Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [436]
The Loreley outcrop can be reached by car, by shuttle bus (one-way from St Goars-hausen’s Marktplatz €2.40, hourly from Easter to October) or via the Treppenweg, a steep, 400-step stairway that begins at the breakwater. At the Loreley Besucherzentrum (Visitor Centre; 599 093; www.loreley-besucherzentrum.de; adult/student €2.50/1.50; 10am-6pm Apr–mid-Nov, 10am-5pm Mar, 11am-4pm Sat & Sun Nov-Feb), which has a tourist office branch inside, exhibits (including an 18-minute 3-D film) examine the region’s geology, flora and fauna, shipping, winemaking, the Loreley myth and early Rhine tourism in an engaging, interactive fashion. To the left as you approach the centre, a gravel path leads through the forest to the Loreleyspitze (the tip of the Loreley outcrop), where you’ll find spectacular panoramic views and a cafe ( closed Nov-Mar). Far below, teeny-tiny trains slither along both banks of the Rhine, while miniature barges negotiate its waters.
Near St Goarshausen stand two rival castles. Burg Peterseck was built by the archbishop of Trier in an effort to counter the toll practices of the powerful Katzenelnbogen family. In a show of medieval muscle flexing, the latter responded by building a much bigger castle high above St Goarshausen, Burg Neukatzenelnbogen, which became known as Burg Katz (Cat Castle; closed to the public) for short. And so, to highlight the obvious imbalance of power between the Katzenelnbogens and the archbishop, Burg Peterseck soon came to be known as Burg Maus (Mouse Castle).
These days, Burg Maus (interior closed) houses the Adler- und Falkenhof (Eagle & Falcon House; 7669; www.burg-maus.de, in German; adult/child over 6yr/family €8/6/22; falconry show 11am & 2.30pm Tue-Sun, also 4.30pm Sun & holidays mid-Mar–mid-Oct). It can be reached by a 20-minute walk from St Goarshausen-Wellmich.
St Goarshausen has its own tourist office ( 9100; www.loreley-touristik.de; Bahnhofstrasse 8; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-noon Sat Apr-Oct, 9.30am-3pm Mon-Fri Nov-Mar) across the highway from the car-ferry landing. The hall is adorned with photos of recent Loreley beauty queens, all of them incredibly blonde.
About 8km upriver from Loreley stands fairly-tale Pfalzgrafstein (www.burgen-rlp.de; adult/under 18yr/family €2.10/0.70/4.80; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct, to 5pm Mar, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun Nov, Jan & Feb, closed Dec), a boat-shaped toll castle perched on a island perfect for picnics in the middle of the Rhine. Ferries ( 0171 331 0375; adult/4-11yr/family €2.50/1/6) leave every half-hour from Kaub, next to the car ferry.
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OBERWESEL
06744 / pop 3300
An impressive, 3km-long medieval town wall, sporting 16 guard towers, wraps around much of Oberwesel’s Altstadt, which is separated from the river by the rail line, laid in 1857. You can stroll on top of much of the wall.
Easily spotted on a hillside at the northern end of town is the 14th-century St-Martins-Kirche, known as the ‘white church’, which has painted ceilings, a richly sculpted main altar and a tower that once formed part of the town’s defences. In the southern Altstadt, the Liebfrauenkirche, known as the ‘red church’ for the colour of its facade, is older by about 100 years and boasts an impressive carved gold altar.
Each April, Oberwesel crowns not a Weinkönigin (wine queen), as in most 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 the 1940s are on display in the modern Oberwesel Kulturhaus ( 714 726; www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de; Rathausstrasse 23; adult/child/student €2.50/1/1.50; 10am-5pm Tue-Fri, 2-5pm Sat, Sun & holidays Apr-Oct, closed Nov-Mar), whose well-presented local history museum features 19th-century engravings of the Romantic Rhine and