We drove from Brugge to St. Goar going thru Luxembourg on our way, passing along the Mosel and Rhine Rivers.  Along the Mosel we visited the most wonderful castle, Burg Eltz, that was located away from the river in a forested area - very scenic.  After a nite in St. Goar (and some great German food) we took a river boat ride along the Rhine, bought a cuckoo clock, visited the castle above St. Goar, and then headed down the Romantic Road to Rothenburg.

We hopped along the autobahn for parts of the drive to Rothenburg.  After 5pm the truck traffic was greatly reduced and speed on the autobahn picked up - i peaked once at 160km/h, but couldn't come close to keeping up with all the audis, mercedes, and bmw's humming along at 200km/h.

Rothenburg is a wonderfully preserved medieval town.  The streets clear up after about 5pm when the tour busses leave - those staying at local hotels have the town to own.   We enjoyed two most excellent dinners, recommended to us by our host at the Hotel Hornburg (one of our favorite hotels).

Village along the Rhine River

Rhine River from the castle above St Goar.

St. Goar and the Rhine from the castle above.

Village along the Rhine River, Bacharach.  Vineyards above.

Tour boat and barge along the Rhine River

Castle located above St. Goar.

Burg Eltz, located along the Mosel River Valley.  Wonderful castle with guided tour.  It has been in the same family for the past 800 years and is very well preserved.  Wish they would have allowed inside pictures during the tour...

Burg Eltz

View along side of Burg Eltz

Entrance to Burg Eltz.  We drove all around the country side looking for this castle, finally finding it at around 5pm, nearly closing time.  An older German gentleman was taking money for parking.  This was our first stop in Germany and we had no change, just 100 deuche marks in a single bill.  Parking was 2 dm.  Our parking attendant spoke 0% English and when i handed him the 100 dm bill, it was a bit of a language barrier trying to get change as he appeared to be quite low.  This was the only time on the trip where the language barrier was an obstacle.  Change was made and we tried to thank him as much as possible.

After St. Goar and the Rhine River we headed to Rothenburg, shown here on the left.

Another view along the streets of Rothenburg.

Rothenburg

Outside wall of the medieval city of Rothenburg.

Upper wall around Rothenburg

A couple of kids needing some punishment.  Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum was quite bizarre.

A beautiful place to stay in Rothenburg, just outside one of the main gates, the Hotel Hornburg.

One of two nice dogs at the Hotel Hornburg.  Sorry, but i can't remember his name.