A romantic journey along the Rhine (lots of castles)
On our trip back from Black Forest we took the train through the Rhine valley, which is in it's middle part a UNESCO world heritage site.
"Pfalzgrafenstein", an old toll castle inmidst of the river:
One of the many wine-villages
Vinyards wherever you look
"Boppard" (village), there are dozens of medieval castles on top of the slopes
"Burg Katz" ("cat's castle")
"Burg Maus" ("mouse's castle"), both are opposite each other on different river banks.
Obviously, some knights played a cat and mouse game with each other.
The mythical "Loreley", a rock at the foot of which are infamous shoals, that wrecked many ships in a very unmythical actual way.
"Marksburg", 13th century, the only castle to survive the times undamaged.
(Sorry for the bad shot, it's not easy to take pictures from a driving train)
Many castles were built to rise levies or toll. If acces was denied, the batteries started to fire on ships or in some cases the passage was closed with huge iron chains reaching from on river bank to the other.
Koblenz, old town with harbour and old bridge.
"Festung Ehrenbreitstein" opposite Koblenz, once the largest fortress in Germany.
The village of Unkel, near Bonn, where the valley ends.