Fourth stop: Koblenz

Slowly the kilometers are getting into our bones, the first meters after starting are always the most exhausting. Luckily, this morning it went downhill first. From the youth hostel to the Rhine.

Today we cycled directly along the Rhine, from Bingen to Koblenz. 70.5 km in 4 hours of pure cycling time.

We started in Bingen shortly after 9 am. The sun was hiding behind clouds and we cycled about 500 meters downhill to the Rhine.

From there it was easy again, always along the Rhine. Initially framed by some bushes, later the cycle path was right between the Rhine and the road. Interrupted over and over again by smaller and larger villages or campsites.

We saw a lot of campsites today, as well as old castles and palaces. They are plentiful in this Rhine area and very beautiful to look at.

We also passed St. Goar and thus the Loreley. A beautiful area with many vineyards and lots of green, despite the road and railway next to the cycle path.

Today our route wasn't as long as the past few days, so we arrived in Koblenz around noon and got ourselves a kebab for lunch, enjoying it with a view of the 'German Corner'. The Moselle meets the Rhine at the German Corner and there were also a few tourists there.

From there we could already catch a glimpse of our youth hostel. It is located high up on the opposite bank of the Rhine and is housed in Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. A former Prussian castle with a long history is now a large, touristy castle complex, beautifully renovated and the best part is: as a youth hostel guest, you don't have to pay admission! While regular tourists had to pay, we were able to take a relaxed look around today.

But we didn't know all of this yet when we sat at the German Corner and had lunch. We thought, okay, let's ride there, maybe push a little uphill and that's it, because unfortunately the beautiful cable car that goes directly up to the fortress over the Rhine is not suitable for bicycles.

We actually made it over the Rhine and also found the way up. But unfortunately, after a good 100 meters, it was closed due to construction work. So we stood there, because nothing was signposted, and thought about how to get up there now. Fortunately, we found a path on the back of the hill. Very steep and not pleasant to push, but we made it. We arrived at the top. On a large car park full of cars and didn't know where to go again.

At least it was flat on top and we were able to ride along the car park and then found out at the entrance to the fortress that we had to push through the castle complex to the youth hostel. When we finally checked in, it was already 4 o'clock in the afternoon and we were exhausted, despite the rather short bike ride.

But we are staying overnight in a real castle and have a wonderful view of the two rivers below us. I would like to share this view with you, but the internet is currently mediocre, so they will be added later! I promise.