The Rheinburgenweg (Rhine Castles Trail) is a 200 km (120 mi) hiking trail in the Middle Rhine Valley region of Germany. The trail runs mainly parallel to the left (west) bank of the river Rhine from Bingen to Rolandsbogen, south of Bonn, and is primarily a walking route. Car ferries, trains and cruise boats can assist with access and getting around between stages.
Understand
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The Rheinburgenweg runs mainly on elevated trails, providing excellent views of the UNESCO World Heritage Site valley and the many castles on both sides of the river. The trail alternates between the relatively flat plateau above the Rhine and the steep sides of the Rhine and its side valleys. A large part of the walk is through forest, but also opens out into agricultural fields, meadows and vineyards in many places. In the mixed woods on the slopes of the valley there is a good chance to come across deer.
The Rheinburgenweg was started in 2004 with the path on the right side of the Rhine, which is now part of the Rheinsteig. In 2006 the Koblenz to Bingen stretch was defined, with the full path opening in 2010, at which point it was awarded the "Qualitätsweg Wanderbares Deutschland".
Most of the walk is on good paths with some steep rocky sections, so no special hiking experience is required. However, hiking footwear is highly recommended.
Prepare
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No special permits are required to hike the trail. The route is well signed with the red R way-marker, but a local map or guidebook can still prove useful. Take care on exposed rock slopes in rainy conditions. You can carry a daypack with water and snacks, as the route generally passes through a town or village roughly every 10 km.
Eat
[edit]There are many places to eat along the way, not just in the towns along the route, but also a few isolated restaurants and taverns (Gaststätte) on the trail itself, so there is no need to carry a camping stove or prepare all your own meals.
Drink
[edit]Restaurants, taverns and towns are found regularly along the route, meaning you will not need to carry large amounts of water. In the summer, be aware that you could be exposed to strong sun for a large portion of the walk, so carry sufficient water between stops. In the villages you pass through, there is ample opportunity to purchase local wines.
Sleep
[edit]Both sides of the Rhine provide hotel and camping facilities. Places on the route are listed below; for others, follow the links to the town pages. No tent is strictly necessary given the availability of accommodation, but you should consider making reservations in advance, particularly during busier seasons.
Climate
[edit]The generally mild weather in Germany means this trail is accessible all year round. The colours of fruit tree blossom in spring and the orange leaves of trees in autumn are both worth seeing. In summer, be aware that you could be exposed to strong sun for a large portion of the walk, so do not forget sun protection. Take caution at some points of the walk on rainy days, particularly on rock-exposed slopes.
Environment
[edit]The trail passes through a variety of natural habitats including forests, vineyards, meadows and river valley slopes. Walkers should stay on marked paths to protect the natural environment and avoid disturbing wildlife such as the deer commonly found in the valley woodlands.
Get in
[edit]The trail starts in Bingen in the south and ends at Rolandsbogen, south of Bonn, in the north. For detailed transport information, see the articles on Bingen and Bonn.
By plane
[edit]The area can easily be reached from Cologne/Bonn, Hahn and 1 Frankfurt Airport (FRA IATA) airports.
By car
[edit]The A61 autobahn runs north-south about 10 km to the west of the Rhine, providing the primary high-speed access to the southern trailhead at Bingen. However, for reaching specific stages of the trail, the B9 federal highway (Bundesstraße 9) is the most useful route; it runs directly along the left bank of the river, connecting almost every town and trailhead mentioned in this guide.
By train
[edit]From Mainz or Cologne the West Rhine railway (Linke Rheinstrecke) runs through Bingen and Koblenz to Bonn, serving both trailheads directly.
By boat
[edit]- Fähre Bingen-Rüdesheim. Ferry from Bingen to Rüdesheim, near the southern trailhead.
Walk
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The walk does not need to be done in a single expedition. There are points at convenient distances, between 8 and 12 km, where you can park a car allowing you to use the two car one direction hiking technique. There are also points where trains are available or even one of the Rhine cruise ships.
