A small cruise boat leaving Boppard. River Cruise boats a come in many sizes. 2011
Walking horses through town. They were packed for camping it looked like. 2011
Yes another castle near Boppard 2011
Cool mural on side of house. 2011
Trains in Germany are color coded and silver and yellow are the local city trains. The first and last cars on most trains are bike cars. (see picture above) Bike trains are also noted on train schedules. Bikes transported in Germany for free on MOST trains. 2011
My hotel (Rheinfels) for 2 nights in St Goar was excellent! Location, breakfast, etc. The bike shop was right behind the hotel, the train was very close but not noisy, many good places to eat very close by. They even had a cellar that was a very safe place to lock up bikes at night, but I tell you, this is probibly one of the safest places on earth. Germany is so amazingly clean and well organized. 2011
View of the river from the hotel restaurant. See the castle on the right.
Bike path runs right in front of Hotel. 2011
Part of Breakfast Buffet/ much more not in this picture. This guy (I forgot his name) took
great care of hotel, and the owner (not pictured) was also very helpful as well. 2011
A coo-coo clock store a block from my hotel in St Goar.
It has a giant working coo-coo clock as its sign. 2011
St Goars Rheinsfels Castle sits above the edge of town.
This is the real fortress of the Rhine. 2011
Old city wall around medieval town. 2011
I took this photo as I was leaving St Goar heading towards Koblenz, about 27 miles each way, little did I know that it was going to rain latter and change my plans of doing the round trip all by bike. First rain of the trip , but I made it to Reims about 24 miles and took the train back with my bike. I did make some photo stops along the way and had lunch at the pretty shorefront of Boppard. 2011
Some of the bike path is like this and some of it is heavily treed. 2011
I passed many little one church towns and some had as few as ten houses. Some small towns have no train stop and no direct access to the bike lane next to the river. I would pick St Goar as the best location, for many reasons even if you were doing the trip by car (yuck). 2011
I did pass vineyards a many display their names prominently, One had wine tasting next to the road. Now thats convenient. I took pictures of at least a dozen of the names so I can look for their wine back home. 2011
Finally the bike trail north separated as the road left the riverside, but the bike path stayed next to the Rhine.
Much better with cars gone. 2011
The bike trail hugs the edge of the river here really close, no rails. 2011
Some of these fellow travelers bikes are loaded with bags and tents etc. 2011
Marksburg Castle from across the river. 2011.
Marksburg Castle which is the prettiest castle in this part of Germany. As I got here the wind picked up and I knew the rain was soon to follow, I headed to the closest train station at Reims. The rain only lasted about 20 minutes, but the train gives you a chance to see more and not have to back-track both ways by bike if time is an issue. 2011
Main street in Bacharach. 2011
Gasthaus Stahl was a wonderful place to stay, next to Oberwessel's castle on the hilltop. 2006
Gasthaus Stahl's innkeeper was awesome, we really had a wonderful stay. 2006
A wine store on the main street in Bacharach. 2006
Just Another Castle... 2011
Bike lane heading south of Oberwesel. 2011
And Yes, Another Castle... 2011
Car (and Bike) ferry crossing the Rhine River, few bridges cross over this part. 2011
Ground entrance to Reichenstein Castle at ground level. 2011
Reichenstein Castle first built 1000 yrs old, then burned down and rebuilt in 1282 2011
Another Cool Building 2011
The Germans have their gardens spaces they lease with vegetables and flowers. 2011
Wine shop that has wine tasting as well as a variety on grape plants for sale. 2011
Schonburg Castle on top of Oberwesel (photo taken from bike lane) at sunset
Just one of the dozen + castles you pass. 2011
Typical train station in Germany, self ticket machine in center of room. 2011
A train view running down the river near Koblenz. 2011
Stahleck Castle taken from the bike lane, best seat in the house. 2011
Many places to stop along the way to grab a beer and a bite of great German food. 2011
A medieval festival was being set up in a park at the waters edge.
Some were wearing the old costumes. 2011
If you head away from the river, it gets very hilly fast. 2011
St Goarshausen is across the river from my hotel in St Goar. 2011
A close up of the (above pic) Burg Katz Castle in St Goarshausen 2011
South entrance of St Goar on the bike trail. 2011
Train tunnel entrance - I've heard this was done to fool the allies in WW2. But not sure. 2011
Gutenfels Castle from across the river. This is closed to the public and used to be a hotel but now is a private home. I ran into a father and college age son who were also taking a bike break and he told me a lot about the history of the area castles. He said everyone of these guys were independent and wanted nothing to do with a central government until the early 1800's when Napoleon thought it would be easy to take these mini countries over one by one. So they banded together and helped form Germany. My short version. 2011
Plenty of grapes here but nothing like on the Mosel River 2011
Hey three cool things in one picture, all taken from the bike lane. 2011
Castles in many shapes and sizes. 2005
Old castle ruins are found all over this part of the river. 2005
Pfalzgrafenstien was the toll castle thats sits in the middle of the River from the 14th century. 2011
River, pedestrian lane/bike lane, auto road, and train tracks.
Five different forms of Transportation, side by side. 2011
Another picture in Bacharach. 2005
Bacharach has vineyards running right up to there back doors. 2005
The medieval town of Bacharach 2005
These little openings were built long before cars and lead you to the river from town. 2005
This is the first hotel I stayed on my very first trip to Europe in 1994.
It is located at the edge of St Goar. I also like the mixte (bike) out front.
(picture taken 2011)
They still have self serve cigarette machines in Germany - 5 euros a pack ($6.50) 2011
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Road Signs
This is a picture of me taken on my very first trip to Germany. Sept 1994