Knights, Kings & Fairytale Towers: Germany's Greatest Castles in 7 Days

Cochem Castle

Eltz Castle

Marksburg

Rheinfels Castle

There's hardly a more storybook drive in Europe than the one winding from the vineyard slopes of the Mosel down to the foot of the Bavarian Alps. The journey begins in Cochem, where Reichsburg towers over the river like something lifted straight from a Brothers Grimm tale, and that same afternoon you'll stand before Burg Eltz — the castle everyone's seen in photos but few have actually visited, tucked into its own hidden valley as if time forgot it existed. The next day…