Castles: Marksburg vs. Rheinfels
 

I've seen quite a few castles in Germany and finally got around to checking out the famous Marksburg Castle in May. It's reputation as one of the few that have survived undamaged & is authentically furnished sounded wonderful....but wasn't. <BR>We have wondered if what we came upon was an exception to how it usually is. <BR>First of all, we would have preferred not to have waded through all the craft stalls and child oriented demonstrations. Secondly, there weren't even 1/2 doz. rooms to be seen and we couldn't believe we were all through. The most interesting part was the walkways that were cut from the underlying shale. Very hard to walk on but knowing the castle was inhabited for centuries we felt bad for the people that lived with this on a daily basis. <BR>Burg Eltz (on the Mosel River)has been discribed glowingly and sounds similar in the books to Marksburg. We have yet to try it and wonder if we should. <BR>My personal favorite is the Rheinfels Castle ruins above St. Gore. It is so entirely different that it should be in a different category. Well it is I guess, in the ruins category. But WONDERFUL and well maintained, very large with great Rhine view from various locations. There is also a small museum there. Shuttles will take you up from St.Goar if you don't have a car. <BR> <BR> <BR>