Burg Eltz is a medieval castle built atop the hill above the Mosell River. It is still owned by a branch of the same family that lived there in the 12th century, 33 generations ago. It has had 80 rooms, 40 fire places, and 20 bathrooms (flushed by a rain drain) since its original construction. Due to political savvy of its owners, castle has never been destroyed, which makes it a really nice place to visit.
Getting there is not the easiest thing to do. We chose to take the train to the nearest town and walk the trail from the town which takes about an hour. The first half of the trail is in town and along the road out of town. It began to rain, so when we made it close to the end of the road portion of the trail, we stopped at a restaurant for a nice meal and glass of local wine. After the rain cleared, we started up the second half of the walk which was a foot path around the side of and up the mountain to the castle. When the castle first comes into view from across a small valley, it is a rather stunning sight.
We made the last little climb to the castle and looked around the courtyard.
We purchased a tour to visit inside the castle. It was a very nice tour, but no photos allowed.
While we were waiting for the English-speaking tour we visited the treasury.
We then walked the trail back to the train station.
After a break, we decided to see Koblenz at night. Darkness was approaching, so we took the tripod to get some night time photos. We walked all over the old town to see the cathedral, Rathaus, and more.
