We explore the spectacular castles of the Rhine Valley and Mittelrhein wines between Bingen and Oberwesel

The ‘Romantic Rhine’ in Germany is famous for its jaw-dropping scenery, castles, legends and also its wines and there’s no better way to experience all of this than by taking time to explore the most famous Unesco World Heritage Site in Germany, the 70km stretch of the river called the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. 

This spectacular stretch of the River Rhine between Bonn and Bingen is also known as the Rhine Gorge, a steep, narrow valley where ancient castles tower over mediaeval villages and impossibly steep, terraced vineyards and it has the highest concentration of castles compared to anywhere else in the world.

We recommend you take time to explore Germany’s Rhine Valley and the castles of the Middle Rhine - the world’s first significant wine tourism destination - and do a section at a time.

We took a couple of days to explore the section of the Mittelrhein wine region between Bingen in the very south of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley and the beautiful mediaeval, walled city of Oberwesel. Read all about it below!

The Mittelrhein wine region

The Mittelrhein wine region comprises about 470 hectares of vineyards, running either side of the River Rhine, the most important of which are located around the popular wine towns of Bacharach and Boppard. Just upstream from Bacharach, there are also some excellent vineyard sites around Oberwesel.

Approximately three-quarters of Mittelrhein vineyards are planted with Riesling, producing some excellent and well-regarded wines. This small German wine region also produces some high quality red wines, in particular Pinot noir - or Spätburgunder.

Learn more about the Mittelrhein wines here.

We were keen to explore the famous vineyards and wineries around both Bacharach and adjacent Steeg, whose most notable vineyards are Hahn, Posten, Wolfshöhle, and St Jost, as well as those around Oberwesel. We were also keen to absorb the incredible, dramatic scenery of this section of the Rhine and its famous Rhine Valley castles!

Our Upper Middle Rhine Valley tour route

We decided to take 2 days exploring this lower section of the world-famous Upper Middle Rhine Valley, using both the car and our e-bikes and making use of the Rhine river ferries to transport us across the river. 

Tour outline  - Bingen-Oberwesel

We started our tour at Rüdesheim amd Rhein and continued into Mittlerhein via the right side of the river, up as far as the town of Lorch. Driving on this side of the Rhine offers superb views to the many castles on the other side. 

At Lorch we switched transport, parking the car and getting on our bikes, from where we took the Rhine ferry across to Niederheimbach. From here we cycled on the left bank of the Rhine, through Bacharach and on to Oberwesel, where we turned round and took the Rhine ferry across to Kaub. From Kaub we cycled back to Lorch, where we collected the car.

Note - We didn’t manage to do it this time, but a great option would be to continue past Oberwesel and up to St Goar or St Goarshausen, home of the famous Loreley Rock (see later).

Also you can cross the Rhine as a foot passenger, or with your car and they run regularly in high season).

From Bingen/Rüdesheim to Lorch

As you drive on the right side of the Rhine, through busy Rüdesheim (in the Rheingau wine region), you can see Bingen on the opposite side of the river (in the Rheinhessen wine region) and you soon come across a major landmark and tourist sight, the famous Mäuseturm - or ‘Micetower’ - a watch tower in the middle of the Rhine dating back to the 1300s.

As you pass through the pretty wine town of Assmannshausen you get your first glimpse across the river of an impressive Rhine Valley Castle, Burg Rheinstein. Thought to be one of the most beautiful German castles on the Rhine, Burg Rheinstein dates back to the early 1300s and is a great example of Prussian Rhine romanticism!. You can visit the castle and there is a museum and restaurants.

Immediately after Burg Rheinstein, comes Burg Reichenstein, one of the most impressive Rhine Valley castles, home to a hotel, restaurant and museum today.  If you are looking for a castle to stay at in Germany - this should be a contender for that special experience!

Next up is Burg Sooneck at Niederheimbach, which is also open to the public and you get a great view of both this castle and castle Heimburg (also known as Burg Hohneck) as you cross the river from Lorch on the Rhine ferry.

If you have time, perhaps explore the pretty town of Lorch, before hopping on the ferry across to Niederheimbach.

 Exploring Bacharach am Rhein

Bacharach am Rhein is an important tourist town in the Rhine Valley and in the Middle Ages was the centre for European wine trade. Spend time exploring its historic wine culture and its beautiful historic centre, with its winding streets and half-timbered mediaeval building. Amongst the steep vineyard slopes and overlooking the town below is Burg Stahleck, another impressive castle and today home to probably the best youth hostel in Germany.

We spent a lovely couple of hours here exploring, enjoying a lovely lunch at the Hotel-café Burg Stahleck and visiting Weingut Toni Jost (see later).

Bacharach - Oberwesel

Leaving beautiful Bacharach we continued on the left side of the Rhine downhill to the historic town of Oberwesel. This took us about 30-45 minutes by bike, but we did keep stopping to appreciate the spectacular views across the Rhine to Kaub (see later)!

We absolutely loved Oberwesel - in fact we returned the following day by car to spend more time here! A historic town, Oberwesel is surrounded by its mediaeval city walls, part of which you can access and walk around, interspersed with numerous watchtowers. There is a beautiful old city centre to explore and in the main square there is an excellent tourist information centre which we found really useful!

