Holiday in Rhineland-Palatinate

About Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate, located in the southwest of Germany, is the land of castles and vineyards: Over 500 castles and castle ruins crown rocky peaks and mountain ridges, while some of the best wines in Germany mature on steep slopes along the Rhine, Moselle, Nahe, and Ahr rivers. Two-thirds of German wine production comes from this federal state, and the wine culture shapes the lifestyle of its residents. The Upper Middle Rhine Valley between Koblenz and Bingen, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002, is the essence of Rhine romance: The Loreley Rock, the legendary seat of the blonde sorceress, rises 120 meters above the river, while castles like Marksburg, Burg Eltz, and Reichsburg Cochem line the banks. The Deutsches Eck in Koblenz, where the Moselle and Rhine converge, and the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress high above offer a dramatic panorama. The Palatinate in the south surprises with a Mediterranean flair: The German Wine Route stretches 85 kilometers through almond and fig trees, wine villages, and the picturesque half-timbered towns of Deidesheim, Neustadt, and Bad Dürkheim, which hosts the world's largest wine market every year. Speyer, with its Romanesque Imperial Cathedral — the largest preserved Romanesque church in the world and burial site of Salian emperors — is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Mainz, the state capital, is the city of Gutenberg and Carnival. The Eifel in the north offers the Laacher See, a volcanic crater lake, and the Nürburgring.