RoadRunner Tours  
Scenic Tours for Classic Cars, Replicas & Kit Cars


Romantic Castles of the Rhine

INTRODUCTION

This area is well-known to me, since it is less than one hours drive from my home. This proximity has enabled me to choose an interesting and varied selection of roads and events to include in this tour.

Wherever possible, the overnight accommodation will be in 4* Castle Hotels. Unfortunately, the number of rooms available in many of the castles is limited (in the worst case, one castle that we will use has only 9 double rooms in total, so we will be their only guests!). Additional rooms are available in nearby hotels, but the preferable castle rooms will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis - so be sure to book yourself onto this Tour as soon as possible to ensure that you get one of the limited rooms in these Castle hotels!

Needless to say, suitable car parking facilities at all the overnight stops was a major consideration in our choice of hotels on this tour, so you will be able to relax and enjoy the comforts offered by these hotels, knowing that your pride and joy is secure - but, because the castles were constructed before four-wheeled motorised transport became popular, covered overnight parking is generally NOT available on this tour.

The distances to be driven each day are generally well under 200 km (125 miles).

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Saturday

The Tour begins at 14:00 in the afternoon, near the German bordertown of Aachen - which is easily reached by toll-free motorway from Calais (ca. 350 kms / 220 miles / 3 hours) or Rotterdam (ca. 220 kms / 140 miles / 2 hours).

From there, we head down through the scenic Eifel "mountain" range past the infamous Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit (described by Jackie Stewart as the "Green Hell"), where participants can take their own car around laps of this tremendous but unforgiving circuit (£ 5.50 per 15 mile lap on the day, 10% reduction if tickets are ordered in advance) or ride as a passenger in what must be the world's fastest taxi - a BMW M5, driven by a local professional (but if interested, we must book this rollercoaster ride of a lifetime for you in advance).

           
From the Nürburgring, we drive further south, to spend the first two nights in a luxurious 4* Parkhotel near Wiesbaden.

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Sunday

This rest day offers the chance to explore the scenic town of Rüdesheim and its surroundings.

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Monday

We now head off to explore the less-industrial and quieter Mosel valley ....


.... with the overnight stop in a 4* Castle Hotel in the pretty village of Zell.


Hotel Ratskeller (overflow for Castle Hotel in Zell)

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Tuesday

We then return to the Rhine valley to concentrate on the wine-growing region between Bingen and Koblenz (the Mittelrhein), and go on a guided vineyard tour (including tasting) ....


.... before arriving at a 4* golf-hotel complex near Boppard - this will be our base for the next two nights.

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Wednesday

The morning will be spent visiting a chocolate brandy licqueur factory.

No visit to this part of the world would be complete without a boat cruise along the river Rhein, so guess what we will be doing this afternoon?!

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Thursday

Tomorrow is a public holiday in Germany (to celebrate the re-unification of East and West when the wall was taken down in 1990), so we will start celebrating early with a visit to a local brewery, and visit the infamous Loreley Rock.


The overnight stop is in another 4* Castle Hotel near Neuwied.

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Friday

We head back north towards Bonn this morning, via the Nürburgring again, to watch the Eifel Klassik Historic car racing on the Nordschleife and Grand Prix circuit.

  
The overnight stop is in this 4* Castle Hotel just south of Bonn (11 double & 2 single rooms).

(Incidentally, this restaurant is ranked amongst the top 50 Italian restaurants in Germany!)

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Saturday

After ascending the Drachenfels (Dragon Cliff) near Bonn (either by foot or rack-and-pinion railway), we drive back to the heart of the Middle Rhein, for a guided minstrel tour and superb all-you-can-eat-and-drink Medieval Dinner banquet ....

  
.... in this 4* Castle Hotel, which also offers superb views across the Rhein.

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Sunday

The week has flown past, and unfortunately it is now time to head back towards the port (of Calais or Rotterdam) and onwards to home.

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Please enquire about the current availability of the Castle rooms by E-Mail.

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The river Rhine is 1320 kms long, and flows from Lake Toma near Disentis in Switzerland to the largest harbour in the world, Rotterdam in Holland. Just along a short stretch either side of the Loreley region in the heart of Germany, there are more than 47 castles on the right hand side (east) of the Rhine, and over 31 on the left hand side (west) of the Rhine. They were mostly built to collect tolls from tradesmen travelling down the river that became the backbone of Germany (and indeed Europe), but many of the castles were later heavily damaged by the French, who wanted to put an end to the crippling tolls being levied. By visiting the few castles remaining intact, and also from the ruins of the others, a good impression of the wealth of the past can be gained.

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ROAD SIGN COMPETITION

A feature of all Roadrunner Tours is the hunt to identify the location of a particular road sign. During this end-of-tour dinner evening, a draw will be held to select one from amongst the correct entries; the lucky winner will receive a voucher worth 10% off their next Roadrunner Tour , plus a bottle of champagne.
The mystery photo will be reproduced in the route book, for easy reference whilst on the tour.

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Costs:-

£ 1590,- / Euro 2520,- per car including 2 people

Includes:-

Leisurely non-competitive scenic drive starting and finishing in Aachen, using easy-to-follow Route Books with simple tulip diagrams (click here for an example) and the route marked on colour photocopies of any relevant maps.

Hotel accommodation for Saturday to Saturday nights, based on two people sharing a double room, breakfast included (£ 210,- / Euro 330,- surcharge per person for single room)

Guided tour of vineyard

Rhein river boat cruise

Chocolate brandy licqueur factory visit

1 day entrance ticket to Eifel Klassik Historic car racing, or minibus trip from Nürburgring into Bonn

Medieval evening banquet in Castle

Not included:-

Lunchtime meals and most dinners

Drinks

Petrol

Ticket for Channel Crossing from/to England

Entrance to optional attractions (i.e castles and country houses, falconry, etc.)

Requirements:-

Passport

current MoT or TÜV certificate

car Insurance Green Card

E111 Health Insurance form

AA 5* Breakdown Recovery or similar (not required, but strongly recommended)

Dress:-

Smart casual

Number of Participants:-

minimum 5 cars, maximum 20 cars

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e-mail David Butcher

Tel. +49-172-2513749

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