This is the stuff of fairytale castles and romantic ruins, and storied, lush vineyards, planted to the Riesling grape, climbing all the way up the hillsides. You can take a cruise down the Rhine for a slice of all the riverfront imagery, or hire a car and slow-drive the twisty roads to festive, picture-postcard wine towns and putter around in souvenir shops and maybe even slip into a tavern to sip a locally-sourced Riesling or Eis Wein. Near Koblenz, you'll discover Burg Eltz, the loveliest of Germany’s castles, and the iconic Marksburg, both perched on hilltops with great all-round views and endless selfie ops; at Speyer you can marvel at a fabulous, four-towered Romanesque cathedral; and in the Rheingau you can wine-taste at the legendary Johannisberg estate and also wander in the charming streets of old town Rüdesheim. But heads up, the towns here are teeming with tourists all summer long.