We traveled to Cologne on December 26th and after we checked into our AirBnb (another super cute one), we took a train to the Rhine Valley to see some castles. Oh and by the way the Upper Middle Rhine Valley is a UNESCO Site. 🙂 Our count is 3 Sites in 5 days – we’re on a roll! So here’s the deal with the Rhine:
This part of the Rhine River has been deemed “worthy” of a UNESCO Site because of the trade that occurred up and down the river. Before the unification of Germany there were various principalities and tiny kingdoms that owned parts of the riverfront and would levy taxes on passing boats.
Today you can see lots of castles in various states of ruin but most of them were reconstructed during the Romantic Era. We choose to visit Marksburg Castle because:
- It was the closest
- It has not been greatly altered by time
- It was the only castle that was not attacked during the Middle Ages (FUN FACT: it was only captured in 1954 by the Americas)
We hiked the mountain up to the castle and arrived at 3:45 pm, just in time for the last tour of the day at 4pm! Our tour guide was beyond fabulous and gave lots of interesting historical tidbits without being boring.
JMF
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