Upper Rhine section
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17 km
The walk begins at the northern edge of 1 Bingen, climbing steeply out of the Rhine valley and into the Bingen forest. As the path climbs, the 10th-century 1 Mouse Tower is visible on its islet in the middle of the Rhine. Two viewpoints follow in quick succession — 1 Viewpoint Prinzenkopf with views towards Rüdesheim, and 2 Viewpoint Kreuzbach overlooking Assmannshausen. The 1 Forsthaus Heiligkreuz lies just off the trail, and near Weiler bei Bingen the remains of a 2 Villa Rustica are tucked into the forest.
The trail passes the Josefsbrunnen parking area before reaching the 3 Steckeschlääferklamm, a narrow gorge with quirky wood carvings worked into the trees. Those looking to stop for the night can detour slightly to 1 Forsthaus Jägerhaus, which has good food and comfortable rooms.
The impressive 4 Burg Rheinstein is well worth a visit for its architecture and Rhine views, and also has a small restaurant. The section ends above 2 Trechtingshausen, with the well-placed 2 Waldgaststätte Haus Waldfrieden / Gerhardshof — best reached via the track from Forsthaus Jägerhaus — offering good food and friendly service.
17 km
This section begins in the Binger Wald, spending most of its length under forest cover before emerging above the Rhine valley to deliver spectacular views of the river and its castles. The first reward is 3 Viewpoint Sieben Burgen Blick, with its panorama of seven castles. Just below the trail stands 5 Burg Sooneck, a fine medieval castle. The trail then descends into 3 Niederheimbach.
After climbing out of the Heimbachtal, the route meanders along the top of the valley through more open country, passing through the small villages of 4 Oberdiebach, 5 Medenscheid and 6 Neurath, before dropping back down to the Rhine at 7 Bacharach. Perched above the town, the 12th-century 6 Burg Stahleck now serves as a youth hostel.
14 km
The steep climb out of Bacharach rewards the effort with fine views back over the town and its defensive towers. The trail continues upward through vineyards clinging to the valley sides before emerging onto the open fields of the plateau. The Blüchenblick viewpoint looks down on one of the Rhine's most striking sights: 7 Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, a 14th-century toll station marooned in the middle of the river. Further along, the Sauzahn Grillplatz viewpoint offers another pause before the trail reaches 4 Viewpoint Pfalzblick.
The trail then passes above the magnificent 8 Schönburg, a 12th-century castle now housing an impressive if pricey hotel and restaurant, before descending into 8 Oberwesel. The 9 Oberwesel Town Wall is an excellent example of Rhine valley fortifications, their defensive towers still largely intact.
9 km
Just outside Oberwesel the 3 Günderode Haus serves German food with an original twist. The building was relocated here for the filming of Heimat 3, and its position above the Rhine is as dramatic as the view deserves.
The trail passes through 9 Urbar. Just beyond, 5 Viewpoint Loreley Blick looks across the river to the famous Loreley rock. The nearby 4 Loreleyblick Maria Ruh has a restaurant and beer garden — the food menu is an eclectic affair, but it's a fine spot to stop for a drink and take in the view. The section ends at 10 St. Goar.
18 km
Leaving St. Goar through vineyards, the section soon alternates between woodland clinging to the valley slopes and open grazing pastures on the plateau, with many fine views of the river and the towns below.
The first stop is the imposing ruins of 10 Burg Rheinfels — a must-visit, and worth bringing a torch to properly explore the darker passages. Attached to the castle, the 2 Romantik Hotel Schloss Rheinfels has a restaurant with excellent valley views.
From here the trail climbs very steeply out of the valley, passing 6 Viewpoint Pilz before joining the Alpinpfad, a narrow path running through woodland along the valley slope with steep drops to one side — take care after heavy rain. 7 Viewpoint Heimbach is a good spot to pause before the trail reaches the 1 Holzfelder Ziegenhof, a goat farm offering cheese and snacks during limited opening hours.
