(From top): A medieval castle peeks out from amidst lush green forests; a view of the Rhine against a backdrop of vineyards; the picturesque town of Boppard on the banks of the river

This was the life, we decided! Sitting on the deck of a boat on a clear summer afternoon, a pleasant breeze wafting by, sipping heavenly wine and watching medieval castles and vineyards glide past.

We were in the heart of the Rhine Valley, enjoying a brief interlude en route from Cologne to the Black Forest. But just 10 minutes into the river cruise and we were seriously debating how to make this interlude a longer affair — and very soon. The Rhine may be an 800-mile-long river running through many picturesque towns and cities, but it’s the 36-mile stretch from Mainz to Koblenz, which is rated as the most enchanting. If the scenery is enough to take your breath away, the well-stocked cruise liners with wine and beer on board, add to the heady experience.

As we cruised past yet another fairytale castle, we could understand why the little medieval town of Boppard on the Rhine gets more than a million visitors every year — 300,000 of them overnight stayers. It was a cloudy summer afternoon, and save for a big Chinese group (who for some strange reason appeared to be fascinated by us, wanting to be photographed with “the Indian family”), the place didn’t seem too crowded, as we got our tickets for the cruise aboard the Lorelei Liner pretty quickly. It was still too early for the tourist season, we were told, as the region gets invaded from July end till September when the wine festival is on.

Boppard, which is about 15km from Koblenz, is right on the famed wine-growing belt along the Rhine. Although the other medieval town of Oberwesel, just a couple of hours away and Rüdesheim, with its line of wine taverns, is where the wine connoisseurs traditionally halt, Boppard puts up a pretty spirited wine sampling display too. Riesling grapes are the main type grown in this area, producing high-quality white wines, though we were told, Müller-Thurgau and Sylvaner are cultivated in the vineyards here too.

But there’s a lot more to this 2,000-year old town and its surrounding areas than wine. Set in the valley of the Lorelei, it is full of quaint legends, impressive castles and has history oozing out of every building, stone, rock, and curve of the Rhine. Not surprisingly, UNESCO chose the 65-km-long Rhineland area between Koblenz and Bingen as a World Heritage site in 2002. In all, there are 40 castles and fortresses in this area, giving you a wonderful glimpse of German Romanticism at its peak.

From Boppard, where we embarked on the cruise, eight castles can be seen, which includes Marksburg, said to be the best kept castle on the Rhine. Here the original furnishings are still preserved. From the boat, we could get good views of the castles rising out of the forested slopes along the river — and they seemed to come in all types and fortifications — some with moats as well. We passed the quaintly named Castle Katz and Burg Maus (cat and mouse castles). The highlight of a trip to the Mouse Castle, we learnt, is an eagle and falcon centre where daily flying demonstrations are held.

As we cruised past the “warring brothers” castles of Liebenstein and Sterenberg, the fronts of which faced each other, we could just imagine two medieval lords at odds with each other.

While the cruise, gives you a charming glimpse of the castles, it needs a longer stay to visit all of them and get a feel for the days of knights and barons. Some like the Kurtrierischen Castle, located right in the centre of Boppard town have now been converted into museums.

The best way to go round to all these castles, we learnt, is by bike. Given the abundance of bike rental shops in Boppard, it’s clearly the most preferred route. The cycle path along the Rhine, we were told, runs for 330 kilometres from Wörth to Remagen passing through all the historical towns giving many a tourist a spectacular view from the saddle. If only we were fit enough to do that, we thought as we bid goodbye to the castles and drove down the river from the Lorelei heading into the pretty town of St. Goar.

St. Goar was founded in the 6th century by a monk famous for his hospitality. Legend has it that sailors who had successfully negotiated the treacherous Lorelei rock (see box) would stop here for a prayer of thanks. Modern day St. Goar appeared to be equally hospitable — it also appeared to be a treasure-trove of not just souvenirs but also legends and myths. Up the hill we could spot the ruins of the 13th century Rheinfels Castle, destroyed by the French Revolutionary army in the 18th century.

It was hard to tear ourselves away from the place and head on to our eventual destination — and the going only gets more distracting as just four kilometres away is Oberwesel. But charming though this interlude was, we had an itinerary to follow.

The legends of Rhineland

If the castles along the banks of the Rhine appear to be out of storybooks, then the tales surrounding the rocks on the river have their own mystical quality. Most famous among these is the legend of Lorelei, which has been immortalised in Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung.

The legend goes that the beautiful young maiden named Lorelei, plunged herself into the river in despair over a faithless lover. Upon her death she was transformed into a siren, whose hypnotic songs lured sailors to their death.

Even if the sailors did manage to cross the Lorelei hurdle, then they could fall prey to the seven sisters. The story goes that at the castle of Schönburg lived seven sisters of extraordinary beauty, who were courted and wooed by many a nobleman.

But the coquettish girls dallied with their suitors only to jilt them. One evening, a large party of noblemen decided to force the issue. They decided to wear their best costumes and gather at the banqueting-hall of the castle, forcing the seven sisters to choose seven husbands among them. The young ladies agreed to this. But when the suitors arrived in all their finery, there was no sign of the young ladies.

Finally, one of the nobles glancing out of the window spotted the sisters gaily rowing a boat on the Rhine. As the girls stood up to taunt their suitors, the boat capsized and the damsels were drowned. People of this area believe that the sisters inhabit seven rocks on the river, and make life difficult for sailors.

Photographs by Vijay Kutty

Route map

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