Eurotrip 2011 – Heidelberg & Bacharach, 8-10 May

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We visited Heidelberg on route to the Rhine Valley. Its castle was pretty to look at from far but there was not much inside it. The “philosophers walk” on the opposite bank of the river gave good views of the town. Unfortunately, the shops were closed on Sunday. We had our pork knuckles and fresh beer before we arrived at Bacharach at 1030pm. Our accommodation in this quiet town was in a castle! The idea of living in a castle excited us but we came to realize that living in a castle means long flights of steps up the hills and it wasn’t such a good idea with our packs in the dark. So we called a cab and arrived just in time to check in much to our relief.

Bacharach makes a good base to do our river cruise down the Rhine Valley. Littered with castles and vineyards, it makes a relaxing day to cruise down the Rhine. The castles existed in the past as “toll booths” for passing ships to pay $$ before they could pass. We visited the Rheinsfels castle ruins at St Goar before cruising upriver back to Bacharach. In the evening, we explored our town, had a hearty dinner before climbing the numerous steps back to the castle.

The following day, we parked our backpacks at Koblenz to make a short detour to Burg Eltz  A well preserved castle in the forest which came highly recommended from a guidebook. Unfortunately, the castle was being renovated and a large crane spoiled the view of the castle. It was also a long 1.5 hr trek to the castle. Nevertheless, the castle provided free English tours and we learned quite a bit about the castle.

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