We stayed in Cochem during our time in Germany, so in order to see Burg Eltz we had to take a train to to Moselkern.

Moselkern is lovely – it’s a very quiet town with beautiful old houses. It took about 20 minutes to reach the start of the walking track to Burg Eltz from the train station.

The castle is surrounded on three sides by the Elzbach River – a tributary on the north side of the Moselle. It is balanced high up on a 70-meter rock spur and was located on an important Roman trade route between rich farmlands and their markets.

The Eltz Forest has been declared a nature reserve by Flora-Fauna-Habitat and Natura 2000. The walk through the forest took us about 30 minutes and when we finally saw the castle peeking through the trees it looked like something out of a fairy tale…

Burg Eltz is a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier in Germany. It is still owned by a branch of the same family (the Eltz family) that lived there in the 12th century, 33 generations ago.

The Rübenach and Rodendorf families’ homes in the castle are open to the public, while the Kempenich branch of the family uses the other third of the castle. The public is admitted seasonally from April to October. Visitors can view the treasury which has gold, silver and porcelain artefacts.

Information from Wikipedia.