Romantic Rhineland
We were a small group of six agents travelling from London, Birmingham, Dublin and Manchester and were escorted by the lovely Silke from the German National Tourist Office in London. We flew from our local airports and were all in Frankfurt nice and early, ready to set off on our short trip around the region to discover more about the wine, culture and nature in this area.
Out first stop was Mainz where we had a city tour and the most wonderful lunch where they had selected wines to go with each of the dishes on offer. We checked into our hotel and had a quick look around and had a few minutes to get showered and changed before departing to the Red Wine Festival in Ingelheim. We were treated like royalty and again tasted an amazing array of wines from local Wineries. We were also introduced to the new Wine Princesses for the area…and more food!
The next morning we were up early and checked out after breakfast, ready to set off to Alzey-Dautenheim where we were driven around the vineyard. As the weather was absolutely wonderful, we had our wine tasting on the hillside overlooking the beautiful Rheinhessen....amazing.
We then moved on to the next town for another wonderful lunch with each course again matched to the wines that we were sampling. After lunch we visited the Hambacher Castle, a very steep walk so not for anyone with walking or breathing issues, but it had great views.
Just down the road is the town of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse which is very pretty and we had a walking tour around the main areas which culminated in yet another glass of wine! It's a shame we couldn't stay here, but as the Wine Queen for the region was being crowned that evening and there was 'no room at the inn'. However we were staying at a lovely little hotel in Schifferstadt which was renowned for its food....so yet another fabulous meal was enjoyed.
The next day we moved onto Bad Durkheim where we took part in a 4.5km walk through the lovely woodland before dropping down into the lovely spa town, and yes we devoured another wonderful meal in a restaurant that is actually built around the world's largest wine barrel. We then walked through the town and visited the Salines, where the salt water is run over blackthorn twigs and the vapours are regarded as a help for people with breathing issues, it certainly did seem to help me.
In the evening we visited another local winery for a very interesting tasting, before heading for a nearby restaurant to sample some of the local delicacies.
As Sunday dawned I realised that we were on our last day and were going to visit Bingen, which is directly across the Rhine from the town that I had spent so many happy times so long ago. It was very strange to see how so little had changed (I wish that I was wearing as well!) Although there is now a lovely new little museum on the riverbank that explains the history of the river.
We drove down the riverbank a few miles to Oberwesel for lunch and then down a little further to see the Lorelei Rock, before commencing our drive back to Frankfurt airport where our happy group had to say our fond farewells before flying home.
It was an amazing weekend, a wonderful region and great company too…the trip reminded me of what a beautiful place Germany is and I strongly recommend you go and have a look for yourself. For more details please don't hesitate to give me a call.