Rhine-Main

Mainz liegt am linken Rheinufer gegenüber der Mainmündung und ist mit rund 223.000 Einwohnern Landeshauptstadt und größte Stadt von Rheinland-Pfalz. Die Geschichte reicht bis zum römischen Legionslager Mogontiacum zurück, um 1450 erfand Johannes Gutenberg hier den Buchdruck mit beweglichen Lettern.Über der Altstadt erhebt sich der Dom St. Martin, einer der drei rheinischen Kaiserdome. Für die gotische Stiftskirche St. Stephan schuf Marc Chagall Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts die Fenster, und die Mainzer Fastnacht zählt seit dem 19. Jahrhundert zu den Hochburgen des rheinischen Karnevals. Das Gutenberg-Museum zeigt seine Schätze derzeit im Interim im Naturhistorischen Museum in der Reichklarastraße, weil am Liebfrauenplatz ein Neubau entsteht.

Frankfurt am Main is the heart of the Rhein-Main region, blending a skyline of skyscrapers with an Old Town centered around the Römerberg. Since 1405, the Römer has served as the city hall; nearby, in 1848/49, St. Paul's Church hosted the first German National Assembly. From the 200-meter-high Main Tower, the city's only skyscraper with a public viewing platform, you can take it all in from above.On the south bank of the Main, 13 museums line the Museum Embankment (Museumsufer), including the Städel, showcasing art from seven centuries. Behind it begins Sachsenhausen, where you can drink Ebbelwoi from a Bembel in the apple wine taverns and try Grüne Soße (Green Sauce) with seven herbs.

Rüdesheim is located in the Hessian Rheingau at the foot of the Niederwald, opposite Bingen. The town is known for its Riesling; as early as 1074, land began to be cleared here for vineyards. Approximately three million people stroll annually through the Drosselgasse, only about 144 meters long and two meters wide, with its wine houses.With the cable car, you soar over the vineyards up to the Niederwalddenkmal, inaugurated in 1883, with its 12.5-meter-high Germania overlooking the Rhine. Down in the town, the Brömserburg houses the Rheingauer Weinmuseum, and in Siegfrieds Mechanisches Musikkabinett, you can hear around four centuries of self-playing instruments.

Bacharach is a small wine village on the left bank of the Rhine between Bingen and Boppard, first mentioned in 871 and still largely enclosed by its town wall with towers. Behind the wall, you'll find half-timbered houses like the Old House from 1368, St. Peter's Church, and on the hillside, the ruins of the Gothic Werner Chapel.Above the village towers Stahleck Castle, today a youth hostel, from which you can look out over roofs and the Rhine. The Rheinburgenweg connects Bacharach with Oberwesel and Trechtingshausen, and the Mittelrheinbahn stops hourly; Koblenz is about 40 minutes away.

The Loreley is a 132-meter-high slate rock situated on the right bank of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen, right in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley. It was at this narrow, once-feared stretch of the river that Clemens Brentano set his ballad "Lore Lay" in 1801, and Heinrich Heine's 1824 poem subsequently made the mythical siren, who famously distracts mariners with her alluring hair, world-famous.Perched atop the plateau, a cultural and landscape park opened in 2019, offering a modern visitor center and barrier-free paths that lead to stunning panoramic viewpoints overlooking the magnificent Rhine Valley. To reach this impressive site, you can embark on an approximate 15-minute walk along a section of the Rheinsteig trail, commencing from the car park located in the Heide district.