Some travelers come to us knowing exactly what they want. Others arrive at UnTours through something harder to name — a feeling, a hunch, an answer a grandson gives when you ask him where he’d like to go. Germany. And what would he like to do there? Just be there. So wise.
If you’ve ever traveled with us, you know that’s not a strange answer. That’s the whole point. UnTourist Kathleen has been with us since Provence — since sheep and Roquefort and a trip that changed how she sees travel. Two decades later, she brought her grandson William to the Rhine Valley, to Bacharach, to the ferries and the castle ruins and the chocolate croissants. We’ll let her tell it.
The German Rhine: Just Being There
Over 20 years ago I found UnTours. My husband and I traveled to Provence. I’d won a trip to see the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon — the sheep, the cheeses. We were staying in St. Didier, but three days were spent in Roquefort.
Since I’ve fallen in love with travel, my grandchildren have been told I would take them.
Two years ago I went with my granddaughter, 18, on a tour. Amsterdam. Bruges. Paris. London. All in 9 days. Honestly, that is her style. Fast and furious.
But when I asked William, 17, where he would like to go, he answered Germany. And what would he like to do? Just be there. So UnTours was back.
We arrived in Frankfurt a day early, stayed across from the train station at the Hotel Hamburger, and traveled to Bacharach the next day. Willi, our host, picked us up and took us to our apartment. The spring flowers were out. The apartment had everything we needed, including a small stash of food for the first meal.
Bacharach is a small town. A grocery. A bakery. Plenty of restaurants. We settled in during the next couple of days. Walked along the Rhine. Climbed to the local Stahleck Castle, being used as a hostel. Wandered the streets. And when it got dark and cold, we crawled into our beds and watched movies.
Hans, our UnGuide, was great. One day he took us down the Rhine to Lorelei. The ferries are easy to use and really quite beautiful. Hans made us feel more comfortable with the local transportation — trains, ferries.
During our outing to Oberwesel with Hans, we visited a castle that is now a large and lovely hotel, Burghotel auf Schönburg. We had lunch at Günderodehaus, high in the grapevines. Beautiful.
Sometimes we cooked. Sometimes we went out. Always we walked and discovered new fences, new buildings and new ruins. The Stahlberg Castle ruins near us were fascinating — overlooking the valley, the castle still has one turret and many places to climb and imagine.
Our total public transportation day started at the bank of the Rhine. A ferry up the river dropped us on the other side to take a lift up the mountain to the flat area at Niederwald Park. We walked to the Monument above Rüdesheim — a tribute to the importance of the Rhine as a border river. At 30 meters high, or over 98 feet, it is impressive. We descended in a small enclosed pod and proceeded to find the car ferry to take us back across the Rhine, then waited for the train and a bus to return us to Bacharach.
Traveling with a 17-year-old grandson is special. Was it exciting enough for him? He’d told me he wanted a vacation in a part of the world he didn’t know. He saw history. He saw beauty. He saw small town living. His feelings were mixed on the local food — chocolate croissants were his favorite — but he tried everything. We learned about slate roofs and castles. We used every form of public transport.
There’s something Kathleen said that stays with us: he wanted to just be there. Not to check things off. Not to sprint from city to city. Just to exist somewhere new, long enough to feel it.
That’s what the Rhine Valley will do to you. Bacharach doesn’t perform for visitors. It just goes about its business — the bakery opens, the ferries run, the vines climb the hills — and if you stay long enough, you start to feel like you belong to it a little.
If you have a grandchild who answers the way William did, or if you yourself have been waiting for a trip that breathes, the Rhine Valley is waiting for you. Your UnGuide will pick you up at the station. The fridge will have something for the first night. The rest is yours to discover.