Upper Middle Rhine Valley

The Middle Rhine Valley stretches between Koblenz and Mainz, in central Germany. This area is full off medieval castles, historic towns and vineyards.

The rocky Rhine Valley was already a major traffic route in Roman times. During the Middle Ages, the many castles were built. Its owners levied tolls on the roads and the river, in return for protection against robbers.

Navigating the Rhine itself was also dangerous: there are many currents. Especially the Binger Loch was an obstacle. For a long time it took the power of 40 horses to tow a ship across this treacherous point.

And don't forget the Loreley. This is the most narrow and deepest point along the way. It's also famous for its echo, which features in many legends like the one about the siren Loreley who lures sailors with her voice.

Cable cars . Legends and Folk Myths . Rhine . Opera .

Visit July 2003

By car I drove on the left side of the Rhine from Koblenz to Bingen. There I took a ferry, and drove the same 55 km back. This is a really great way to enjoy all the wonderful views in this area.

The funny thing is that you get the best views on the monuments on the opposite side of the Rhine. So when you see a really nice castle, the Rhine is always between the castle and yourself.

However, I did enter some of the most interesting ones. The Marksburg Castle is surely not to be missed. It still is quite intact, and there are guided tours that take you into the Middle Ages (at least for an hour or so).

More photos can be found in the Picture Gallery

Reviews

Klaus Freisinger (Austria):
The Rhine Valley is THE classic German, and maybe even European, landscape, and should have been the first German site on the list, as suggested below. Well, in the early years UNESCO didn't accept cultural landscapes, but they made good in 2002. The site includes the most well-known stretch of the river between Koblenz (where the Moselle meets the Rhine at the Deutsches Eck) and Bingen. In between, there are countless small towns such as St. Goar and St. Goarshausen, connected by a ferry offering you a nice view of the vineyards on the shore. Close by is the famous Loreley rock, which is actually quite unremarkable today, because much of it was blown off in the early 20th century to make the passage easier for ships. I would have loved to see a castle or two, but it was raining too heavily, and the Rhine was almost at flood-level. It is obvious that the region's heyday as a tourist destination is over (I have never seen two more derelict train stations than in the two towns mentioned above), but it is still a very nice region that deserves a longer visit than most people give it.

Ian Cade (England):

We only managed to visit the Southern part of the valley, from Bingen to Bacharach, however we really enjoyed the experience, and felt we got a feel for the site as a whole.
We spent a night in Bacharach, in the fantastic Castle Stahleck, which sits on the steep hills above the village. The castle is a tourist site in it's own right featuring on most of the tourist literature for the valley, and well worth the sometimes treacherous hike up from the river. It is now a Youth Hostel, and ranks up there with the most impressive and unique budget accommodation I have stayed in (A cave under the Sahara-cum-Star Wars set in Tunisia, may just beat it though). It has a massively impressive wine list, testament to the incredibly steep vineyards that line the whole of the valley. These vineyards are an integral part of the landscape and culture, and a few glasses of the local Rieslings really complete the experience of visiting the valley.
The village of Bacharach is incredibly pretty with lots of half-timbered buildings (picture with vineyard in background), and cobbled streets. It was very quiet on a Thursday morning in January, but I gather it gets very busy in summer. We missed out on having a boat trip as we couldn’t quite fit it into our itinerary, but this would really be a lovely way to experience the area.
The villages on the western bank of the river are linked by a great train line, which runs along the bank providing great views. There seems to be two trains an hour from most of the stations between Koblenz and Mainz.
I really enjoyed the southern half of the Valley and it is a very easy place to visit, within easy reach of Cologne in the north and Frankfurt in the south. It could take up as much time as you would like to give it, and Castle Stahleck is a real highlight and I can really recommend staying a night there.

Martha Wiley (USA):
31 July 2005, the Upper Middle Rhein was as beautiful as ever. Definitely worthwhile to take a boat along the river, then you can take the train back to your starting point (or, of course, round trip on the boat). You can get off and on the boat (be sure you get the right kind of ticket) and visit various towns/castles along the way. St. Goar was hosting a Ritterspiele (Knights' Festival) this weekend and there were hundreds of kids around, learning how to fight with broadswords and axes, dancing, music (and the ubiquitous wurst and Coke). All the activity made it a little easier to imagine 4,000 people living in the castle during a siege.

Date posted: August 2005

Gatis (Latvia):
After putting long list of different German monuments, which are not so interesting to my mind, finally in 2002 they remembered Rhine valley. It had to be one of the first to come from Germany!
If you drive a car (I had to), then it would be a problem. Road is winding, and you should be very careful all the time - but the views around are incredible! Nature has made deep and magnificent valley and people have developed here excellent landscape dotted with castles and lovely towns and villages. Here you can start to believe that there is harmony between man and nature - at least visually.
True - it is worth to drive also along the right coast of Rhine - less traffic and magnificent views. On some places try also the upper road along the right coast.

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