Water and Wine, that´s the impression that Koblenz gave me.Even before,I´ve heard a lot already about Koblenz so I was thankful to finally explore this city few weeks ago.Looking back on our vineyards and winery trips in Moselle few years ago, I was happy to finally be back with the view of not only one river on sight, but two; the Rhine and the Moselle.

Koblenz is a special place, a historical city and comes along with rich heritage of more than 2,000 years lying on the breast of lush valleys and countless castles.It´s a romantic destination for people who love Wine, vineyards, cycling and chasing the rows of castles in the region.

Cruising along the Moselle and the Rhine river is probably one of the best experience to enjoy the idyllic landscape of this place.When we visit, I saw some cruise ships and boats flocked with tourist . I´ve never done it with a boat but hiking and chasing castles in this area is one of the rewarding experience we´ve had so far.From vineyards sights and sampling wine from the countless Weingut and strolling in the little towns in the valley our time were well spent.We managed to explore the local squares with unique fountains, historical churches and tasted the local delicacy.The part of the Upper Middle Rhine where lovely little towns with its grey roofs settled on the river banks makes me really wonder…why there are so many castles on this area…?

There are a total of 40 castles along the Rhine river and yes, you can enjoy them all once you´re on board on the ship or driving through the road with fantastic views of the terraced vineyards.You can even have a tour on them and see them up close since most of the castles were converted into Hotels.

This was probably the most picturesque Castle I have seen along the Rhine river. If you drive along the Rhine, you will definitely see lots of ruins, castles and many more castles. I got lost counting them but this one is special.We saw this just after a few kilometers after the historical Loreley site. Pfalzgrafenstein is situated in the middle of the Rhine river with a picturesque background of the terraced vineyards. Super idyllic I must say!

We took an early morning hike and end up discovering the Stolzenfels Castle.It´s not as grand as the Burg Eltz which we also explored through trekking into the woods but this one has a great view of the Rhine and it´s valley full of quiant little towns. We´ve seen it with an early morning fog and it´s quite special.

The Stolzenfels Castle is the dream castle built by Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, and is the epitome of the romantic Rhine.Other castle highlights in the area is the Burg Sooneck and Schloss Bürrescheim.

We rode the cable car going up to see the Festung Ehrenbreitstein or the Fortress of Koblenz. It was quick but very enjoyable ride but for me ,I felt a little bit giddy once I´m looking down the water. I´ve gotten used to seeing snow on Gondola rides but this time we have views of the river with ships passing by, the fortress and the valley.

The Fortress was huge and spacious! This large structure stretches across 14 kilometers and is one of the largest fortification complexes built in Europe in 19th century. In this region, emperors built a fort,while Franks built a king´s court and somehow earne it´s name as the “Postdam of the Rhine“.

I think taking the Seilbahn Koblenz is the best way to see Koblenz from above esp. if you only stay for a day. From above we were rewarded with magnificent views, and despite the drizzle of rain, we managed to see why this place is being talked about.

And what a lovely surprise, a sudden change of scenery where the idyllic terraced vineyards meets modernism–the Romanticum.

In this building one can experience the multimedia trip through time in the Unesco World Heritage Region of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley.

Of course, in Koblenz I saw this fountain called “Historiensäule“. This fountain is a gift to Koblenz for it´s 2,000 years. It depicts the city´s rich history from the Roman times and in different era.

My favourite Castle of all time

A Trip to fairytale Castle

Until then, Tschüss!