Hi everyone,
Looking for suggestions on a great castle hotel we can spend a night in with 2 young boys(6,11).
We plan to drive through Rhine valley to switzerland and on to Bavaria/Tirol. Any enroute? we do not mind taking a small detour for a unique experience for the boys.
I tried booking the one in Bacaharch recommended by Rick but it is not available for our dates in July.
The Diez castle/hostel is not far from the Bacharach hostel and good for families. It's a short detour up the Lahn River from Koblenz on the Rhine.
I'm not sure exactly what route you're taking to Switzerland then onto Bavaria, but if you're headed up the Rhine towards Basel, you could take a detour up the gorgeous Neckar River Valley at Heidelberg to Hirschhorn, and stay here:
You can also stay at this one just outside of Heidelberg in Schriesheim, but it's more of a hotel built into the shell of a castle ruin than a true castle hotel.
A little further to the north, Starkenburg overlooking the beautiful town of Heppenheim is a youth hostel, but you wouldn't be able to stay with the boys.
It isn't really on your route, but I would have really loved to have stayed in Schloss Büdingen when I lived in Germany. It's located about 30 minuts north of Frankfurt am Main.
I seem to recall that St. Goar has a Burghotel, but I can't remember the name.
We've stayed in more than our fair share of Castle hotels back when our kids were little. I think the most interesting were Castles Veldenstein (near Nuremburg)and Castle Colmberg (near Rothenburg OdT). There are websites dedicated to castle hotels:
http://www.german-castles.biz/
http://www.germany-castles-hotels.com/
http://www.germancastles.com/