Rüdesheim am Rhein is just about 60km from Frankfurt and it is one of the most picture perfect romantic smaller German towns you can imagine. Surrounded by vineyards, it has an important role in the German wine making industry and for a wine lover like myself it was really one of the best spots to visit in the whole country.
Lu and me spent the weekend together with our FRIENDS and their kids who are around the same age. The weather was nice, so we skipped the idea of staying in a hotel and decided to CAMP not so far from the town. From our camp site we could easily walk to the centre on the WALKING PATH along the RIVER RHINE. But the first thing we did is took the CABLE CAR OVER THE VINEYARDS all the way up to the VIEW POINT and the NIEDDERWALDENKMAL MONUMENT.
We paid 8€ (adults) and 4€ (kids above 5 years of age) for a ROUND TRIP with the cable car. We could have also WALKED one way, but we decided not to. Once you get to the top, you have to walk around a little bit anyway. The VIEWS were just spectacular. I have seen many vineyards before, but to “fly” over them like this is something special.
You can also take the CABLE CAR down on the other side to the town ASSMANNSHAUSEN, but we decided to spend more time walking around Rüdesheim this time. After running around the monument at the top and enjoying the really great views on the river banks we took the same cable car back down.
DROSSELGASSE is the name of the most FAMOUS COBBLESTONE STREET in the town. Built in the 15th century, it used to be an important way for the boat owners to transport their goods from ships to homes. Today, this 144m LONG narrow street is full of cute little CAFES, WINE TAVERNS and RESTAURANTS with LIVE MUSIC. There were masses of people trying to get to the other end so be prepared for a very busy atmosphere, still it is worth seeing it.
There are lots of WINE CELLARS in the town, just look for signs saying “WINZERKELLER” or “WEINKELLER”. Many offer a short FREE TOUR around the basement, there is a shop and some also have WINE TASTINGS. As we had 3 energetic kids running around we skipped the wine tasting experience this time, but by the look of it it must be a great thing to do around here.
And lots of NARROW SIDE ALLEYS. They give the town that fairytale feel as well and walking around without a plan, getting lost in the small streets is just perfect here.
If you are ever around FRANKFURT, MAINZ or KOBLENZ – this is a wonderful DAYTRIP idea. If you have 2 days it is of course better, because the town is very lively also in the evenings. Although I prefer visiting such wine region towns in the summertime, there is a CHRISTMAS MARKET in December every year and that has to be great too. Doesn´t matter the time or the month – it is really worth coming here and we had a wonderful weekend.
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