The River Rhine is a land of wine and castles!

We arrived in Koblenz late on Monday night. After checking into our hotel room, we had just enough time to walk around the historic part of the city. Koblenz is where the Mosel meets the Rhine. The area is called the Deutches Eck and is marked by a giant statue, which was apparently replaced in the 1990s (according to google it was damaged in WWII.)


Statue where the Mosel meets the Rhine

Across from the Deutches Eck is a huge fortress, which is quite beautiful when its all lit up at night. I actually found it less impressive during the daylight.


Fortress in Koblenz

Koblenz is also all about shopping. Everything from Prada to a TK Maxx are here. (TK Maxx is basically TJ Maxx. I actually bought a sweater from here because the weather was cooler than I had anticipated.) I would call this a must-do for anyone who likes to shop. I also enjoyed walking along the river front. There's even a gondola that will take you up to the fortress, but we didn't do it.



Selfie on the statue in Koblenz

We used Koblenz as a starting point for our road-trip down the Rhine. The area from Koblenz to Mainz is considered the most beautiful, for this reason it is also heavily traveled by tourists from all over the world. We enjoyed stopping in some of the small towns and I especially loved getting to see all of the castles along the route. We didn't stop and actually walk around all of the castles, that would have taken an eternity, but we did stop at a few that seemed easily accessible.


Example of a castle (I'll look up the name of these later. I forget right now)





We also stopped at the famous Lorelei Rock, which was beautiful, but I can see why it was so dangerous for boats back in the day. The current is swift and the river twists and turns between rocky walls on either side of it. The Lorelei is the location of many boat wrecks, and the story goes that a woman would sit on the top of the rocks and her beauty would distract the sailors so that their boats would crash.



In front of Lorelei

Speaking of boats and transportation, there are really three ways to see the Rhine: boat, train, or car. We, of course, had our rental car and I honestly feel like this was the best way to go. The trains go pretty fast and they don't seem to stop at every town. I like the car because it gives me more freedom over when and where I travel. The second, and very popular, option for traveling the Rhine is to take a river cruise. I saw the boats going past, and it might not be a bad choice for certain people, but I consider myself to be somewhat adventurous and I think I would be bored with the river cruise because I like to be constantly moving and experiencing something new. It does look relaxing though, and I would probably consider a river cruise for a location that's more challenging, like Egypt for example.



What the rocks look like near Lorelei. See why it was so dangerous for boats?

Overall, I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed the Rhine region. It was much more beautiful than I thought it would be and there was a lot more to do in the little towns than I had expected. If we ever make it back to Germany, I would definitely want to spend a few days along the Rhine.





Typical Rhine town

View from on top of a hill