April 14, 2025, Rhine River Gorge

We’re on the road by 9:30 and it is another warm and sunny day. I can’t believe how we have become so lucky, or is it that penny in my left shoe that I put in a few days ago. Our plan is to drive to Rudesheim which appears to be the end of the gorge and then to cross the river which I just assumed would be on a bridge over to the other side of the river and come back around through Koblenz back to Filsen. I guess most of our plans are loose plans, and that isn’t quite the way it happened but that’s OK.

Our first stop is Burg Liebenstein, but it’s become a hotel and restaurant and there isn’t a living soul around there but we still explore around the grounds a bit. We carry on to Burg Sterrenberg, but it’s the same story so that’s when we decided to do the 

We were going to start with Burg Maus (mouse) but it was closed so we walked up to Butg Katz (cats) but it’s privately owned and not open to the public. We decided to take the hike up to see it anyways.It was a long walk about 15 minutes up the mountain, but it was absolutely gorgeous. It is said that the two castles; mouse and cat were in continuous conflict back in mediaeval times and that was how they got their name. Everywhere that we walk all you can hear is the sounds of birds chirping. It’s a very calming feeling.  

By now we’re ready for a little snack so we stop along the highway and break out the bread and cheese and wine and beer. The weather is so warm and we’re right on the side of the river. Richard is fascinated by all the barge traffic on the river. You see barges and river cruise boats and private boats, but they’re all very big boats.

OK, as I said, I thought we were gonna be crossing on a bridge, but we actually cross the river on the small ferry over to Bingen, which is on the north, I think, side of the river. This is where we will see our first castle interior at Burg Rheinstein. It’s magnificent! Lots of winding steps and turrets and I think we visited every room in the castle. Since we have bought tickets to see the next castle down the way called Burg Sooneck we set out for there. It’s a wee bit smaller, but the views of the river valley from all of these places is absolutely stunning.

We probably should’ve stayed here for another night so we would’ve had the next day to go see a couple more castles but as Richard says Que sera what will be will be. We have been able to view all of the castles as we drive along the gorge and this whole valley is amazing. I think it’s at the top of my list right now.

We stopped for a beer and it was then that I realized that we had not really seen the statue of Loreley. It was a long walk out to see her but worth every step. There is a lot of folklore surrounding the statue that sits at the end of this break water. It said that she is so beautiful that the boat captains see her sitting there, combing her hair and they crash. There have been a lot of lives, lost on this treacherous curve of the river over the centuries. The last one was in 2011 when a barge capsized loaded with some sort of acid.

By now it’s time to find someplace to eat. We discovered that the Germans eat their dinner between five and seven so I’m feeling like we’re a little bit late as it’s now 8 o’clock. All of these little villages along the gorge are small sleepy little towns so it’s not like a big city where you’ve got sidewalk cafés lining the streets. We settle for a hotel restaurant and try to order a schnitzel to share but I don’t think the lady understood us and we ended up with two full meals, which I could barely eat a quarter of mine.

I know I’ve put a lot of photos in here, but it’s only a fraction of what I took. This Valley is the most beautiful place. I’ve seen so far.