2 Best Sights in St. Goar, The Rhineland

The castle ruins overlooking the town bear witness to the fact that St. Goar was once the best-fortified town in the Mittelrhein. From its beginnings in 1245, it was repeatedly enlarged by the counts of Katzenelnbogen, a powerful local dynasty, and their successors, the Landgraviate of Hesse. Rheinfels was finally demolished by the French in 1797. Take time for a walk through the impressive ruins and the museum, which has a detailed model of how the fortress looked in its heyday. It's a steep ascent by foot, but during the summer taxis regularly shuttle between St. Goar and St. Elisabeth Church and the castle.

This pretty, 15th-century collegiate church was built atop the tomb of St. Goar, despite the fact that the tomb itself (an ancient pilgrimage site) was discovered to be empty during the church's construction. The 11th-century crypt is among the most beautiful to be found on the Rhine. Admire the exterior from the shade of the solitary oak.