiar gondolas in the entry about Rüdesheim.

 

 

4) RHINE BOAT CUISES

 

If you’re not a biker type and still want to see the surrounding landscapes, have a look at the castles and the charming cities – try a boat cruise on Rhine. There’s lots of boats and routes to choose from. We sailed to Rheinstein castle and then took a 1.5 hour long cruise from Rüdesheim to Sankt Goarshausen. Remember about booking a sunny and warm weather first! 🙂

 

5) BOBSLED IN LORELEY

A no.1 attraction for kids! Maks kept asking if we will go to ride bobsled for many days. Where to find them? Loreley Bob is located around Sankt Goarshausen, from where you can take a taxi or walk. You can also get there directly from Rüdesheim.

Loreley Visitor Center is another attraction located nearby. It houses an interactive museum for kids with exhibitions about the history of the region and a 3D movie that takes you on a trip through the castles and towns of the Loreley Valley. I want fool you though – for, Maks it was bobsled that was the king! I guess, now we have to check if they still have it on Gubałówka. I remember it from my childhood, but recently I paid no attention.

One ride on Loreley bob costs 2.5 euro (adult) or 2 euro (kids aged 3-14).

 

6) SIEGFRIED’S MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS MUSEUM IN RÜDESHEIM

 

 

When it comes to attractions in the cities, there’s one unusual place – Mechanical Musical Instruments Museum – a few rooms with large musical wardrobes with a few or even more than a dozen different instruments inside them. After turning on, they play on their own, making up for an orchestra. Apart from the big ones designed to play at dancing parties or large events, there are little music boxes or peculiar kids’ gadgets such as a musical chair! Wooden, made in the end of 19th century – you sit on it and it plays a lullaby. Farewell Fisher Price. There’s also a charming little shop with a lot of equally tiny wooden music boxes that almost made me look for a little one to play the lullabies to.

 

 

7) WALKING AROUND MAINZ

 

Mainz is located about 30 km from Rüdesheim. A large city (200 000 inhabitants), a student city (30 000) and the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate that was destroyed in 80% due to bombings in the end of World War II. It’s worth walking the 2000 year old Old Town, seeing the impressive St. Martin’s Cathedral and the column on the square nearby (it may not look too interesting from the distance – see the picture – but if you come closer, you’ll see that it shows 500 years from the city’s history with its elements depicting the most important events). Then, take a walk to St. Stephan’s Church – everyone goes there to see the stained windows by Marc Chagall. They depict parables from the Old Testament using lots of blue colour. Chagall made as much as 9 of them and worked on them from 1978 until he died in 1985. Then, his apprentices continued his work, however their stained windows aren’t as impressive 🙂

Gutenberg’s Printing Museum is also worth visiting. Gutenberg was a Mainz’s native and his museum is quite impressive. You can see how the printing process looked like in the beginning, see the cast letters, browse through old books and even see the first Bible published by Gutenberg in the 15th century. Kids should also like the machines and the printing. Adult tickets cost 5 euro while kids aged 8-18 pay 2 euro.

Interestingly, it’s hard to get lost in Mainz – all streets parallel to Rhine have blue signs while the perpendicular ones have red ones. No problems getting to the river. This system is a leftover from the end of 18th century when Napoleon’s troops were stationed in the city – thanks to the coloured sings they always knew how to reach Rhine.

 

 

 

 

 

In the evening, after the trip, sit down in one of the little restaurants on Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim, have a Wiener Schnitzel or a duck and drink riesling (form Georg Breuer’s cellar or example). Why his? We’ll tell you all about it in our next and final German entry 🙂

 

Still we recommend Rüdesheim as a good place to stay when you visit Rhineland! A if you are looking for some nice hotel, you have to check Hotel Zum Grunen Kranz, where we stayed for 6 nights! Very pleasant place on the one of charming Rudesheim streets with their own restaurant, wine shop and possibility to rent a bike!  For us there was also an additional bonus – the owners are Polish-German couple! You really feel like home!

 

* German National Tourism Board (DZT)  and Rüdesheim Tourist AG invited us to Rhineland and Moselle Valley