On this wine-growing estate I am discovered with the visit of the winegrower celebration in…read moreNierstein, because I was with friends on the way, those, contrary to the general trend, lovely sweet wine. On recommendation several more native we are then to the crying and. As the friends said: Divine droplets and in addition still so clean wine that, despite plentiful benefit, no thick head was to be felt on the next morning. Who would like to thus enjoy gladly times a traditional lovely wine, that is here exactly correct. In addition, that, which likes it rather somewhat more dryly, will find also something here. Well Prost!

When I first tried dessert wine, I thought it was the most awful sugary mouthwash I had tried…read more Then I came to sample proper dessert and late harvest wines. Man am I now addicted. Not only have I discovered things from traveling around the world, I've discovered wonderful singularities where more often than not a tradition has been carried for generations. Take Weingut Langwerth von Simmern, dating back to the 1400s. It's not until 300 years later does the family start making wine, still that's a crazy amount of hisotry. The Auslese Riesling is a product of late harvesting. Concentrating the residual sugars and making a slightly sweet wonderful wine. Not the sugar bombs that I used think were common practice. Drinks well on its own but even better paired with the correct dessert or cheese.

This was a really great experience!…read more The museum is a preserved version of one of the original Ernst May houses. We walked into the house in the middle of a tour, but we were allowed to join just in time to learn all about the Frankfurter kitchen. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and obviously excited about her subject matter. She was a former architect and was willing to answer all of my questions. Tours are given English and in German. Injury is four euros, which is a good price for everything that you get to see you. It is a two-story house with a cellar and garden. Apparently they have events in the garden and in the house during the warmer weather. It was really amazing to see such a well preserved part of architectural history and think about how people used to live at the time. It was also interesting to see how more thought was put into the design of this house than seems to be put into my name homes these days. Anybody who is interested in architecture in general, or the bathhouse, or of course the new Frankfurt , should visit!

A sort of small town general store with a little bit of everything. A small clothing department…read morewith the basics, a few school and office supplies, Playmobile and other toys, greeting cards and a small selection of magazines and newspapers too. Bill's is also the local locksmith so if you need keys made, you can drop them off here. Or if you lock yourself out of the house, you don't need to go far for help.

Tucked away on a small street in the heart of Wittlich, this is a find well worth the hunt…read more Excellent young wines crafted with the care and love of a family-run, start-to-finish winery spanning generations.

Nestled into the countryside and hidden from streetview is the storybook Burg Eltz…read more To start, visiting Burg Eltz takes a bit of planning. You'll want to either hire a tour company to drive you there from a bigger city like Frankfurt (about an hour drive), or rent a car. We went on a small tour and while it was really fun to hear the guide talk to us about the countryside and what we were seeing etc. I do think we could have handled the drive had we decided to rent a car. Once you arrive, if you are American and familiar with the National Parks here in the states, it's going to remind you a lot of US National Park Service parking lots. It's not a massive lot, but in general big enough for tourists and busses to offload people as they arrive. I'm not sure if it costs anything to park but my gut says it probably does as I think I saw some euros exchanged from our driver to the parking attendant. Once you are parked, you have two choices: to either walk directly to the castle along a street, or take the hiking path. I cannot stress how much I encourage everyone to take the hiking path. It's a very easy hike through meandering forest and once you can get the castle into view it's breathtaking. Kind of like how I imagine the castle from Beauty and the Beast to be hidden in the film, is how this is tucked away. It takes a while before it will come into view which adds to the general charm and mystique of the place. All of this being said, the road is great for the walk back if you don't want to hike uphill, there is a shuttle bus that will take you up the road if you are tired, and because of the shuttle and the fairly even path of the road, it makes this castle much more accessible to those who have mobility needs. While at the actual castle there are two lines for tours - one for a German speaking tour, and one for an English speaking tour. This is important to note because we were there on a German holiday and the German speaking line was over an hour wait, while the English speaking line was only about 20 minutes. So, make sure you inquire about which line you are in! The tour itself is very good. The tour guide we had clearly took his job very seriously and had a lot of interesting information to share. My biggest takeaways were that this is one of the most intact medieval castles in Europe, largely due to its remote location as it avoided many bombs that impacted other parts of the continent, and that it is still occupied by descendants of the original owners. Knowing that this is still in the family was really remarkable and added to the general uniqueness of this historic location. Overall, it was a gorgeous castle to visit, and as many others have noted it's well nestled into wine country, so make a day of it and sample some riesling at one of the nearby villages on your way back to the city!

