Recent reviews (beginning of August) in Trip Advisor indicate that the castle is under construction and that many of the rooms have been emptied. Also scafolding and cranes sorround it. Has anyone in ths forum been there lately? Also read that the castle is not worth the hype Rick has given to it. Curious to hear what some of the people here think.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
1525 posts
We were there at the end of June. There was some scaffolding on the exterior (and there was scaffolding EVERYWHERE we went in Europe), but none in the interior courtyard. There was also a large yellow crane over the castle that spoiled our family photo. However, we didn't notice any interiors closed. We enjoyed our visit very much. We have seen enough opulent castles to appreciate the more "human" scale of this one. Best of all, though, was the walk we did to get to the castle - suggested in the Rick Steves book; We parked by the hotel behind the village of Moselkern and walked the trail to the castle. It is a beautiful walk and not at all strenuous. Approaching the castle in this way - like it would have been approached on horseback centuries ago - was precious. See our blog entry at; http://lee-reid2010.blogspot.com/2010/06/mosel-river-feeds-into-rhine-north-of.html
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
Monica, I was at Burg Eltz in early July, and the situation was the same as Randy described. There was scaffolding on one side, and a yellow construction crane on the other. While it wasn't a "perfect" view, I felt it was still good for photos. I didn't find that any rooms had been "emptied". I took the official tour, and all the rooms covered in the tour looked perfectly authentic (unfortunately, they wouldn't allow any photos in that part of the Castle - you'll have to see Rick's TV show to see the area covered by the tour - cut & paste * www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnaTBf2Izaw * for a short clip). Rick has stated that Burg Eltz is his "favourite Castle in all of Europe". I suppose whether it's "worth the hype" is a matter of opinion. I found it to be a very interesting and worthwhile visit, especially as the Castle was never destroyed in war so is an perfectly preserved example of life in an earlier time. It's been owned by the same three branches of the family for the last 33 generations as I recall. It was a bit of an effort to get there without a car, but I'm glad I went (my journey to Burg Eltz was one of the most memorable parts of my time in Germany). Happy travels!
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
IMO if your are in the Mosel area it is a terrific place to visit.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
691 posts
Monica, we went to Burg Eltz on August 2, the scaffolding were exactly like Randy and Ken described it. The guided tour of the inside rooms was excellent, we really enjoyed our visit. The walk from Moselkern was one of the highlights of our trip! It was a nice sunny day! If you want good directions for the walk use this link, hope this help! http://www.bensbauernhof.com/burgeltzfrommoselkern.html
Posted by
OP
Zionsville, IN, USA
94 posts
Sounds like it's worth the visit [INVALID]- will be there in about 2 weeks and report back!