Rhineland-Palatinate

Scarcely any region in Europe is so inseparably bound up with the image of the romantic castle as the Middle Rhine valley between Bingen and Koblenz. The UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley contains more castles and palaces within a short stretch than any other comparably brief river landscape in the world. Rheinfels, Marksburg, Stolzenfels and Pfalzgrafenstein — built on a rocky island in the Rhine — tell of medieval toll-taking and the struggle for power, of crusades and imperial dreams. The Marksburg is the only hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine that was never destroyed, making it a living historical monument of the first order.

Along the Moselle the density of castles continues: Eltz Castle, depicted for years on the German 500-Mark banknote, is enthroned in the enchanting Elzbach valley and is regarded as one of the best-preserved hilltop castles in Germany. Cochem with its Reichsburg, Bernkastel with the ruins of Landshut, and Trier with its Roman buildings show how many-layered the history of this wine region is. The Nahe and the Ahr, the Eifel and the Hunsrück also conceal countless castle ruins in the forest, waiting to be discovered.

The Rhineland-Palatinate Castle Road and the Rheinsteig hiking trail open up many of these sites along impressive routes. Wine festivals in castle courtyards, medieval banquets featuring regional specialities, and illuminations on castle walls make Rhineland-Palatinate one of the most vibrant castle travel destinations in Germany. Those in search of romantic Germany will find it here in its purest form.