THE LAND OF CASTLES
Bingen am Rhein
Our Bingen apartment was beautiful! It was situated on 13th floor, sitting high on the hill which gave us the most spectacular panoramic views of the town of Bingen, the Rhine river and the vineyards on the hillsides.
We had binoculars for spotting castles and for viewing the busy Rhine River with all its ferries from our balcony. Also because we were high up the weather patterns constantly change over our 4 day stay. We saw cloud, sunny blue skies followed by wind gusts that carried whirling snow storms.
Our Apartment was quite regally decorated. Check out what we named – the throne chair.
The heated pool was just a treat! We used the indoor heated pool each afternoon which felt like heaven to be able to swim in warm silky waters and have a stunning view of the town castle and church steeples out the window whilst splashing about.
We loved being woken by the sound of tranquil church bells which rang throughout the town. Not something we have at home. The town of Bingen was like a ghost town with hardly anyone around maybe due to the fact temperatures were still below minus but that didn’t stop us from exploring the town. I think I will name it Turtle Neck City weather, where locals just turtle it inside their warm winter shelters. Not Rob and I! We were out there freezing our butts off. Don’t people now pay big bickies to stand naked in freezing temperatures? And we got it for FREE!!!!
Standouts here were:
Burg Klopp Castle
In Rob’s dreams he thought that this castle belonged to Jurgen Klopp’s family, so he basically ran up the hill to visit it. He was hoping that Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool football manager might be sitting having coffee in the castle hotel. Didn’t happen but the views were magnificent. You wouldn’t be disappointed with a castle holiday here.
The town is graced by the presence of a few outstanding churches. Their steeple and medieval architectural features rise high in the town’s skyline giving the town a quaint old town feel. We visited the Basilica which was built in 1406 in a gothic style but the underground crypt was built in 1006. Now this is when history just oozes into your bones. You need to see it, stand amongst it to understand and appreciate it.
Kloster Rupertsberg Abbey was built in 1150.
Walking along the Rhine river in Bingen we found the most fantastic children’s park where you could easily lose your child for the day. Set with a water play area, basket flying fox to carry cargo and a fully decked out cargo bow built for imaginary play adventures. Rob was sucked in as he was a stowaway being transported down river and I was the Captain at the wheel. Now we know how the German children play. Don’t you just love the idea of imaginary play!!! To go where ever your dreams take you… to follow your heart’s desire! This park was not stifled by age it beckoned for you to explore……
Bingen is situated in what is called the Middle Rhine (Mittelrhein) Valley. It is a very romantic stretch of the Rhine River surrounded by rolling hills full of vineyards, castles, fortresses, ruins and quaint old towns.
Day 1
Land of Castles
On our first day in Bingen it was extremely cold around minus 6 so Rob did some extensive research and found just one boat tour which would take us for a 30 kilometre ride down one of the most impressive parts of the Rhine River so we could view for ourselves it’s many impressive castles. In fact we saw around 15 castles on our tours and learned some impressive historical information. Here are some photos of the gems we saw.
The Rhine river is a very busy transport hub full of long sleek cargo boats moving quickly back and forth along the river coupled with the car ferries which move across the river from town to town. Then in the warmer months you have the big European canal holiday cruise liners and day tourist boats. Thank goodness we have chosen the low season as we were able to sit wherever we wanted on board and move freely inside and out.
We started by braving the brisk outdoor breeze on the upper deck until our bones ached and we felt like our fingers were going to snap off when they were out of your pockets for more than a minute.
After half an hour we spent the rest of our cruise time indoors in the warmth which was great as the cruise had beautiful big viewing windows and hot coffee.
This trip gave us a great introduction to what towns lay on the banks from Bingen to St. Goar.
Such a wide range of experiences and sights. Amazing! Don’t think I could handle such cold weather. It hurts just reading about it.
haha – we can’t complain (yes it hurts)