The 11 Most Beautiful Villages and Cities in the Rhineland, Germany

If timber-framed houses and beautiful churches are what you’re after, then Bacharach is the perfect place to while away an afternoon. Keep an eye out for Altes Haus, a half-timber house dating from 1368, the 12th-century Stahlek Castle and St Peter’s Church. Climb the Postenturm to get an Instagram-worthy view of the town and then top up your energy reserves with some coffee and cake at one of the many cafés.

Trier is the most ancient city in Germany, whose existence can be traced back to the Roman era. The icon of Trier is the massive sandstone Roman gate, Porta Nigra, which dates back to 180 AD and is among the best-preserved ancient structures in the world. Alongside, Trier boasts a medieval old town, remnants of Roman architecture, Germany’s oldest bishop’s church – Trier Cathedral – and excellent wine-tasting opportunities.

St. Goar is home to the largest and perhaps the most romantic castle in the Rhine Castle stretch, Rheinfels Castle. It faces another picture-book castle called Castle Katz on the opposite bank of the river at St. Goarhausen. When in town, you can’t miss the Loreley Rock, shrouded in legends and myths, as well as the largest free-hanging cuckoo clock in the world.

Speyer is one of the oldest cities in Germany, its foundation dating back to the 10th century. The city is known for its impressive architecture, the most famous among which are the 11th century red sandstone Speyer Cathedral, celebrated Baroque architecture of Trinity Church, the 13th century Old City Gate offering panoramic views of the city and the neo-Gothic Memorial Church.

This tiny town (pronounced with a soft ‘ch’) has been going since the Celts were exploring the Moselle a couple thousand years ago. In addition to the dozens of historical buildings nestled on a bend in the Moselle river, Cochem has the distinct advantage of being right in the middle of white wine country. The steep hills right at the river’s edge made excellent terraces, which in turn make Riesling worth the hike to procure.

The third largest city in Rhineland is also an important train hub for the area. If you come from Cologne on the slow train, Koblenz is the start of the prettiest stretch of the journey. The city’s name comes from the Latin for ‘merging of rivers,’ which makes sense, because this is where the Mosel and the Rhine meet. Look out for the ancient castle Schloss Stolsenfels, Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung, a small military museum and the Romanticum, an interactive museum that explains how important the Rhine is in German literature and culture.

If you’re at all familiar with Romantic German literature, songs or poetry, you’ll know about Lorelei, a steep slate cliff on whose ramparts many a ship were dashed as they tried to make the near 90 degree bend in the river. Every year Piesport puts on a fireworks display for its Loreleyfest the first weekend in July. Also: wine. The 35 vineyards in the area are collectively known as Piesporter Michelsberg, the best of which is Goldtröpfchen (golden droplets).

10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Cochem, next to the village of Beilstein, you’ll find the ruins of Metternich Castle atop Schlossberg vineyard. The village is known as the Sleeping Beauty of the Rhine, so don’t expect anything to happen at faster than 0km speed. The castle terrace is worth having some cake at because it gives you a chance to take in the stunning Mosel loop panorama.

In addition to being the terminus of the Koblenz-Mainz cute Rhine town train journey, Mainz is where the printing press was invented. As such, the city is obsessed with books. Check out how the first books were made at the Gutenberg Museum or try it out yourself at the Druckladen. Dom St Martin and the Landesmuseum Mainz round out the offerings.

Technically not a village, but definitely worth a visit. Burg Eltz is probably the best-preserved Medieval castle in all of Germany and is therefore the perfect place to indulge all your knight and damsel fantasies. The castle is unusual in that it’s been in the same family for 33 generations and wasn’t destroyed in the war. Take the train from Cochem to Moselkern and walk though the forest for about an hour to get to the castle, or splurge on a taxi.

The Gothic village of Kiedrich is in the central Rheingau region between Bingen and Mainz. As you approach the village, you’ll see the tower of Scharfenstein Castle (built in 1215) and the spires of St. Valentine’s Basilica and St. Michael’s Chapel, both from the 15th century. Public tours of the basilica are available immediately after mass. The chapel next door used to be a charnel house, a place where dug up bones from the cemetery were stored. These days, it houses a chandelier sculpted around a life-sized, two-sided Madonna.