THE TREK (WALKABILITY) The castle is located DOWN a very…read moresteep hill from the parking lot, so be ready for a very long walk down and BACK up, unless you want to pay 2 euros (cash only, no cards) to take the shuttle, which comes and goes every 7-10 mins. Once you get down to the castle, getting into the castle is a bit tricky, as the steps are very worn out stone. Going up isn't as bad as going down when you leave the castle. THE CASTLE The Burge Eltz Castle is beautiful, from a far and up close, in person. You definitely get the vibe of fairytale castle from Burg Eltz! THE TOUR Upon entry, you get a 'gold coin' that bears the crest of the family on one side and a depiction of the castle on the other. The tour itself was well explained and well paced. Our guide did need to be told to slow down his speech rate, as he was speaking particularly fast in English, but it was otherwise fine. We were not allowed to take photos of the interior of the castle during the Castle, which was fine. I appreciated that they informed our group of this at the very beginning. MISC The only restroom is located just outside of the Castle, so you do need to completely exit the castle to access it. There is no ATM on site, and the gift shop cannot provide euros to tourists via credit cards. If you would like to use the shuttle to get back UP to the parking lot, go to the cafe and order a coffee or beer, they put a 5 euro hold on the cups. When the cups are returned, they will give patrons 5 euros in cash, in return. I do appreciate that they have a method for guests to obtain euros.

Cool Castle to go see. It's a nice little hike to get to it but well worth it. It's nice that you…read morecan go inside and see some of the old stuff that used to be in it.

Beautiful, amazing castle. Very kid friendly. We first stopped at the restaurant to eat lunch. The…read morefood is very good and healthy. We opted for salmon pizza, bacon pizza, pretzel, fried potato pancakes, grape frizzy drink, wine and water. The pizza was super thin, not even a pizza but a crispy base with light toppings. They were good. The food overall is very good and well presented. The castle is absolutely stunning. At the end, we stopped at the gift shop and picked up ice creams for everyone.

This is hands down one of the more fun castles to tour in the Rhineland. It's not the fanciest, or…read morefilled with the most artifacts, but it is in my opinion the most fun. It's accessible via the rhine river cruises that run up and down the river in this region of Germany, and is a bit of a hike up to the castle, but it's worth it! I will say, it isn't the most accessible if you have mobility needs, though, I do think an electric scooter or wheelchair (with assistance) could likely make it up. I'd call ahead if if you have accessibility questions. Once you make it to the top you purchase tickets in the giftshop and from there you can explore the entire castle. Let me say that again, they let you explore via self guided tour,the entire castle grounds. This is what makes it so special. You want to walk up to the top of the tower? go for it! You want to poke around each room - go for it? Take pictures? they don't care! It's really a treat to be able to immerse yourself in the history at your own pace and really take it all in. You could easily spend two hours here reading labels, climbing to the top of the tower, or simply sitting and enjoying the views from the many scenic panoramas available from the castle itself. Keep in mind, it has a small gift shop and no food options so if you think you'll need a snack I'd pack one, along with some water for your time here.

Nice views of the castle and bridge from the little piece of land jutting into the Lahn River…read moreadjacent to the lock on the river. Runkel is a beautiful photo op.