The Middle Rhine and Moselle Rivers, Germany
Sept 28 - 29

A couple of days driving the winding roads along the serpentine Rhine and Moselle on the west edge of Germany take you through almost a hundred small towns and past thousands of grape fields - not to mention dozens of old castles that are either now ruins or have been restored as fancy homes or hotels. The valley is quite nice with steep cliffs right down to the water and quaint towns stuffed in where they fit.

From Mainz to Cologne, the Rhine is the Mississippi River of Europe. Along this 100 mile stretch, barges and tourist boats are always visible and there are no locks. There are also dual-line railroad lines along both sides that handle about 350 trains a day. Plus, the book says, about 25,000 cars down the roads. It's too slow for big trucks who take an autobahn instead. Still, it's a leisurely trip and the 70km from Bingen to Koblenz took us a full day (with lots of stops).

Many of the castles were built starting in the 1200s when kings of the time started leasing out river rights to their favorite barons and they built castles as toll gates. There were once 34 such toll stops (called customs points). This all ended when the French Revolutionaries (read Napoleon) expanded into Germany. The Prussians who took over later re-opened 12 of the toll stops until 1868.

One of the favorite industries was rafting down the Rhine. Wood rafts of up to 1000ft long were rowed north to Cologne where the cargo was sold very profitably - the cargo being the raft itself as the Cologne area had run out of wood for building. At right is a model in the Cologne city musuem.

Interesting note: Most of the old castles were ruined when French troops were driven out in the late 1700s and they burned or blew up all the fortifications they could. Sensible if you consider they were military installations, but still a shame.

Here's some pictures, from south to north.

The next day we went back down the Moselle, those pictures are later on.

We started with a ferry of course.
There are no bridges Koblenz clear to Mainz (85km)
but there are 13 passenger ferries and 6 auto ferries.

Burg Richenstein.

The town of Bacharach.

Burg Rheinstein. Ruins.

Shonburg Castle. Now a hotel.

Looking down at Oberwesel.

Loreley Rock. Here's where the legend of Lorelei came into being.
A siren here lured ships onto the rocks.
The river is at its narrowest part at this curve.

Boppard.

Here's some views of the Rhine.

A sidewheeler.

A ferry with huge rudders.

There are lots of wineries. The harvest is in full swing here in late September and wine festivals are going to be happening in almost every town in just a few days. Hotels and guesthouses are already tough to get now - the Wednesday before. Camping grounds are full and the traffic in a few days must be horrendous.

The steep slopes make it tough to harvest.
They use a trolley on a winch to bring the grapes uphill.
It's tough to see in this picture but this row goes downhill at about 45°.

Easier to see here.

The Moselle is narrower, more winding, and has 9 locks. There's less river traffic and one railroad line cuts through many hills. Less old castles. More half-timbered houses. We made it down the Moselle about 115km before hollering "Enough" and cutting cross-country up to Cologne.

The clawed worm at Kobern.

Munstermaifeld.

Stuben Abbey. Ruined in 1788.

A railroad and auto bridge at Bullay. The book says this is the only one in Germany.

Moselle sights.

A roadside grass mower.