Wish I'd read more about the castle prior to the trip, because I was not expecting such a hike! The…read moreBurg Eltz castle is hidden deep in the hills, surrounded by miles of woods. Off of the street is a large, dirt parking lot with ample parking. From there is a trail head, that begins the hike to the castle. It's muddy, so bring good shoes... and probably water, too. Keep in mind that this castle doubles as somebody's home. It's pretty quiet, and many spots are blocked off from tourists. We paid for a guided tour, which ended up being a lot of fun! The little section we walked through was actually big. It's hard to imagine just how big the rest of the castle is. They, fortunately for me, hold tours in English. It was very educational and kept my interest. Not my favorite castle, not my favorite hike, but it was a good experience nonetheless!

Museum für Antike Schiffahrt, Mainz. I find Roman history…read morefascinating, so I'm always on the lookout for anything new. Archeologists found the remains of 5 ancient Roman ships in Mainz, and they backward engineered replicas of them at the museum. There are plenty of friezes, carvings, and Roman artifacts to supplement the ships. Admission to the museum is free, and there is a parkplatz directly across the street (that accepts only credit cards). Although there are some pilons in English, none of the exhibits are in English, the movie in the kiosk is in German, and there are no audioguides. If you're not proficient in German, you will have to rely upon visual cues alone to discern what is being said. I would recommend this museum to people who have an interest in archaeology in general, in ancient Roman history, in ancient naval history, and soforth. (No mummies. What is a museum without mummies?)

Needless to say, you can't quite visit Mosel Valley and not taste some wine. We didn't have time…read moreand our own car to visit the vineyards, so this tasting room is the next best thing, for us to sample a variety of local wines. This tasting room is located near the train station, and a short walk from the town center, so it's easy to work into our day trip. It's a rather small room, and there's no schedule, so we started the tasting when we walked in. They have several levels of tasting, and given a list of their wines so we can select the ones we want to try. Now, if you are a traveler, take a little time to find out what the local wines are. Different varietals of grapes grow in different regions in the world, depending on the climate, soil type and more. Mosel, as a relatively cool region, is best known for their riesling. They have a little red, but honestly that's far from the best. Even a Germany won't dispute that. So don't go in asking for Cab or Pinot Noir... which actually was what happened during our tasting when an American walked in. The wine list has about 20 Riesling, plus wine made with some other grapes, and is arranged from dry to sweet. Naturally, bottle price is a good guide to which are the better ones. If they have Eiswein (ice wine), try that, it's their specialty, wine made from frozen hand-picked grapes and only in small quantity, especially in recent years with global warming. The gentleman who assisted us in our tasting was very nice, and we left with a few bottles of our favorites.

Made a private wine tasting with Peter R. I personally give him 4 stars for being a great and…read moreentertaining host. Very genuine person and he took really good care of us. Definitely ask for him when you go to this winery. He spoke very good English. As far as the wine, in general, Germany's strength is in the whites. This place had a good variation and complexity of white wines. Of course their better wines are the ones from $10 and up. Wine tasting cost $9.20 for 7 tastes, but the host was very generous and we were able to taste 10 wines. One downfall of this place is its location. It is located not in the city center and does not get alot of foot traffic. About 5 minute walk from the small city center of Cochem. They said it is the oldest winery in Cochem.