2 Best Sights in The Rhineland, Germany

The former Cistercian monastery is idyllically set in a secluded forest clearing 6 km (4 miles) northwest of Eltville. Its Romanesque and Gothic buildings (12th–14th century) look untouched by time—one reason why the 1986 film of Umberto Eco's medieval murder mystery The Name of the Rose was filmed here. Pick up an English-language leaflet and take a stroll around, seeking out highlights like the vast medieval Monk's Dormitory and the beautiful Klosterkirche, both of which are regularly used for concerts because of their superior acoustics. The manor house-style Monk's Dining Room is also worth a look.

The monastery's impressive collection of old winepresses bears witness to a viticultural tradition that spans nearly nine centuries. The wines can be sampled year-round in the atmospheric wine cellar (or on a roving tasting around the abbey), in the popular Klosterschänke restaurant (where you can pair the local wines with seasonal German cuisine; try the "Klosterauszeit" cold cuts platter), or in the vinothek (shop). In warmer months, you can also enjoy them outside at Kloster Eberbach's premier vineyard, the Steinberg, which is surrounded by a 3-km (2-mile) stone wall that dates from the 13th to 18th centuries.

Aachen's town hall sits behind the Dom, across Katschhof Square. It was built in the early 14th century on the site of the Aula Regia, or "great hall," of Charlemagne's palace. Its first major official function was the coronation banquet of Emperor Karl IV in 1349, held in the great Gothic hall you can still see today (though this was largely rebuilt after World War II). On the north wall of the building are statues of 50 emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The greatest of them all, Charlemagne, stands in bronze atop the Karlsbrunnen in the center of the market square.