NEW YORK, NY (03/2014) Things are out; experiences are in, and there’s no better way to absorb a place
than by hoofing it. On
Foot Holidays, specialist in self-guided, designed walking and hiking
tours through the hidden scenic byways of Europe, announces a walking tour of Germany’s Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. The journey from Bingen to Koblenz takes in the legendary
Lorelei rock, famed for mythic
maidens luring ships to their peril; 20 fanciful castles (some visit-able), as
well as peregrinations through quaint, old German villages – Bacharach for its
beauty; St. Goar to explore medieval Rheinfels Castle, Boppard, one-time Roman way-station, known for “4-Seen-Blick,” a
vista where the Rhine appears to break into a quartet of lakes.
This is a spirited route, too, where each village boasts its own Riesling,
and beer is always on tap.
Rates for On Foot Holidays’ Rhine Gorge tour
start at US$900 and include eight bed and breakfasts, one evening meal, three
picnics, and luggage transfers between hotels. Level: medium with three and a
half to six hours of walking per day.
Magical castles! Historic towns! Terraced vineyards! The Rhine
Gorge, that 40-mile-stretch of the Middle Rhine Valley, is so ridiculously romantic
and picturesque, it has long bestirred painters, writers, and composers. UNESCO
cited it as “an outstanding organic cultural landscape….that has remained
largely untouched. As a result, many of the features and elements
that lend the area its authenticity have been preserved.”
Foodies will find tasty fare in
pubs, inns, cafes, beer gardens and weinstubes along the way: the famous Weinberg
Schlösschen in Oberheimbach, the Hotel Deutsches Haus in Kaub or, if the
Braubach option is taken, the fine old coaching inn of Zum Weissen Schwanen.
The area boasts amazing vintages, too, especially those of Rüdesheim.
In describing its Rhine
ramble, On Foot Holiday’s Director Simon
Scutt says, “It’s busy and exciting, too – the barges negotiating sharp bends and
the toy trains (for that’s how they look from the footpaths high above), and
the river towns and villages…make a pleasant variation from the rural walking.”
On Foot Holiday’s Rhine Gorge tour was designed by architect Peter Münch
and local Beatrix Greiff. This trip can be extended to
take advantage of all Koblenz has to offer – museums, castles (Fortress
Ehrenbreitstein is now accessible by cable car across the Rhine) gardens and
restaurants.
Contact: On Foot Holidays at (011)44 722 322 652 or visit www.onfootholidays.co.uk
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