There are 2 impressive churches to visit, St. Martin's Church and Liebfrauenkirche and the town is dominated by a spectacular castle, Schönburg. Today this is home to a luxury hotel and a restaurant, but you can visit, if only to enjoy the incredible, stunning views over Oberwesel and the Rhine Valley.  

We also took time to visit a top winery in Oberwesel, Weingut Lanius Knab (see later).

Oberwesel - Kaub

After visiting Oberwesel we turned around and headed back up towards Bacharach and took the Rhine ferry across the river, over to the lovely town of Kaub. 

This gave us excellent views of the very famous small castle, once a customs post and built in the shape of a ship,  which sits in the middle of the river, called ‘Pfalzgrafenstein’ as well as the imposing Burg Gutenfels, overlooking the town from above. Burg Gutenfels dates back to 1222 and houses a hotel today.

Kaub is also known for being the spot where Field Marshal Blücher crossed the Rhine with his armies in 1813/14, on his way to helping to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo. There is an impressive monument here dedicated to Blücher, as well as a museum.

After leaving Kaub, we headed off back towards Lorch, taking time to admire the amazing scenery along the way, across the Rhine, including towns such as Bacharach, the wonderfully steep vineyards and the numerous castles.

St Goar - St-Goarshausen and Loreley Rock

Another option, if we’d had the time, would have been for us to carry on from Oberwesel up to the picturesque old town of St Goar, overlooked by historic Burg Rheinfels, one of the largest fortresses in Europe and just opposite the famous and legendary Loreley Rock. From here you can also cross over to St Goarshausen and go up to the Loreley Rock, but it's great to also see the impressive 132 metres high rock formation from the St Goar side.

The Lorelei legend 

The Rhine Gorge is world-famous for being a land of myth and legend and no more so in the Loreley Valley. Where this huge rock sits (once known as Lurleifels), on a bend in the river, there is an almost mystical echo and many ships and lives were lost over centuries due to strong currents.

In the 18th century, in the Romantic period  it became the focus of writers, poets and artists and poet Clemens Brentano wrote a folk ballad “Zu Bacharach am Rheine”, which spoke of a beautiful mystical maiden, Loreley Lay, to whom all men fall. She throws herself to her death from the Lurleifels and from this moment on the Lorelei legend was born and Loreley Rock has forever been connected with a beautiful maiden luring sailors to their deaths. 

You can visit the Lorelei statue high above St, Goarshausen.

Our visits to 2 Mittelrhein wineries during our tour

We took the opportunity to visit 2 wineries during our tour, one in Bacharach and one in Oberwesel.

Weingut Toni Jost - Bacharach

Weingut Toni Jost is located right in the heart of Bacharach, so perfect for combining with a visit to the historic town. You can visit for wine tastings as we did, but also vineyard tours and cellar tours, but you need to pre-book. 

The family estate is ran today by Peter Jost, who took over from his father Toni Jost in 1975.

Toni Jost farms some 12-15 hectares of vineyards, which include most of the outstanding Hahn vineyard on the banks of the Rhine, with its steep slopes of dark slate soil. 80 percent of the vineyards are planted with Riesling, 15 percent of the vineyards with Pinot noir (Spätburgunder), along with some Pinot blanc (Weißburgunder) and Dunkelfelder. Their wines came highly recommended to us and we weren’t disappointed - they were delicious!

Weingut Lanius Knab, Oberwesel

Weingut Lanius Knab is located right on the banks of the Rhine, on the outskirts of historic Oberwesel. Similarly they farm 12 (very steep) hectares of mainly Riesling, but also Pinot noir (Spätburgunder), Pinot blanc (Weißburgunder) and Pinot gris (Grauburgunder). They are not certified organic, but follow organic practices.

The cellar dates back to 1897 and you can visit Lanius Knab for a wine tasting or a tour, but you need to pre-book. There is also the possibility to combine a wine tasting with a tour of the historic Oberwesel city walls.

In the warmer months you can also enjoy - as we did - a wine tasting in the delightful garden, where you can also enjoy some traditional, local hot and cold food. Again, we were very impressed with these Mittelrhein wines and were in awe of the incredible work it takes to farm these steep, terraced vineyards. 

See here for other great wineries to visit in the area.

Additional information - exploring Bingen - Oberwesel 

For lots of useful information about visiting this section of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley visit the official tourism website - ‘Romantischer Rhein’.

For more information about Mittelrhein wines, visit here and also our website.

Also, head over to our Mittelrhein website page for lots of information about hiking and cycling in the Mittelrhein, places to visit and following the famous William Turner route. We managed to step in the shoes of William Turner several times during our tour from Bingen to Oberwesel, enabling us to experience the same view he would have done centuries ago, when painting his famous Rhine Valley castle paintings. 

Conclusion - our personal highlights

Germany’s Mittelrhein wine region is small in comparison to others, but wow does it pack a punch! Not only are the wines delicious, the scenery is simply spectacular. Nowhere else in the world can you experience so much history, legend, beauty, romantic castles and imposing castles in such a small stretch of river. The Rhine gorge in this section from Bingen to Oberwesel and especially if you include the famous Loreley Rock, is just incomparable - this simply has to be on your list of wine regions to visit!

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