Being lucky enough to spend a few weeks near Kaiserslautern and Ramstein Air Base in Germany, I set off on a castle hunting trip. A friend had told me to check out Burg Eltz. Having had a busy week, I didn’t get to do much research on the castle so just looked up the town it was in.
I awoke to some sunny skies and hopped in the car. The drive to Burg Eltz brought me on the Autobahn, which I just love to drive on as most places have no speed limits. (If only my car didn’t have a governor!) The drive also took me through some beautiful countryside from rolling hills and horse farms to river valleys and vineyards. After climbing some hills, I took a windy road that brought me down to the Moselle River Valley.
My first view of the Moselle river valley was of vineyards lining both sides of the river and the morning fog was just beginning to burn off. I wanted to stop in each picturesque small town along the way. I did end up stopping in the town of Hatzenport to snap a few pictures along the river. The leaves were just past their autumn prime, but still made for some great pictures.
From Hatzenport there are a couple of options to reach the castle. You can drive up to the car park near the towns of Münstermaifeld and Wierschem and then walk along a paved path for the remaining 800 meters to the castle. Or there is also a shuttle bus that will take you that 800 meters for €3 per person round trip.
I chose an entirely different option, which was to hike to the castle from the town of Moselkern. Just follow the signs to castle which lead you to a parking lot. From there it was an easy 2.5 kilometer hike along a winding stream with some easy ups and downs along the way; the hike only taking about 35 minutes.
As you round a corner you’ll suddenly get a view of the massive castle. Just cross a small bridge and climb some stairs and you are there. You can take a guided tour of the interior rooms for €8 per adult and €5.50 for children. There is also a family rate for 2 adults and 2 children for €24. The tours run every 10-15 minutes and are approximately 40 minutes long. The castle is open daily April 1st to November 1st from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Parts of the castle date back as far as 1157. For more information checkout the Burg Eltz website.
Are you ready to go castle hunting in Germany?
Jodi Henderson says
The fall foliage and that castle…so pretty! I’ll be heading to Bavaria in December to do some castle-hunting of my own. Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau coming right up! This post just gets me more excited.
Tim says
Jodi, I may be checking those castles out too on my way home here in a few weeks. Stay tuned for a few more castles from here as well.
Larry says
Amazingly beautiful!
Gina says
I totally want to go castle hunting in Germany! That hike sounds like a great way to get to the castle. Crossing my fingers I’m going to be in Germany next summer in which case I’ll definitely have to check it out.
Tim says
Hi Gina, there are lots of castles here so I’m sure you’ll be able to find some to explore. Hoping to checkout some more this weekend so you may have a couple more to look into.
Phyllis Kingma Penninga says
My daughter and I were there in late May. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn on the trail and the hike took us nearly 2 hours. We never did figure out what happened. The hike back was 45 minutes. Would have been great if my daughter didn't end up with the flu! I guess we'll need to go back again. We've seen several castles in Germany–all great. Love the ones along the Rhine!
Tim says
Phyllis, sounds like you just took the “scenic” route.
Ali says
I love castles, this looks so cool! I definitely haven’t explored enough of Germany despite living here now. We’ll get there eventually.
Tim says
Hi Ali, We used to feel the same way about Italy. So many of our trips were out of country we were missing many of the places to visit in Italy.
Renuka says
Loved this castle hunting and loved your gorgeous pictures! I guess, Germany is renowned for beautiful castles. Isn’t it?
crystal says
which has been your favorite castle so far?!