Wurzburg, Ruddesheim, & Bacharach – Hidden beauties in Germany
Between World Cup matches we made the point of seeing a lot of the countryside and visiting some small towns and villages in search of the quieter, more charming, peaceful, and serene side of Germany. Lucky for us that we had decided to rely on our Germany rail passes for getting around as our unlimited train access also gave us access to some of the most unbelievable and breathtaking countryside scenery that we have ever seen, much of which cannot be seen via driving. We fell in love with these small towns and villages that some consider the quintessential examples German culture and scenery, tucked away between rivers, moutains, and countryside.
We arrived in Germany just in time for the opening match of the World Cup, as did our friend Chris who traveled out all the way from Seattle. The three of us were taken in by our wonderful Peruvian friend, Pamela, who lives in a neat, little city about 45 min outside of Frankfurt called Wiesbaden. Between keeping up with all the first-round WC matches anywhere we possibly could and going to all the fun festivals that Pamela took us too, we didn´t see much of anything other than the Fanfest along the river in Frankfurt and Pamela´s apartment during our first week in Germany. It wasn´t until our second week there when we made a pact to get off the couch and explore the more peaceful side of Germany for which it is famous.
The Romantic Road is a tourist route that connects a collection of some of the most charming and picturesque villages and towns in the Bavarian countryside, many of which have still retained their medieval character and are considered representations of ‘classic German’ culture and scenery. We spent a day wandering around Wurzburg, the first stop on the Romantic Road, that is completely surrounded by forests and vineyards. The city has a rich medieval history and had many great examples of Baroque architecture. Unfortunately, near the end of World War II a series of bombings that lasted only 17 minutes destroyed about 90% of the city. Luckily, many of the important buildings and monuments have been rebuilt since in their original style. While wandering around to our surprise we found that Wurzburg has its own little version of the Charles Bridge in Prague and enjoyed the views of the city from the medieval fortress across the river. We almost missed our train as we became embroiled in a heated discussion with some friendly Aussies that we met on our way up to the fortress and lost track of time. Unsurprisingly enough, the conversation was about soccer, of course.
The Rhine River also has many charming little German towns strung alongside of it. But more importantly, the Rhine Valley has a particularly high concentration of castles and fortresses along it since it was at one time considered to be the heartland of the Holy Roman Empire. Some have been left in ruins and others are still standing, whole and impressive. We visited Rhuddesheim, a small, romantic town along the Rhine filled with narrow stone-paved streets and lots of half-timber houses lined with cute little flower boxes, both very typical of classic German towns. The town is filled with little wine shops, which do very informal tastings of many of the local wines and liquors and as a result we had a jolly great time wine tasting during the AM before hopping on a boat cruise down the Rhine. The boat cruise is a great way to see the castles and fortresses along the valley that are nestled between vineyards and forests. Since the boat makes various stops along the river, we were able to visit Bacharach, another little German town, even more cute and charming than Ruddesheim and where Henry the Lion was married and we tasted some delicious Reisling flavored ice cream!
Visiting these little towns reminded us gave us a peek into what many consider classic Germany – a romantic, charming, serene and picturesque side of the country is easy to fall it love with. It also reminded us that there was still a lot for us to see in Germany besides the World Cup 🙂
For pictures:
Ruddesheim & Bacharach: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72157594195465488/
Wurzburg: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72157594195458814/
-Shan
Tags: Europe, Germany, Travel, Wurzburg
Shan