European Fairytales: Road Trips In Germany’s Romantic Road And France’s Loire Valley – Does a photo of a medieval castle make you very wanderlust? Do you want to live in a village from a fairy tale? Or do you just like beer or wine? Then this route and travel guide for Germany is for you!
After spending 3 wonderful days in London, we boarded the Eurostar train and less than four hours later we were at our next stop: Cologne, Germany. I’ve fantasized about visiting Germany since I was a kid (I’ll explain some of the backstory in this post) and even though I only had 3 days, I was able to cross a lot of sights and attractions off my bucket list. I’ll be honest – we went
European Fairytales: Road Trips In Germany’s Romantic Road And France’s Loire Valley
And February. Our route might not look like much, but believe me, we drove every night from 7am/8am to 11pm. However, Germany did not disappoint me and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
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In my original fall Eurotrip itinerary (where I outlined our full London/Germany/France travel plans), I was worried that this part of our trip would feel disjointed or not turn out the way we had hoped. Renting a car in Europe for the first time (I’ll talk about that later in the post) and the fact that many of the places we checked out were smaller and off the beaten track all contributed to my pre-trip excitement, which of course turned out to be totally unnecessary.
In hindsight there are a few things we would have done differently (I’ll mention them below) but overall I think our itinerary turned out great and would be perfect to follow if you want to see some of the most beautiful medieval in Germany castles and fairy-tale cities.
You can take the train from London to most major German cities, but we decided to head to Cologne first. We made this decision because Cologne’s central location in western Germany would allow us to travel south along the Rhine River and stop at many castles and other attractions on our way to France.
The first thing we did when we arrived in Cologne was pick up a rental car from Sixt. Since we had several large suitcases, an SUV was definitely necessary and we loved the BMW we ended up with. If you are planning to visit small towns or places that are not close to a big city, I would
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I recommend buying a car. We loved it and it made it so much easier to get from place to place. Driving on the Autobahn was also a lot of fun!
Our train from London was very early, so when we arrived in Cologne it was still morning and we could not check into the hotel yet. Since we had some time to kill and were already in our rental car, we decided to take a quick 30 minute drive outside the city to the nearby Drachenburg Castle. Despite its distinct appearance, Schloss Drachenbaurg is actually one of Germany’s “newer” castles. A banker named Baron Stefan von Sarter built a palatial-style private villa in the late 19th century, but ultimately never moved. Today it is still fully furnished and open to the public for self-guided tours (tourists are provided with an audiobook + headset in the language of your choice.) We felt like we were at Hogwarts!
After we finished the castle tour, we drove back to Cologne and checked into a hotel (we stayed at the Mondial – nothing fancy, but the place was comfortable). From there, we walked independently through the Old Town of Cologne and the Belgian Quarter.
By far the most incredible sight we saw was Cologne Cathedral. It is absolutely not to be missed. It is the tallest structure in the city and is truly impressive. To think that something so large and ornate could have been built centuries ago is mind boggling. We walked around the cathedral in awe of its beauty and size.
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We also checked out the famous Hohenzollern Lock Bridge in Cologne. I was so shocked when we visited Paris that the bridge of love had been removed, so I was very shocked to see Cologne still holding on.
We soon felt hungry, so we stopped to eat the obvious food you get on your first night in Germany: schnitzel! I bookmarked a few breweries and we ended up stopping for lunch at Brauhaus Sünner im Walfisch. This is a HIT. THE. THE STAIN. German cuisine is totally my type of food. Fried and salty 😛 At night, we drank local beer at the nearby bar Craftbeer Corner Coeln.
NOTE: Cologne can be explored in a few hours, and in hindsight probably shouldn’t have spent the night there. If we were to do this trip again, we would just go straight to Heidelberg after checking out the sites I mentioned above.
We hit the road very early on the second day of our German adventure in the direction of one of the country’s most famous medieval castles: Burg Elz. You probably recognize it from Instagram or the Disney movie – some say it was the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle! But we didn’t head straight for the castle, but instead took a lazy route down the side roads to the small village of Cochem in the Moselle Valley. It was still so early in the morning, so we only drove through a stop to take a few photos of Cochem Castle and admire the beauty of the vine-covered hills along the Moselle River. Note: Almost every town we passed through had a castle! Some were just ruins and nothing as big or awesome as Burg Elz, but still castles. I think a few have even been turned into hotels… Future travel idea?
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I mean, I’m not even talking about Burg Eltz. Seeing it in person was a dream come true. If you arrive and park in the car park, there are two ways to get to the castle: a 5 minute tram ride or a 15 minute walk through the forest. We chose the latter and I must say it made the experience even more magical. We got there when the castle was opening for visitors, so there were few people on the trail. I kept joking that we were going to the Wizard of Oz or that he and I were Hansel and Gretel. There may have been some omissions 😛
The castle appears almost out of nowhere as you emerge from the forest. It didn’t even seem real! Along the forest path, there are wonderful angles for photos. I couldn’t stop taking pictures! The entrance to the castle itself is also clearly stunning. To this day it is still privately owned by the same family that lived here in the 12th century. They have their own separate wing of the castle and the rest is open to tourists from April to October. Make sure you plan your trip accordingly!!!
It was enough for us to just look around the grounds and see the outside of the castle, but those who want to see the inside of the castle can pay for a tour. However, photos are not allowed!
We left Burg Eltz on cloud nine. Full list moment! We had no plans for the rest of the day and drove from village to village. We stopped in the town of Oberwesel for a glass of local Riesling at Weingut Lanius-Knab. We then had lunch at the Altes Haus in the fairytale village of Bacharach. Obviously we ordered schnitzel. If you’re making a similar trip, definitely don’t miss Bacharach. The whole city looked like something out of a movie! It’s definitely a place to spend an hour or two just walking around.
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Eventually we made it to Heidelberg. By then it was about 4pm so we were able to check into Heidelberg Suites Boutique Hotel. I will go into more detail about our stay at the end of the post, but for now I will say that this was our favorite hotel of the entire trip. The hotel is simply gorgeous and cozy. An ideal location also for exploring Heidelberg and the surrounding towns and villages.
After two days of schnitzel in a row, we shamelessly grabbed pizza for dinner at a restaurant in Heidelberg’s Old Town. Our hotel was actually on the other side of the Neckar River, but it was a quick easy walk and we really enjoyed admiring the beauty of the river and seeing Heidelberg Castle on top of the hill. It is truly a magical thing, especially lit up at night. We also walked around Heidelberg. Just imagine cobbled streets, lots of baroque architecture and large open squares filled with people eating in open-air restaurants. Heidelberg is a big university city in Germany, so we noticed a lot of young people and couples. Loved the atmosphere!
Using Heidelberg as our home base, we set off again early the next morning
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