Or Rüdesheim am Rhein as it’s officially known due to it being ‘on the Rhine’ river. I’d never heard of this town before coming to Frankfurt and so my discovery of such a place was by complete chance; as is often the way of any open-minded traveller…
The morning of the day before I was sat having breakfast when a girl join my table needing a seat. We exchanged an opening salutation and some pleasantries and that was that. She was off on a day trip to Heidelberg of all places and I was off exploring the Frankfurt. Fast forward almost 12 hours later and I bump into her at a crossing near our hostel as she was returning from her day out and I was out and about looking for a cash-point. By now I had grown marginally less fearful of the neighbourhood and the local degenerates in very close proximity. Having clocked each other from across the crossing, we stop and spoke and with no plans for the evening we decide to extend our respective walks and go for a beer – after I eventually locate a blasted cash-point. During conversation she tells me about her next trip sscheduled for tomorrow and I kinda invite myself long. Ooops. Still, I’m glad I did (and I hope she thought the same by the end of the day) as today was enjoyable, fun and as ever, educational. It was also nice for a change for me not having needing to put prior research in as she had come well prepared already knowing of this town’s existence. Besides, preparation is in the Korean DNA, right Jenna? 🙂
Speaking of which, so are joint-selfies on the train and just about everywhere else!
As soon as you depart the train station you very shortly afterwards have two spectacular views to admire – even from here at ground level. Rüdesheim is a wine-making town with more vineyards that I’ve ever seen but this would only be properly visible from high above the ground using the cable car ride that you can see in the background of this image. The second image is on the opposing side to the first image and is the River Rhine.
Time for lunch which consisted of a well priced Currywurst and Bratwurst along with a beer, some water, and a little strawberry, sweet wine and champagne for desert. All this for less than 6 euros (£4) per person.
We walked a little further to walk off the food and went through so many eye-catching little alleyways. Inevitably the pictures never comes out with the detail and colour that the eye has absorbed but they’ll have to do:
Time for the cable car and some amazing views to be had from this light cruise to reach the top. Everything was so silent on route, you really could hear a pin drop. At the top of the cable car hill is a path that leads up to is a statue known as Niederwalddenkmal. (And no, I have no idea how to pronounce that). This statue is significant for a couple of reasons including that it is said to draw in more tourists from other countries than any other attraction in Germany – with the exception of Cologne’s Cathedral. Also, because it depicts the Unification of Germany and not from recent times of East and West but instead back in the 19th century.
Here we go then up and away…
We stayed up here for a couple of hours doing I guess what most people do up here. Wander. Take pictures of the fabulous vista beneath us. Sit. And of course, sample some local wine. You can do a couple of different walking routes up here and actually come back down to ground level a different way but at 34 degrees, we didn’t fancy exploring any of that but sat in the shade instead. Trust me, you’d have done the same.
I know what you’re thinking, isn’t the water so lovely and blue 🙂
And on the right hand side for a laugh, I hold a selfie stick for the first time and you can see how strange I’m finding it from the look on my face.
Independently both Jenna and I preferred this town for a day’s visit to Heidelberg so if you’re ever in this region, visiting here should be a must for you. Heidelberg will perhaps offer you more to do over say a weekend but ideally you’ll be able to do towns both like we have.