Our hotel was right on the river

and very convenient for our boat tour

Above the town of Bornhofen are the castles of the "hostile brothers"

Legend says they killed each other in the church of Bornhofen

In these photos you can see the "Hostility Wall" that the brothers built between their two castles

Sailing up river

Passing the town of Hiezenach

"Mouse" Castle (Burg Maus) really Thurnberg Castle
Given this nickname by their neighbors, the nobles in the Katz Castle

Katz Castle (Burg Katz) 14th century,
Destroyed in 1806 and rebuilt according to the original plans

Burg Maus, another view

Burg Rheinfels (We will explore this in detail later)

We had to leave the boat at the town of St. Goar.
The river was closed because a boat carrying chemicals ran aground creating a hazard.

Fortunately, Peter our guide knew of this, met us and drove us around the problem to the next town - Bacharach

I'm so glad we didn't have to work this out for ourselves

On the way to Bacharach

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle - 14th century customs tower

Burg Gutenfels

Town of Bacharach

A town obviously proud of its wine industry

We had time to walk through its picturesque streets

And then we waited for our boat with Peter

and got back on the River

Burg Hohneck above the town of Rheindiebach

Sooneck Castle (haunt of the infamous robber-barons)

Sooneck Castle, another view

Burg Reichenstein

Rheinstein Castle

What is that bird standing on? An enormous fish!

Castle Ehrenfels

Maus Tower - Original a customs tower, now a signal tower.
Its name reflects a horrific legend.

Next was the town of Rudesheim - a separate page on the index

Followed by an exciting visit to Rheinfels - another separate page

Back at our hotel in Boppard we relaxed after our fascinating day.

We will remember the unusual pool, the elegant decor

and

the church across the street which rang its bells

several times during the morning and evening

for 10 minutes at a time