Rhine Valley Lookpoints, Castles & Villages

I love the ruins of Burg Rheinfels. very large and you can roam around on your own.

Hi stephen,

Thanks for sharing. How's the view? Could it be deemed one of the best in Rhine? Did you walk through St Goar too?

TIA

I spent three days using Bacharach as a base. What a beautiful town--vineyards crawling down to the road. Lovely church plus gorgeous views especially from the castle/hostel if you are willing to climb lots of steps. Lots of restaurants. St. Goar has Reinfels for a castle but not the architecture of Bacharach. I bicycled from Bacharach to St. Goar (downstream) and had a lovely lunch at the Golden Corkscrew in Oberweisel. I remember that it is only 13 km between Bacharach and St. Goar. I stayed at Pension bei der Post which is further up the hill from the Rhine which means you see more of Bacharach. Have a great trip!

Lookout points:

1) There's a chair lift up to the Niederwalddenkmal in Rüdesheim.

2) You can see Stolzenfels clearly from the road on the other side of the river, but I can't remember if there's a good place to stop the car.

3) For Burg Pfalzgrafenstein, just stop at the parking area for the nearby ferry.

4) There's a park on the river bank right by the Mäuserturm in Bingen. The park is a little tricky to find, though, but you can also see it pretty well from the waterfront in Bingen.

"Me and my hubby plan to go through Koblenz, Boppard, St. Goar & Bacharach by driving... we plan to visit Burg Eltz and Burg Rheinstein."

Burg Eltz is located a healthy distance southwest of Koblenz near the Mosel River, not on the route you outlined.

"Marksburg seems to be really attractive at first but pity there's only German Guided tour w/ English pamphlet."

Not true during the summer. Marksburg's website says, "Periodical English guided tours for individual visitors start every day at 1 and 4 o’clock (only in summer season)."*

"1. there's a lookpoint called Vierseenblick looking over the Boppard ring. it's accessible by cable chair from Boppard. I wonder if there's any other similar view."

I assume you are asking about a similar view because you don't want to use the chair lift - and because you believe that's the ONLY way to get to the Vierseenblick - but the existence of a chair lift does not mean you can't drive your car. There's a map on this page. Follow the red line for driving; green line is for walking. "Vierseenblick" means "the view of 4 lakes" - that's what the river looks like from there - and I don't think there's another place like it. I recommend stopping at the Gedeonseck terrace for some refreshment.

"There is another one I found called Dreiburgenblick..." Yes, but that's on the opposite side of the river(or maybe there are 2 such lookouts??) but you said you don't plan to drive on that side.

"...(great lookpoint for Loreley & Burg Katz n Maus next of the lookpoint and similar landscape across the river w/ the Boppard ring)"

The Boppard Ring????? Not sure what that is. But I am sure that Boppard isn't several miles downstream from this lookout. What you see across the River is Rheinfels Castle. If you want to see Burg Katz, just look across the river from Rheinfels Castle or from the riverfront in St. Goar.

"...clear lookout for Pfalz castle. Is it possible without taking the cruise?"

Is it possible to view it?? Yes. It's in the middle of the river. Have a look at this photo taken from the hillside north of Oberwesel, and you will see it. Like everything else along the river, the Pfalz and the hillside castles can be seen without taking the cruise - just walk, bike, or drive along the river. Or you can take a road that climbs to the plateau overlooking the river for another perspective. (The cruise boat does NOT stop there for a tour, if that's what you are thinking; to take a tour you have to use a shuttle boat from Kaub.)

I think you just need to get a good road map that indicates lookout points.

Since you have a car, and since the views are important to you, you should consider lodging options OUTSIDE or on the EDGE of these towns too - there are places with nice views besides Auf Schönburg.
The best VIEWS are in or near St. Goar, IMO, where the natural scenery is most dramatic.
Rheinhotel
This apartment is north of town across from Burg Maus - Same apt., St. Goar site
St. Goar accommodations

Bacharach has the nicest half-timbered buildings. Oberwesel has a wonderful old town wall and nice buildings too. All 3 are towns are great places to stay. If you will be there for a fireworks show, it may now be difficult to find a room.

Hi Pam n Tom
thank you so much for sharing. as for the Stolzenfels, i try just to explore one side of the river so hopefully i could get a good viewpoint but still on the same side w/ stolzenfels

Hi Russ,
thank you for the thorough response. great info in regards to marksburg and driving route to vierseenblick. i thought vierseenblick is across the other side of the Rhine, hence the cable car is provided but apparently it's an uphill location. i definitely give it a go with the vierseenblick one and thanks for recommending gedeonsack :D

Dreiburgenblick is the viewpoint for loreley and burg katz n maus but yes it's on the other side of the river so i might give it a pass

as for the Pfalz castle , if it could be still be seen that far, then definitely i could get a better view from across the river too

'The best VIEWS are in or near St. Goar, IMO, where the natural scenery is most dramatic.' that's what i thought too about St. Goar. it seems Rheinfels aside from its own attractiveness also offers wonderful scenery uphill perhaps one of the best in Rhine. honestly, until now, i still think that rheinfels is recommended due to the scenery and not much for the castle itself but that's just imho as i haven't been there.

my trip is on July and it supposed to be one of those high season there. i have not looked for accommodation yet. gotta start looking asap then.

thanks so much guys for the input. highly appreciated!
any other input is highly welcomed :)

Hi Tom,

'4) There's a park on the river bank right by the Mäuserturm in Bingen. The park is a little tricky to find, though, but you can also see it pretty well from the waterfront in Bingen.'

Are you referring to 'Alte Wagenhalle im Park Arm mauseturm' ? It's tagged in gmap as a building just across the Mauseturm but I couldn't see any car parked there

I drove up to Dreiburgenblick a couple of days ago. A nice viewpoint, but quite a difficult drive up if anybody wasn't familiar with hairpin turns and mountain driving.

I was in my own car which is pretty large by European standards, and needed all the road at the hairpins. And because it is an English car I was on the "wrong" side. It was handy that I had my wife along as copilot and lookout.