Worth seeing, also for a longer stay, is Old Cochem with its fortification and numerous old gable houses. The “Alte Thorschenke” belongs to the oldest and particularly well preserved wine restaurants.
Trier, established in 16 B.C. by the Emperor Augustus, is considered to be the oldest town in Germany. About 100 years later the amphitheatre was built, which could originally accommodate 20,000 spectators and parts of which still remain today. The time of the Romans is still to be witnessed through other buildings, such as the Imperial Baths, the Barbara Baths, Forum Baths at the Cattle Market, the Aula Palatina as well as the Roman fortified town gate, the ‘Porta Nigra’.
Since 273 A.D. Trier has been the bishop’s see, whose cathedral, as the oldest bishop’s church, bears a formidable testament. The cathedral today belongs to UNESCO world cultural heritage and documents over 1,650 years of architectural and artistic history.
The birth house of Karl Marx, the founder of political economy, is also situated in Trier. The permanent exhibition in the Karl Marx House with original documents, provides an interesting insight into his life and philosophical work.
Koblenz is situated at the confluence of the River Moselle and the River Rhine, a city with a meaningful history. Since the time of the Romans, the city, in its exposed position, has been of great strategic importance.
The “German Corner” with an impressive Emperor Wilhelm monument is situated on a headland lying directly on the delta of the Moselle in the River Rhine. Nearby the German manor house is a reminder of the German Order of Knights, who settled here in 1216.
On the other side of the Rhine lies the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, a castle commissioned about 1,000 years ago by one of the Trier Electors.
Worth seeing is also the Empress Augusta Gardens, a beautiful riverside promenade by the horticultural artist Peter Joseph Lenné, and the St. Castor Basilica - it was here that Louis the Pious negotiated about the division of the Franconian Empire in 842.
From Koblenz there are two possibilities of discovering the romantic Rhine Valley upstream. The route left of the Rhine leads through Boppard, St.Goar, Oberwesel and Bacharach to Bingen and further along the Nahe Valley to Bad Kreuznach. The route right of the Rhine continues through Lahnstein, past the Loreley Rocks, to Kaub, Lorch, Assmanshausen to Ruedesheim and further along the Rhine region to Wiesbaden. It is possible along the route to change sides of the Rhine without any problem, as along the way there are six car ferries and 4 foot passenger ferries.
First stop is the historical small town of Boppard, of celtic origin and surrounded by walls of a late Roman fort up to 8 m high.
Enthroned above St.Goar is the impressive Rheinfels Castle, built by one of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen to protect the Rhine customs post, the colossal construction today accommodates an inviting castle hotel. After having passed the Cat and Mouse Castles, you then arrive at the Loreley Rocks, the centre of romance on the Rhine and mentioned in many songs. In Oberwesel, the “town of towers and wine” with a still impressive, medieval town rampart, the 1,000 year old Schoenburg Castle greets people from afar high above the town. It too accommodates a romantic hotel.
The old customs fortress near Kaub named “Stone Ship” was erected on an island in the middle of the River Rhine. The idyllic small wine town of Bacharach is surrounded by several castles – Stahleck, Sooneck, Rheinstein and Reichenstein Castles.
Also standing on a tiny island in the middle of the Rhine is the “Mouse Tower”, one of Bingen’s landmarks. It too was built originally as a watch and customs tower. Its name itself refers to the term "toll" still commonly used today, which was collected here from the boat operators. Well worth seeing in Bingen are also Klopp Castle, which was partly established on Roman foundations and which marks the delta of the Nahe in the River Rhine, and the St. Rochus Chapel on the mountain of the same name, with a picture of the holy Rochus donated by Goethe.
On the other side of the Rhine is Assmannshausen, the "home of the last German red wine”, which is indeed of an amazingly high quality, and the Nieder - wald Memorial, erected in commemoration of the unification of Germany in 1870/71.
Downstream of the Niederwald Memorial heading towards Wiesbaden you reach the famous wine town of Ruedesheim with the Rhineland Wine Museum and Drosselgasse (Thrush Lane), a popular meeting place to spend a merry evening drinking wine.
