Page 485 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

Eck (German Corner), ad- sible by car, on foot and
joining flower-filled parks by cable car. 6 Braubach
and promenades – and Inside Koblenz’ strik- Framed by forest, vine-
the convergence of three ing new glass Forum yards and rose gardens,
low mountain ranges (the Confluentes, exhibits at the 1300-year-old town
Hunsrück, the Eifel and the Mittelrhein-Museum of Braubach centres on
the Westerwald). Its roots (www.mittelrhein-museum. its small, half-timbered
date back to the Romans, de; Zentralplatz 1; adult/child Marktplatz.
who founded a military €10/7; h10am-6pm Tue-Sun) High above Braubach
stronghold (Confluentes) span 2000 years of the are the dramatic towers,
here because of the site’s region’s history, including turrets and crenellations
supreme strategic value. 19th-century landscape of the 700-year-old
On the Rhine’s paintings of the Romantic Marksburg (www.marksburg.
right bank, the 118m- Rhine by German and de; adult/child €64; h10am-
high fortress Festung British artists. 5pm mid-Mar–Oct, 11am-4pm
Ehrenbreitstein (www. Nov–mid-Mar), which is GERMANY 34 ROMANTIC RHINE
diefestungehrenbreitstein.de; 4 p489 unique among the Rhine’s
adult/child €6/3, incl cable car The Drive » Take the B49 fastnesses as it was never
€11.80/5.60; h10am-6pm across the Rhine to its eastern destroyed. The compul-
Apr-Oct, to 5pm Nov-Mar) bank and travel south on the sory tour takes in the
proved indestructible to B42; it’s 13km to Braubach. At citadel, the Gothic hall
all but Napoleonic troops, this point of the drive, you leave and a grisly torture cham-
the cityscapes behind and enter
who levelled it in 1801. an older world of cobblestones, ber. English tours depart
To prove a point, the half-timbered villages, densely at 1pm and 4pm from late
Prussians rebuilt it as forested hillsides and ancient March to October.
one of Europe’s mightiest vineyards.
fortifications. It’s acces-

DETOUR:
OBERWESEL
Start: 8 St Goar (p486)
It’s a quick 7.8km south from St Goar along the B9 to the village of Oberwesel.
Every April, Oberwesel crowns not a Weinkönigin (wine queen), as in most
Rhine towns, but a Weinhexe (wine witch) – a good witch, of course – who is said
to protect the vineyards. Photos of all the Weinhexen crowned since 1946 are
displayed in the cellar of Oberwesel’s Kulturhaus (www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de;
Rathausstrasse 23; adult/child €3/1; h10am-5pm Tue-Fri, 2-5pm Sat & Sun Apr-Oct), along with
19th-century engravings of the Romantic Rhine and models of Rhine riverboats.
Hidden sky-high up a vineyard-striped hillside, the flagstone terrace of
Günderode Haus (www.guenderodefilmhaus.de; Siebenjungfrauenblick; h11am-6pm Sat-
Thu, to 8pm Fri Apr-Oct, reduced hours Nov-Mar) is an incredible spot for a glass of wine,
beer or brandy, with sweeping views over the Rhine. The adjacent 200-year-old
half-timbered house was used as a film set for Heimat 3 (2004), and now has a
cinema room and hosts live music and literary events, as well as wine tastings. From
Oberwesel, take the K93 east for 600m, turn right (north) onto the K95; after 1km,
the car park’s on your right.

483