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.

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!

Stunning. Nearly unbelievable that it's real!…read more Beautiful medieval castle overlooking Cochem and the Moselle River. The scenery is extraordinary. The castle tour is well worth it as is the drive to it. There is a small cafe/restaurant there. We had some excellent soups and some nice beers. Prices were reasonable considering the incredible view and historic setting. Pro Tip on Parking: Just keep driving up. The parking is all the way up by the castle and there are several areas. Many people park down the road and walk up. Don't do this... unless you want the cardio. Pro Tip on Photos: There are several excellent photo stops while on the drive down into Cochem before driving up to the castle as in my photos. Pro Tip on Cochem: Very cool town. Tourist restaurants are on the castle side of the river but there are a couple great places on the other side of the river that offer higher quality fare and a great view of the castle.

It's a relatively small castle, but what makes it outstanding is the view it offers of Mosel river…read moreand valley. Totally worth it just for that alone, and there are some interesting things to see inside as well. Highly recommend taking the bus from downtown (terminal is right next to the tourist office) to save the walk, unless you enjoy hiking up the steep hill. Most tours are in German, and when we arrived, we spent too much time snapping pictures in front of the castle (should have done that AFTER the tour), so we missed the English tour by a few minutes. Not wanting to wait a while for the next one, we joined the German tour. We were given a page of info in English (there are many languages available), although we definitely missed out on the jokes as the Germans chuckled once in a while. On the return trip, we got off at the old town instead of the bus terminal, where we get to see the shops and eateries. Makes for a great day trip when staying in the area.