Bacharach set on the banks of the Rhine is a popular home base for visiting hikers and cyclists to explore the various trails, castles and churches nearby. The town is positioned right by the Rhine hidden in the nearby hills, along with the neighbouring Oberwesel it is on the tourist circuit for quaint town experiences. We drove there from Dusseldorf taking a detour on our way to Cologne.
The last stretch was on a beautiful stretch of road along the riverbank. There is a long wall along the side of town facing the river. We got a nice old town feel as we walked down the alleys past the doorways. I really enjoyed exploring the streets of Bacharach.
There were nice-looking restaurants and we picked a winery type one with an interesting menu. The portions were large and filling and we really enjoyed the food and Pappa enjoyed a beer. While there we found out where to go next on the map eventually deciding on the observatory behind the restaurant. Wernerkapelle is a popular old church that has fallen to ruins which was also used as an observatory. It is also the starting point to a trail leading to various castles on the hill behind it.
I walked to the Burg Stahleck past the Wernerkapelle and the view there was wonderful, it looked upon the Rhine valley and the forests all around. To get there was a nice and easy short climb. Some of the most interesting places to hike to are the Postenturm, an old historical tower overlooking the entirety of the town, Burg Stahleck, a castle repurposed as a youth hostel, and St. Peters Church, a large Romanesque Basilica that has been named a UNESCO world heritage site.
Alongside Bacharach, Oberwesel is another wonderful town with its own amazing spots to visit, a huge and colourful riverside church called, Liebfrauenkirche, another castle hotel Schloss Schöenburg that is highly acclaimed and a lot of wine tours. For a blog on another German city worth visiting, check out my writeup on Bremen here.