St Goarhausen - Rheinland

This was to be our base for the duration of our stay in the Rhine Valley. Our trip had been booked with Phoenix Holidays of Gloucester as part of a four day tour of the Rhine. Although small, St Goarhausen is well known due to its close proximity to the Loreley Rock. It is about 30 km south of Koblenz in the Rhine Gorge.

Leaving Birmingham from the city centre by coach at the designated pick up point, we then travelled towards Dover for the crossing stopping no less than eight times along the way. This obviously adds time to the journey by coach which took almost a full day and most of the night for us to arrive at our destination.  Our only criticism would be that motorway service station pick up points might have cut down on the unnecessary delays.

Our accommodation was at the Erholung Hotel in St Goarhausen, Loreley town at Nastätter Str.15 which is near to the town centre but far enough away for peace and quiet. This is a family run hotel and very welcoming for visitors. The staff are pleasant and efficient and nothing is too much trouble.

The rooms are small, mainly twin bedded with en-suite bathrooms. Some rooms have balconies. This hotel is popular with German tourists as well as foreigners and the food is served in generous quantities and is of a very good standard. Breakfasts are continental but with plenty of choice of bread, cheeses, meats and jams.

We would have no trouble in recommending this hotel as a good base for exploring the Rheinland and for providing excellent value for money. Both our driver and tour guide Tony were fantastic.
St Goarhausen centre and the Rhein is about five minutes walking distance from the hotel. In late May the town is a sleepy backwater with pretty much everything closing after 10 pm. I would imagine it gets livelier in the height of summer. The town has a good promenade and a couple of good restaurant / bars.

Those seeking a little more can take the short ferry crossing over to St Goar which has more to offer in terms of shopping, eating out and night life. Make sure you check the return ferry times as you don’t want to be left stranded on the wrong side of the river – the next crossing point is a bridge 30 km away!. In the late spring summer months the last ferry back is at 11:00 pm.

Tourism and wine making are the main sources of income for St Goarhausen.

The two castles, Burg Katz ( Cat Castle ) and Burg Maus ( Castle Mouse ) overlook the ruins of Burg Rheinfels on the other side of the river. Local folklore attributes the name to the Counts of Katzenelnbogen's mocking of the Electors of Trier during the 30 years of construction, who reportedly said that the castle was the "mouse" that woud be eaten by the "cat" of Katzenelnbogen.

Erholung Hotel,  Nastätter Str. 15,  D-56346 St.Goarshausen,  Tel: 0049-6771-2684

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