This post is a continuation of a series documenting our travels to the Rhine & Moselle river valleys in Germany in the summer of 2024. We had enjoyed a beautiful couple of days in the City of Cologne ( Cologne by Dawn & Dusk – Rhine & Moselle valley, Part 2 ) before moving on to the Rhine valley. We had been mesmerised by the quaint little village of Bacharach where we had spent a memorable couple of days ( Beautiful Bacharach & Burg Stahleck – Rhine & Moselle valley, Part 6 ). We had then moved on to the smaller Moselle valley where the city of Cochem had exceeded our expectations ( First impressions of Cochem – Rhine and Moselle Valley, Part 7 ). Originally when we had planned the trip we had planned a couple of nights in the city of Mainz after our time in the river valleys.
Our plans changed suddenly when during my incessant research for the trip I came across the Burghotel Auf Schonburg in the town of Oberwesel in the Rhine valley. It was the castle overlooking the town which had now been converted into a luxury hotel. Castles have always fascinated me and I always try to visit as many castles as possible wherever we are travelling. Staying in a castle was something that really appealed to the both of us. We had stayed in a Maratha fort that had been converted into a hotel at Jadhavgadh back home in India & enjoyed the experience, ( Jadhavgadh, Part 1 – a Mini Trip to get back into the groove ) so we wanted to try the same abroad. The Rhine valley dotted with castles seemed to be the perfect place to scratch our itch for a castle stay.
The price of the rooms were obviously more expensive than what we usually book but this was a once in a lifetime experience and I suppressed all my Indian middle class instincts and pulled the trigger for booking a room at the Schonburg castle hotel. The great thing about the hotel was that it was half board – including breakfast and dinner. So we didn’t have to leave the castle at all for food after dark since it was a long hike down to the town of Oberwesel. So after visiting 5 castles in our time in the region we were finally staying in one for a couple of days!
We left Cochem after a morning visit to the Cochem castle and made our way back to the Rhine valley again changing trains in the city of Koblenz. We alighted at the sleepy little village of Oberwesel where the taxi we had booked with the hotel was waiting to whisk us up to the Burghotel Schonburg. On the winding taxi ride up the hill to the castle I was glad I had booked a taxi because carrying our big backpack up the hill would have been an exhausting hike.
We alighted from our taxi and were immediately impressed by the sight of the castle and the wooden bridge leading to it. We hauled our luggage across the bridge and went to the castle reception.
The Burghotel Auf Schonburg
We had reached the castle before the usual check in time so we kept our luggage at the reception and decided to have lunch at the Castle Bistro itself. We had walked a lot in Cochem in the morning and our tummies were demanding nourishment. We ordered a pasta for the better half and I ordered a veal steak with carrots and potatoes. We also ordered a beer for myself and an Apfelsaft for the better half. They also served their house bread with parsley butter while we waited for our food which was simply delicious. When the meal turned out to be delicious too we knew we weren’t going to leave the castle for the remainder of our two days here and enjoy our luxury splurge to the fullest.
At the Castle Bistro at the Schonburg Castle enjoying our lunch
The better half enjoys her Apfelsaft
A delicious meal at the Castle Bistro
Once we finished our lunch at a leisurely pace for a change we went back to the reception where the staff informed us that our room was ready. We carried our luggage and went to the courtyard room at the castle which we had booked. The reason for selecting this room was that it was reasonably priced as compared to the other rooms and also easy to get out and about to explore the castle from this centrally located room.
We entered our room and were impressed with how tastefully it had been done without being over the top. A huge wooden bed with an elaborately carved backboard was the centrepiece of the room. All the furniture in the room matched that beautiful bed. The room came with its own stationery and a ball point quill! – I took a few pages of the pad as a souvenir of our time here. To my surprise they even had a small TV hidden in a wooden cabinet which meant that I could watch the Euro 24 second round matches that were on during our stay there.
Posing in our Courtyard room at the Burghotel Auf Schonburg
The unique castle stationery and ball point quill!
The small TV hidden in a niche in the wall of our room
They had even provided complimentary bottle of apple mead. I’m not a fan of sweet liquor but then again I’m never averse to trying out something new. So I poured myself a glass and tried the apple mead which wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.
Taking a few more photos of our room at the Burghotel Auf Schonburg
After exploring our room for some time we decided it was time to get out and about and explore the castle gardens. While booking the hotel the website had mentioned that the castle stay included access to the castle gardens. I knew that we would certainly be exploring the gardens during our stay here, what I didn’t expect was the sheer huge size of the gardens! It was an entire hillside that was part forest and part manicured garden that had many pavilions,swings and numerous cosy places to sit and enjoy the greenery all around. It was so big that they provided a map of the gardens lest we get lost in the vast expanse. All in all it was my kind of place!
