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.

It's a steep, zig-zagging walk up to the castle, but boy, is it worth it! This medieval castle sits…read moreon a cliffside above the Rhine river and offers the most gorgeous views! There is a tower study that you can climb up to (on external stairs), and a few patios to look out over the river from. The chapel is lovely, as well. Every room was interesting and beautiful in it's own way, even the very rustic kitchen. The hall with all the suits of armor, weapons and hunting implements was impressive considering how small it was. There are benches to rest along the walk up to the entrance, and a small giftshop and courtyard with picnic tables just after it. Tours are DIY. I'm always amazed at how much technology there was back then to allow such large and intricate buildings to be built on these steep, narrow, lofty and difficult-to-access locations. A must-see along the Rhine! 37/2020

Ok that was weird. Interesting, sensory triggering, tinny, historical, kitschy, bizarre, intricate,…read moredelicate, amazing, and odd. I didn't want to go. I'm glad that I did, and would not repeat. Im conflicted. I mean, if you're here and need to kill an hour, it's a unique way to do that. Not something to go out of your way to experience, but I haven't seen anything like it. Machines that play real violins!

I'm all about gadgets and new technology but this collection of ancient mechanical contraptions…read moretriggered me worse than a shark swimming through chum-filled waters. Our visit here was without question one of the highlights of my to Europe. The museum is inside a 15th century building that is so interesting to look at. You can't just walk through the museum on your own. Because of how fragile some of these machines must be a tour guide goes with you and explains the story behind each device before they operate them for your enjoyment. The minimum group size is four, but admission is so cheap I think it would be worth it to pay for missing people if you have less than four. The machine in the first room completely fascinated me. It was called a Weber Maesto Orchestrion and I've never seen anything like it. The orchestrion plays music that is meant to sound like a band is playing it. The multiple instruments harmonize wonderfully together and played a catchy tune. I liked it so much I ended up buying a CD of orchestrion songs from the gift store. When you start thinking about how this intricate machine was built over ninety years ago when technology was so primitive it's just mind blowing. I did some research when I got home and learned that less than ten of these exist in the world and one was sold in a Sotheby's auction for close to a million dollars! This alone was worth the price of admission for me. Another highlight was a machine that played violin music. There were multiple violins wrapped around a column but the catch was that each violin only had one string. The mechanism that spun around the violins would then hit each string as needed to play a melody. They had replicas of wind-up mechanical bird boxes that had a little bird that would jump around and sing when triggered. Some of these are actually for sale and if they would have been $200 or less I would have thrown my credit card down so fast your head would spin. Starting at $600 is too rich for my blood. We saw several other machines on our tour and the hour flew by so quickly. If you're anywhere near this museum it is a "must do" as far as I'm concerned.

I found touring this well maintained castle well worth the time and the €5 fee. I stopped on my way…read moreto hike in the area which I was able to do right from where I parked just below the castle.