The Eurail passes / German rail passes allow free rides on the KD Rhine cruise. I took one of these on the way to Berlin for the DAAD meet. The valley from Bingen to Koblenz, is rightfully an UNESCO Heritage site. The Rhine flowing through a not-too-gentle, not-too-steep valley, overlooked by numerous castles dating back from the Medieval period, during the period of feudal lords. Many of them are in their ruins though, but probably that made them more attractive at the moment. We passed the Loreley rock, the narrowest part of the Rhine in its route from Switzerland to North Sea. This steep rock which extends to the river bed, along with the strong flow, is infamous for causing many accidents in the past. There is also a legend of the Loreley maidens, who sat upon this rock and lured passing navigators to their doom with their singing. (Source: Wikipedia, and the guided tour on board)
The river supported heavy traffic both of cargo ships and passenger ships (some looked more like hotels than ships). On either side of the river, there was a train line, again both for goods and passengers. It’s a busy place in the lap of nature.
From Koblenz, I switched to a train till Koln. The one and only attraction of Koln its huge cathedral. Losing out in height to Ulm by just 5 metres, but way more grand in appearance…
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