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Castles in Germany's Wine Country

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Fly into: Frankfurt Fly out of: Frankfurt
Total Duration: 7 days

See the best of West Germany's castles with this itinerary. It starts in Koblenz's Festung Ehrenbreitstein and moves through the three castles in the St. Goar region and the academic treasures of Heidelberg, before finishing at the castle-hotel in Neckarzimmern, the Burg Hornberg. This trip offers some of Germany's best castles, with plenty of local wine to make the learning fun.

    This Trip's Top Experiences:

  • Architecture
  • Food and Wine
Days 1-2
Andreas Kaster/German National Tourism Board

1 Koblenz

River Life and Castles

  • Koblenz is where the Mosel meets the Rhine. On the west bank sits the 10th-century Festung Ehrenbreitstein
  • Sip wine with some regional specialties at Zum Weissen Schwanen, a pub that opened in 1693
  • St. Castor's Church, consecrated in 836 AD, is where the Treaty of Verdun signed, divvying up Charlemagne's empire
  • History
  • Architecture
  • Food and Wine
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Day 3
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Kuelcue /shutterstock

2 St. Goar

Katz and Maus Castles

  • Once the best fortified town in the region, St. Goar is home to the Burg Rheinfels, a castle that dates to 1245
  • Across the Rhine you'll find the castles of St. Goarhausen and Katzenelnbogen, nicknamed Katz and Maus (cat and mouse)
  • The town is named after the patron saint of innkeepers, and its hotel restaurants are exemplary
  • History
  • Architecture
Discover St. Goar »
Days 4-5
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Andrew Cowin/German National Tourism Board

3 Heidelberg

Germany's Preeminent University Town

  • Heidelberg's castle is a hodgepodge of styles from the 16th and 17th centuries that somehow fit together; it's also home to the German Apothecary Museum
  • The Alte Brücke, spanning the Neckar River, was part of Heidelberg's original fortifications
  • Heidelberg is one of Germany's most famous university towns. You can visit the site of the old university buildings, from the 1700s, near University Square
  • History
  • Architecture
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Days 6-7
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bibi57/istockphoto

4 Neckarzimmern

The Heart of the Neckar Valley

  • Burg Hornberg—still occupied by the baron of the castle—is part hotel and part museum
  • Less well known, the 15th-century Burg Guttenberg has a restaurant
  • Bad Wimpfen, 5 mi/8 km south of Neckarzimmern, is the Neckar Valley's prettiest town
  • History
  • Architecture
  • Food and Wine
Discover Neckarzimmern »

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