The trail passes through 11MISSING WIKILINK Holzfeld. Around Holzfeld, follow the red markers carefully and not the purple Traumschleife signs, although the two routes overlap for a stretch. The section between Holzfeld and Bad Salzig crosses a series of small but steep side valleys with narrow paths — allow a little extra time and take care when wet.
8 Viewpoint Wilpertskopf offers a fine outlook before the trail skirts 12 Hirzenach, where the alpine path through the village is closed for safety reasons and a signed alternate route bypasses it. Further on, 9 Viewpoint Europakuppel provides a sheltered hut with views, and the 10 Viewpoint Ziehlay is marked by a wooden carving of a praying nun. The section ends at 13 Bad Salzig.
15.5 km
Leaving Bad Salzig through the small Kurpark, the path climbs gradually through the outskirts of town and into the woods, with a final short steep push back onto the plateau above the Rhine valley. Along the way there are good views across the river to the *Feindliche Brüder* ("Adversarial Brothers"), the two rival castles above 14 Kamp-Bornhofen. At the top, the lane runs away from the valley edge — the official path briefly diverts to follow the tree line here and is easy to miss.
Three viewpoints punctuate the plateau section: 11 Viewpoint towards Feindliche Brüder, then the 12 Thonet Temple viewpoint, and the 13 Eisenbolz viewpoint and hut with its hut.
The descent into the valley before 15 Boppard is a steep, twisting stone path. At the bottom, the route follows the pleasant landscaped valley of the Bruder Michels Bach before passing through Boppard's historic old town and out along the river promenade — one of the few stretches of the walk that runs directly beside the Rhine.
The climb out of Boppard is long and steep, ascending over rocky terrain beneath the chairlift with excellent views of the great loop in the river. The more adventurous can take the alternative Klettersteig climbing route up to the Hirschkopf. At the top, the trail passes through oak woodland to the chairlift station, where 5 GedeonsEck offers outdoor seating, a good menu and fine views of the Rhine loop. Just beyond, the 6 Vierseenblick is the spot for the classic four-lake view of the Rhine — the service is brusque, but the panorama is not.
Less than a kilometre off the trail, 3 Jakobsberg offers hotel, restaurant and golf facilities. Before dropping down through a narrow ravine into 16 Brey, the trail passes Iron Age burial mounds hidden in the undergrowth, and a short detour reveals the remains of a Roman water tunnel system. Across the valley, 11 Marksburg is visible above 17 Braubach. The section ends at 18 Rhens.
13.5 km
Leaving Rhens, the trail heads into the Koblenz city forest, spending most of its length under woodland cover with occasional glimpses of the Rhine below. Along the way the route passes the remains of a Roman temple of Mercury before reaching 12 Stolzenfels Castle, a 13th-century fortress rebuilt by Prussian Crown Prince Frederick William in the 19th century as a palace and now a World Heritage Site — a detour down to the castle and back up to the trail adds roughly 2 km. The historic Rittersturz viewpoint commemorates the 1948 Rittersturz Conference, when prime ministers of the western occupied zones met to discuss the future of Germany, and offers fine views over the river. The trail then descends into 19 Koblenz, where the Rhine meets the Moselle at the famous Deutsches Eck.
Lower Rhine section
[edit] 15 km
Leaving Koblenz, this stage marks a change of scenery as the trail leaves the Rhine behind and heads into the Moselle valley. The route climbs through the Kartause district and passes the Forsthaus Remstecken before descending through the vineyards above 20 Güls — famous for its cherries — and into the broad Moselle valley. The vineyard terraces around here are among the most extensive along the entire Moselle and a habitat for rare species including the Apollo butterfly. The stage ends in the picturesque half-timbered wine village of 21 Winningen.
