While we were staying in the lovely town of Cochem, we also went for a little adventure to see a magical castle I had read about that wasn’t far away. We put the coordinates into our car’s sat-nav and off we went, although about halfway there we saw a sign that said to Burg Eltz that wasn’t the way the sat-nav said… so we followed the sign which ended up taking about three times as long as if we’d just trusted the sat-nav! Although it was quite fun to drive through some extra little villages and see some of the pretty countryside, although it was getting close to sunset and I was worried we wouldn’t make it in time to get some decent photos!
Luckily, however, we made it just in time for sunset and the light was amazing, covering everything with a gorgeous orange glow.
Burg Eltz is actually closed at this time of year as it’s the off-season, but I had read in my guidebook that you could still walk from the car park and see it, and the photos I had seen on Pinterest made me really want to see it for myself. And, wow, it did not disappoint, we were even treated to a rainbow in the late sunlight!
According to my Lonely Planet book, Victor Hugo (author of ‘Les Miserables’ and other novels) described Burg Eltz as “tall, terrific, strange and dark.” The castle is 850 years old and has been owned by the same family for over 30 generations – unlike a lot of German castles which are now owned by the government. Between April and October, you can go on tours of the interior of the castle, they cost eight euros for adults and 5.50 for children, and there is also a shuttle bus if you don’t feel like walking that steep descent. But even just visiting to see the exterior is, in my opinion, definitely worth the effort!
Just look at those gorgeous, atmospheric woods; I can totally understand how so many dark fairytales such as those collected by the Brothers Grimm originated in Germany.
I still have a list about an arm’s length of castles I want to see in Germany, who else has seen some as beautiful as this one? Let me know in the comments! And also check out our guided tour of Reichsburg Cochem here.
We’ve been to gobs of castles in Germany, but this one is still my fav!
I know, right, it’s so beautiful!! I need to go back and get better photos, these are so old now!
Hi Kristy! My husband and I are taking a trip to Germany to drive the Romantic Road and see the Christmas markets this November. I really wanted to take a small detour to sneak a peek at Eltz Castel and Cochem but wasn’t sure if it was worth the effort since you can’t actually tour Eltz this time of year, but I think you’ve convinced me to still go ahead with it!
Ooh yes, I am glad, it’s not too much of a detour if you have time; Cochem has a lovely Christmas market and Burg Eltz is so pretty even if you can’t go inside! Hope you have a lovely trip!