Rhine River, Germany - Day One

Upon arrival in Germany we rented a car

And proceeded up the Rhine River. It was a super easy route and very scenic. We were immediately in awe of the grapes growing up the hillside


We stopped after passing a few towns to explore, get tourist info, and enjoy lunch and beer.





It was a surreal moment of “wow we are in Germany” for our whole group.


Exactly what we expected the buildings to look like in Germany.


After strolling around a bit we found a spot outside to enjoy our first authentic German meal and wine (much to my dads chagrin as he had been waiting years for German beer only to discover this restaurant only served German wine – ooops).



We drove a bit further (according to my dad we stopped every five minutes, I don’t think it was quite that extreme but close) and stopped in a town famous for cuckoo clocks. My mom’s only requirement/souvenir request for Germany was a cuckoo clock. She had wanted one for years.


Unfortunately they didn’t allow photography but the clock has arrived so I’ll take a photo of it. While milling over the clock we did stumble upon an awesome Birkenstock store.

And witnessed a wedding party. So fun!

The horse transported them to a nearby castle – I can only imagine how beautiful that must have been.

And my dad checked out menus – this was soon to become standard. He would read every menu of every restaurant the entire trip…

Gorgeous castles greeted us on our drive along Rhine.


We eventually stopped for dinner and sleep. We were hoping for a fun quaint German hotel in a small town. Didn’t happen. Unfortunately we stopped in a town that was not as quaint and there were no available rooms! We tried about four places and finally ended up here.

It was ok but definitely not great and the rooms left a lot to be desired.


Oh well it was a place to sleep – and they did have an amazing breakfast. We walked down to the Rhine for dinner at a restaurant recommended by the owner of our hotel.





It was excellent and so pretty to sit by the water and just relax. A great first day of vacation.