19 km
Leaving Winningen, this stage is something of a departure from the rest of the trail — there are no castles and no Rhine views, but it has a character of its own. The route climbs steeply through Winningen's famous steep-slope vineyards before entering the wooded Vordereifel, passing through the village of 22 Wolken and dropping sharply into the Belltal — a descent that requires sure footing and is best tackled with poles. The trail then continues through forest and open fields towards 23 Bassenheim, with a worthwhile detour to the Karmelenberg, an extinct volcano whose crater makes for an atmospheric rest stop before the end of the stage.
13.5 km
This stage is one of the most open on the entire trail, crossing largely treeless farmland and volcanic plateau with wide views over the Neuwied basin and the Eifel hills — bring sun protection in summer. The route heads out of Bassenheim across fields, crossing the A61 motorway before climbing to the Bürgerhaus viewpoint, where the panorama opens up in all directions. The trail then descends to 24 Miesenheim, a village built characteristically from dark lava stone and pale tuff, before crossing the river Nette and climbing back up through open farmland. The final descent into 25 Andernach is worth extending with a short detour into the old town, where a medieval stone crane dating from around 1400 still stands on the riverbank, alongside the world's highest cold-water geyser, the 13 Andernach Geyser, which shoots to heights of 50–60 metres.
19.5 km
One of the more demanding stages on the trail, this section climbs repeatedly in and out of the Rhine valley with a good deal of ascent overall. From Andernach the trail heads up through woodland, passing the Reutersley viewpoint with its fine outlook over the Siebengebirge, before descending to 26 Brohl-Lützing, where the narrow-gauge Vulkan-Express museum railway connects the Rhine with the heights of the Eifel. The trail passes directly through the courtyard of 14 Schloss Brohleck, a castle with 13th-century origins rebuilt in grand style in the late 19th century, before a steep rocky climb back up via the Eselspfad — a short via ferrata section that requires sure footing.
Higher up, a geopath at the Hohe Buche leads through an area of ancient basalt quarrying, with impressive columnar rock faces bearing the marks of Roman and medieval stonecutters. The trail then descends through the hamlet of 27 Namedy, passing 15 Namedy Castle, a 14th-century castle still in the hands of the Hohenzollern family, before the final stretch into 28 Bad Breisig.
15.5 km
From Bad Breisig the trail immediately climbs steeply through forest to the Victoriaberg. The route then drops to cross the Ahr valley at 29 Sinzig, a town with a fine Romanesque basilica, before climbing again onto the wooded Ahrplatte plateau. The attractive half-timbered village of 30 Bad Bodendorf makes a good refreshment stop along the way. After crossing the Mönchsheide plateau, the trail passes through a section known as the Fairy Tale Forest, with carved story boards along the path, before a final viewpoint above the Rhine announces the descent into 31 Remagen, best known for its wartime bridge — the 16 Ludendorff Bridge — and the striking hilltop 17 Apollinaris Church visible for miles around.
14.5 km
The final stage of the trail begins with the steep climb up from Remagen past the Stations of the Cross to the hilltop, with grand views back over the Rhine before heading into the forest. The route is varied and undulating, alternating between woodland, quiet valleys and traditional meadow orchards, passing through the villages of 32 Bandorf and 33 Oberwinter along the way. A peaceful forest pond at the Waldschlösschen makes a good rest stop before the trail skirts a wildlife enclosure and climbs to the plateau for a final sweeping view of the Rhine and the Siebengebirge hills. The walk ends at Rolandsbogen, a ruined medieval arch perched above the river, with the 18 Arp Museum just below at 34 Rolandseck for those wishing to extend their day.
Stay safe
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There are a few points with narrow path and steep drops but the route is basically a safe walk. The trail is not as well kept as the Rheinsteig and can be in places be overgrown, so expect the odd scratch from branches or irritations from stinging nettles. There is a very small chance in the region to come across wild boar, in this rare event stay well away from them!
Go next
[edit]- Rheinhöhenweg Trail
- Rheinsteig Trail on the right Rhine side