The provided map of the expansive gardens at the Burghotel Auf Schonburg
There was rain predicted on the coming day so I didn’t want to miss the chance of seeing every corner of these gardens. The gardens are accessed through a small locked metal gate in the castle courtyard and the key to this gate is with your room keys. What that meant was the only people that would be in that huge hillside gardens at a time would be a handful of the hotel guests. We went through the gate and down the staircase descending down the hillside and immediately started clicking away to glory.
About to start our explorations of the castle gardens
The stairs descend down the hillside from the castle into the gardens
The view of the Rhine flowing below from the wooden walkway
The next 2 hours were spent exploring the multilevel gardens. Spending some time at each cosy sitting room/ bench/ swing and pavilion all kept spotlessly clean even though they were exposed to the elements. I am going to let the photos do the talking rather than describing the gardens.
A cosy sitting room at the start of the castle gardens
A tiled pathway with arches covered by vines
A swing to rest and enjoy a view of the castle gardens
The castle above from the highest level of the gardens
A walkway down the garden with a small pond on the side
Unable to resist monkeying around with a statue in the castle gardens
A beautiful statue of a lady hunter
A sitting room at the far end of the gardens with a view of the valley below
View of the valley and the town of Oberwesel below
Wild flowers dot the lawns of the gardens
At a drinking fountain in the gardens
The beautiful gardens at the Burghotel Auf Schonburg
It was getting heavily overcast now , the sun was gone and it was only dark grey clouds overhead, so we decided to head back to the castle before it started pouring. I had seen a few birds chirping around the gardens but the light had been too poor for bird photography by the time I tuned my attention to them. So I was hoping against hope that it poured at night and the next day had better light to allow me to take a few bird photos. For now we left the gardens and returned to the stairs back up to the castle happy at having explored the entirety of the gardens.
Happy us after exploring the gardens of the Burghotel Schonburg
Exiting the gardens with a smile on our face
We then rested at our room till it was time for our gourmet 4 course dinner. It was the T20 Cricket World Cup final that day where India were playing South Africa and even though it was not possible for me to watch the match in Germany I was glued to my phone tracking the score even as we went for our dinner.
Outside our room at the Burghotel Auf Schonburg
Through most of the abysmally slow serving of the 4 course meal my attention was diverted by two things. The World Cup final in progress and keeping one eye on the skies since our table was in an open section of the restaurant and the sky was about to start pouring.
The meal itself even though it was tasty was far too slowly served for my liking. I have never been a fan of gourmet cuisine and this didn’t change my opinion about it at all. As the interval between courses seemed interminable, it was made even longer by the fact that India was doing poorly in the final. We made it through our main course just in time for it to start drizzling!
The change of expression shows the time passed in between the 2 courses
We were shifted to an indoor table for the dessert and I was in a sour mood. The raspberry sorbet they served was delicious. What made it memorable for me was the fact that India pulled off an unlikely victory. For a change they inexplicably turned the tide in the final overs and were now T20 champions!
Me down in the dumps at the indoor table before India turned the tide in the finals
That made me take out the India jersey I have and celebrate with a bigger glass of mead in the comfort of my room as it continued to drizzle. But nothing could wipe the smile of an Indian World Cup victory from my face.
Celebrating the Indian T20 World Cup win with a glass of mead
That boost gave me the energy to go out just before dusk when it stopped drizzling for a few minutes to click photos of the castle against the heavily overcast skies.
The reception and main building of the castle hotel
Oberwesel and the Rhine below with grey skies overhead
The Burghotel Auf Schonburg from the far end where the German flag is flown
The Bistro and breakfast room of the castle with the town below
The wet chairs and tables with the castle tower
As it started drizzling again I ducked into the lobby and the common sitting room to take a few photos before keeping my gear in and running to our room just in time for the rain to get heavier.
The lobby of the main building of the castle
The common sitting room of the castle
The staircase to the lobby before it starts pouring
It started pouring a few minutes after we returned to our room and it continued to rain heavily through the night accompanied by thunder and lightning. So that meant that any night time photos had to wait for the next day. (If it didn’t rain again!)
We spent the rest of the night watching Italy get hammered by Switzerland & the hosts Germany beat Denmark in the Round of 16 in the Euros. We had tickets to the Portugal vs Slovenia round of 16 match at Frankfurt after a couple of days. But before that we still had one more day left at this beautiful castle.
The weather threatened to play spoilsport but whether it would wash out our plans totally is a topic for another post. Some other time, some other day.
Till then,
Tschau!
yogictravel 
Gorgeous hotel. Well worth the splurge. Loved it.
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