We did it! We finally made it to Bacharach and spent two nights sleeping in a castle!
We zipped down to Bacharach on Friday evening, arriving at Burg Stahleck just in time to enjoy a glass of wine in the courtyard with our friends while gazing out over the Rhine. The views were mesmerizing! After checking in, we climbed the grand staircase to the Great Chamber, where we buzzed our key and were greeted with a four-post wooden bunk bed… Not quite the elegant castle room you would expect, but hey, it was only €30 a night!
In search of dinner, we took the nature trail down the hillside to the main town. We passed the elegant Wernerkapelle Ruins, followed by St. Peter’s Church, and soon popped out on the main street. We stepped onto the cobblestone streets and were immediately greeted with picturesque views of traditional half-timbered houses backed by countless vineyards lining the hillside.
We instantly fell in love!
We found our first restaurant, where we were told they had stopped serving dinner 15 minutes before we arrived… we followed that with three other restaurants where we heard the same story at each one… thanks to Covid, most of the restaurants were closing earlier than usual because the clientele wasn’t in town. The fourth restaurant recommended one other place to try, and thankfully they let us in! We arrived at 8:58, and the waiter told us to order quickly because the kitchen closed at 9… that was probably the fastest we’ve ever ordered a meal in Europe, relying on our German instead of Google translate to decide what to eat. Thankfully the outcome was a success!
We enjoyed our meal while sitting on part of the old city wall, taking in the view of the Rhine, and watching as the sun set behind the mountains. We even had some dinner entertainment as three trains blasted by our table.
Not quite ready to head back to the castle, we stopped off at a tiny pub on main street, and what looked like one of the only places still open. We were greeted by an adorable little old lady who gladly took our order (in German) and shuffled back to the bar to grab our drinks. While we were there, a few locals trickled in and out, but for the most part, we had the pub to ourselves.
The only problem with staying the night at a castle that sits on the hill above the town is that it means you have to hike up the hill when you want to go to bed… our midnight stroll was a bit more than we expected, but we made it up and to our room, falling right to sleep.
We woke at 7am sharp thanks to the mighty church bells that rang for a solid two minutes or more... definitely longer than seven chimes! We’re still not sure why they rang for so long at 7am, but they did their trick and got us out of bed.
We met our friends for breakfast in the Great Hall then took off back down the hill to wander the city and see what we could find. Once again, we had the place to ourselves. Besides the three other families who we kept passing along the streets, no one was out, and everything was closed. We took this time to wander past a few of the “sights,” including several of the city towers, the old post office, and the former mint. We stopped to admire the numerous wells hidden around the town, in addition to Kranenturm (Crane Tower), which was used to hoist “precious cargo” (aka wine barrels) onto ships to be taken down the river.
The town began to wake up around 11am and we finally found an open café. We stopped for the traditional Kaffee und Kuchen and watched the locals and a few tourists making their way around. We continued on, stopping in a few of the local shops, pausing in front of each to put our masks on
(a whole new travel experience).
We made our way to the edge of town, passing under one of the many city towers (there were 15 in total), and taking the trail through the vineyards up to “Tall Tower.” From here, we had a view of the entire town, including Burg Stahleck sitting on top of the hill. It was yet again, another incredible sight to see.
We spent the afternoon sampling the local Riesling in all different forms. For lunch, we had Riesling soup paired with a Riesling tasting. And for dessert, we had Riesling ice cream, followed by another taste of Riesling wine. We read that Bacharach used to be one of the biggest wine-trading towns along the Rhine, and after sipping our way through the city, it could definitely still hold that title! Besides the weather being absolutely perfect, each winery had its own unique patio which added to the fairytale ambiance.
We spent the rest of the evening celebrating the summer solstice, making sure to catch an “early” dinner, enjoying the 10pm sunset, sipping the local beverage, making new friends, and, at the end of the night, taking a taxi back up to the castle (it pays to chat with the locals! We met a lady who owned a taxi service and called in a favor for us. #connections).
We woke again at 7am on Sunday (thank you church bells) and enjoyed our last morning at the castle. We packed our bags, loaded up the car, and set off towards home.
Our original plan was to stop and tour two castles on the way home, but that quickly turned into multiple stops thanks to the incredible views the Rhine had to offer. On our way to our first destination, we pulled off the road to admire the Pfalz Castle with its prime seating in the middle of the Rhine, which was once perfect for collecting tolls from the river traffic, and Gutenfels Castle, which sits on the hillside above. We timed our stop perfectly as we were able to see a small car ferry transporting locals from one side of the river to the other.
We followed that with a stop in the quaint little town of St. Goar, finding a bench to soak up the morning sun while admiring both Burg Katz and Burg Maus (sitting just a hill away from each other, Maus castle was purposely named “mouse” because it was so close to “cat” castle). From there, we drove up the hill to Burg Rheinfels, once one of the mightiest castles on the Rhine, earning the nickname “the unconquerable fortress.” We took our time wandering through the ruins, checking out the old Apotheke, brewery, courtyard, and moat, ending the tour by climbing up to the highest castle tower lookout.
We continued on, enjoying the multitude of colored farm fields all backed by lush hillsides and forests. We passed through several more adorable small European towns, soaking in this beautiful change of scenery compared to our usual walks through the city neighborhoods and local parks.
After winding our way up and down a few more hills, we finally arrived at Burg Eltz. I had visited this castle a year ago with my brother and his wife and ever since wanted to share its beauty with Jeff. This castle is built on a little hill in the middle of the forest, quite literally. After winding up the mountain towards the castle, we parked in the designated lot and took a beautiful “hike” to the castle itself.
Burg Eltz was surprisingly busy, so we didn’t actually see the inside, but from past experience, I can say that the grandiose features of this castle lie on the outside. The majestic view as you turn the last corner and pop out to see this massive structure in the middle of nowhere is breathtaking. I’m so glad Jeff finally got to experience it!
Adding 10 more castles to our ever-growing list, and feeling like we finally spent some time digging into the beautiful Rhine valley, we can adequately say this weekend trip was a success!
But of course, it could have been longer!
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