Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Castles
Lahnstein
Lahneck Castle (Burg Lahneck) in Lahnstein sits on a rocky spur above the point where the Lahn river meets the Rhine, and forms part of the UNESCO Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Site. With its rare pentagonal keep and neo-Gothic…
Castles
Thallichtenberg
Walk Lichtenberg Castle from one end to the other and you cover almost half a kilometre. At 425 m long it is one of the longest castle ruins in Germany and the largest castle complex in the Palatinate. It sits on a hill spur above the vill…
Castles
Krefeld
Burg Linn in Krefeld-Linn is a medieval moated castle with a rare hexagonal plan, surrounded by a wide water-filled moat and a park. The Burg Linn Museum covers three buildings: the castle, a Baroque hunting lodge in the outer courtyard an…
Castles
Sankt Goarshausen
Maus Castle (Burg Maus) above the Rhine village of Wellmich, part of Sankt Goarshausen, is one of the best-known castles of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The medieval hilltop castle with its round keep was…
Castles
Mettlach
Montclair Castle (Burg Montclair) near Mettlach is a medieval ruin high above the Saar Loop and one of the finest hiking destinations in Saarland. From the restored towers you look down into the deeply cut Saar valley, and in the courtyard…
Castles
Bacharach
In the middle of the Rhine off Kaub stands a white castle with little red corner turrets that looks as if it were sailing upstream. Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, known locally simply as "die Pfalz", was never a knight's home but a toll station:…
Castles
Riedenburg
Prunn Castle (Burg Prunn) stands on a limestone cliff 70 meters above the Altmühl Valley and is one of the most picturesque castles in Bavaria. The whitewashed hilltop castle with its massive keep dates in part to around 1200 and is famous…
Castles
Querfurt
Burg Querfurt in Saxony-Anhalt is one of the largest medieval castles in Germany, a sprawling hilltop fortress said to cover enough ground to hold the famous Wartburg several times over. Romanesque towers, a cross-shaped castle church, art…
Castles
Trechtingshausen
Reichenstein Castle in Trechtingshausen perches on a rocky spur just above the Rhine and is one of the most photogenic castles in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rebuilt around 1900 as a neo-Gothic residence, i…
Castles
Sankt Goar
Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar is the largest castle ruin on the Middle Rhine and one of the most exciting castles to explore in the Rhine Valley. Perched high above the river, it lets you wander through courtyards, ramparts and dark undergr…
Castles
Trechtingshausen
Rheinstein Castle (Burg Rheinstein) clings to a rocky spur above the Rhine near Trechtingshausen, just downstream from Bingen. It was the first ruined Rhine castle to be rebuilt in the Romantic era, and it lies within the Upper Middle Rhin…
Castles
Lörrach
Drive across the Wiesental viaduct on the A 98 near Lörrach and you spot it at once: two square towers on a wooded spur above the valley. Rötteln Castle, locally called the "Röttler Schloss", was one of the most powerful castles in south-w…
Castles
Mechernich
Satzvey Castle (Burg Satzvey) in Mechernich, on the northern edge of the Eifel hills, is regarded as the best-preserved moated castle in the Rhineland in terms of original medieval fabric. With its pointed towers, twin-towered gatehouse, a…
Castles
Bacharach
Stahleck Castle (Burg Stahleck) towers on a rocky spur above the wine town of Bacharach in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the oldest castle sites on the Rhine, it is now a youth hostel, which means you…
Castles
Stolpen
Stolpen Castle (Burg Stolpen) in Saxony stands on a basalt hill about 27 kilometers east of Dresden and is best known as the prison of Countess Cosel, the former mistress of Augustus the Strong. The medieval fortress of the bishops of Meis…
Castles
Kirchheim unter Teck
Even from the A8 motorway near Kirchheim you can see it high above the Lauter valley: Burg Teck at 773 metres, its tower and long wall perched on a spur at the edge of the Swabian Jura. Only fragments of the medieval castle survive, but th…
Castles
Alken
Thurant Castle (Burg Thurant) near Alken is the largest castle on the Moselle River and a landmark of the region. This twin castle crowns a slate ridge above vineyards, and a visit takes you through courtyards, a chapel, a dungeon and a ro…
Castles
Landshut
Trausnitz Castle (Burg Trausnitz) towers above the old town of Landshut in Lower Bavaria and was for centuries a seat of the Wittelsbach dukes. Behind its medieval walls you'll find an elegant Renaissance courtyard with arcades, the "Fools…
Castles
Kurort Oybin
In the middle of the Zittau Mountains, a sandstone rock rises about 120 metres above the village of Oybin. On its summit Emperor Charles IV began building a residence for his retirement in 1364 and a few years later founded a monastery, wh…
Castles
Lüdinghausen
Vischering Castle (Burg Vischering) in Lüdinghausen is one of the oldest and best-preserved moated castles in the Münsterland, the flat, green region of northwestern Germany famous for its water castles. Set on two islands and surrounded b…
Castles
Beuron
Look up from the Upper Danube Valley near Beuron and you will spot white walls and red roofs high on the cliff edge, as if they had grown out of the limestone. Wildenstein Castle stands a good 200 metres above the Danube and is one of the…
Castles
Burghausen
Burghausen Castle in the Bavarian town of Burghausen, right on the Austrian border, is listed by Guinness World Records as the longest castle in the world, stretching 1,051 meters (about two-thirds of a mile) along a narrow ridge. Six cour…
Castles
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Hambach Castle (Hambacher Schloss) near Neustadt an der Weinstraße is called the cradle of German democracy. In May 1832 about 25,000 people gathered here for the Hambach Festival, calling for freedom, a free press and German unity under b…
Castles
Füssen
The High Castle of the Prince-Bishops of Augsburg stands on a hill above Füssen's old town and is regarded as one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Bavaria. Stand in the courtyard and you notice what makes it special: many of the o…