BootsnAll Travel Network



Bacharach and the Rhine, Germany

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Bacharach is a small town situated on one of the most scenic stretches of the Rhine river. It is about an hour and a half from Frankfurt, or about 15 minutes away from Bingen (the nearest “big” town). This stretch of the Rhine is dotted with castles and small towns that historically made its money from the tolls extracted from vessels passing down the river. The area is also know for its white wines which are harvested from the vineyards that line the hills along the river.

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We absolutely loved Bacharach. It is a charming small town with friendly people, historic old buildings, cobblestone streets, and a big old castle with nice views on the river. Eating and drinking here were fantastic and a highlight of our trip. It is also a great base to take a cruise down the Rhine and take in the castles along it’s banks.

Photos from around Bacharach:

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Eating and drinking in Bacharach

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All the vineyards along the Rhine make Bacharach a great place to do wine tasting. We found 2 places that had wine tasting facilities – Fritz Bastian’s Weingut zum Gruner Baum (next to the Altes Haus), the most popular one, had a wine tasting carousel of 16 different Rieslings for about 10 Euros. The wines were very good. The 2nd option, Weingut Toni Just Hahnehhof, was even better in our opinion. Although you only get 6 wines (for I think 8 Euros) the glasses were bigger and – in our opinion – of better quality. But they are both really worth visiting and since they both serve their own wines, trying both out gives you more variety. We actually liked one of the wines at Toni Just Hahnehhof so much that we bought a bottle (4.50 Euros) to bring back to Montreal.

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We usually had lunch at the restaurant of Hotel Burg Stahleck in the shadows of the church. They make great thin-crusted pizza – Alsatian Pizza – with feta cheese. Superb. We would have it with a bottle of one of our favorite wines (above – a 2007 Bacharacher Wolfshohle).

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For super we would eat at the Altes Haus (above left), the oldest building in town (1368) and the best restaurant in Bacharach as far as we were concerned. Great food (they have a great vegetarian ravioli), the service is good, great decor, and fantastic wine (another of our favorites- 2007 Riesling-Hochgewachs Halbtrocken).

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The Altes Haus holds special memories for us, was just a great place.

Castles along the Rhine:

We didn’t just eat and drink, we also took a cruise down the river (they serve Riesling on board as well) and saw some of the main highlights between Bacharach and St.Goar: Schonburg castle (below, partly red), Pfalz Castle (below – white castle), Gutenfels castle (in background of Pfalz), the Loreley (large cliff overlooking river – not pictured here).

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Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar (about 10 km, or 45 min by boat from Bacharach)
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German bathroom humour…
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She must be worried about getting the Schwein flu – either that or she’s a superhero masquerading as an idiot..
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We stayed at Hotel Am Markt in Bacharach – 65 Euros for a double room, the cheapest on our trip (Great being back in Germany after expensive Switzerland!). We stayed in Room 2 which is the only one with a balcony. Comfortable, clean, no frills but cheap – 4 out of 5 considering everything. And right accross from the Altes Haus!

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Bacharach might not have been as WOW as some of the other places on this trip but it ended up as one of our favorite spots (along with Venice and Lauterbrunnen – all for different reasons). I would definately come back.

Next (and final) stop: Heidelberg



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2 responses to “Bacharach and the Rhine, Germany”

  1. Leah says:

    Hi. I am currently in the process of researching and brainstorming for a trip to Europe, probably in Spring 2012. We were intending to go Spring 2011 but due to circumstances beyond our control have had to post-pone it!

    Anyway, I am trying to find a town in the Rhine area to visit. Bacharach intrigues me. I want a small town – Heidelberg would be the biggest I’d want to visit – with access to castles and vineyards. As far as I could tell there wasn’t much in the way of vineyards around Heidelberg. So Bacharach so far looks good! Is it easy enough to get by only speaking English in Bacharach? Heidelberg’s castle looks beautiful but the small size of Bacharach and its vineyards could well be enough to win me over as opposed to Heidelberg. I also am interested in Tuebingen (gorgeous-looking town with an amazing castle near by), but that appears to be a bit far east to be considered in the Rhine area, plus I don’t think there is much in the way of vineyards there either. Any help you may be able to give is much appreciated!

  2. f_thomae says:

    Hi!
    I had no problem not speaking English in Bacharach – between most Germans speaking a bit of English and some sign language we managed. Menus are probably the most frustrating thing so you should plan ahead so you become aquainted with what different items are…
    Bacharach was great – heard good things about Tuebingen but I know nothing about it.
    Good luck!
    Frank

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