Sunday, September 9, 2012

Exploring Castles and Germany's Wine Region

Pin It Now! Last weekend we took a day trip to the magical Burg Eltz castle.

Burg Eltz Castle

The castle is tucked away far into the woods and looks every bit the part of a fairytale castle. From Kaiserslautern it is about a 2 hour drive, give or take how fast or slow you drive :)


Going with young kids is doable, just be prepared. After paying for parking (cost is 1.50 euro) we took the 15-20min walking trail to the castle. It is a beautiful and scenic walk, but I wouldn't suggest pushing a stroller UNLESS you have something like a jogging stroller or phil and teds because it's very rocky terrain.

View from the trail on the way to Burg Eltz

I think there is a shuttle that will drive you to the castle as well, but we didn't know that was an option until we got to the castle :) Either way, if you can do the walk you should.

With my munchkins at the entrance of Burg Eltz

The castle has two restaurants and a gift shop.


You can buy tour tickets at the gift shop and the english tours start in the courtyard about every 10min. 
Courtyard inside the Burg Eltz

The tour is about 40 minutes and is an intimate and quiet atmosphere. Within 5 minutes we realized it would not be a good idea to continue the tour with an explosive two year old, so my husband asked the guide if he could head back with our little guy. The guide was very grateful because he said a lot of times people continue the tour with their screaming kids and it ruins it for everyone else and makes it really hard for him to speak and concentrate on what he is saying. Leelee and I went through with the tour and I would recommend either taking turns with your spouse if you have a small child or just one person do the tour. I am more into the history stuff than my husband is, so he didn't mind stepping out. Besides the castle grounds are really pretty and again there are two restaurants nearby.

After spending some time at the Burg Eltz we took a short 20min drive to the town of Cochem.



Situated along the Mosel river and inbetween hilly vineyards, Cochem is in my opinion, one of Germany's quaintest towns. 

The Cochem castle looks down from high above and sets the tone for the medieval ambience.

Cochem Castle

Another view of Cochem castle. I love the vineyards that surround this castle. They must have had some lively parties here :)
Cochem Castle

Cochem is known not only for it's charm, but it's wine. Several family owned vineyards cascade around the town and along the river.


There is no shortage of cute little restaurants and cafes for sipping local wine and eating local treats.


The enchanting streets and buildings of Cochem are truly intoxicating  and will leave you feeling smitten with the German culture.


If you have a weekend or day to spare in Germany and haven't explored the Mosel region yet, I'd highly recommend Burg Eltz and Cochem. Hope you enjoyed these images as much as I enjoyed sharing them!

Haben Sie ein schönes Wochenende!
Have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo
Frau Wright

1 comment:

  1. Love this castle. I'm so glad you got to go. We went there years ago sans kids. I need to go again with updated pics. Lovely.

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