Burg Eltz Castle

Our first full day was spent driving along the Mosel River and exploring the towns along the way. The main objective for the day was to visit Burg Eltz, likely the best preserved medieval castle in Germany.  Our plan was to arrive as soon as they opened at 9:30am in order to beat the crowds and take pictures.  We were not disappointed.

Our hike through the Eltz Forest

Burg Eltz is still privately owned, and has been in a branch of the same family since the 12th century -- 33 generations and counting -- and is one of the few castles to have never been destroyed.  Once you leave the car park, it's about a 15 minute walk down the footpath through the Eltz forest.  We were about the fourth or fifth car in the lot and had a lovely walk through the forest, listening to birds and the sounds of nature and bubbling water of the Elzbach River, a tributary of the Mosel that flows around the castle.  You can't see the castle at all until you round the final bend in the trail and then -- BAM! -- you see the castle in all its glory.

The castle complex is a combination of interlinked homes of the three branches of the Eltz family.  Unfortunately, we could not take photos in the interior of the castle, but our guide Michelle gave a wonderfully insightful tour about the castle and the family.  As much as I enjoyed Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria (see and read about it here), I believe I enjoyed Burg Eltz more.  The tour and what you're able to see inside was certainly better, it's equally as picturesque, and it's more adventurous to get there.