Brexit Exit - The Farewell Tour

The Mosel is one of Germany's largest wine regions, with vineyards clustered along the Mosel valley.  We had now entered the Rhineland-Palatinate region, our last in Germany, and road signs every mile or so told us we were in wine country as did the acres of grapes growing in fields either side of the road. We headed for a small town right on the Mosel river, called Bernkastel-Kues. In fact it is two towns that are joined. Kues sits on the east bank of the river, whilst Bernkastel sits on the west, linked by a long bridge. To reach the town we drove down a succession of hairpin bends, winding down and down until, crossing the bridge we arrived in Kues. The Mosel River - with Berncastle across the bridge Kues appeared to be a prosperous little town with some fine 19th century villas and a riverside park and promenade. Bernkastel is much older and on the west side of the river acres of vines tumble down steep slopes right to the edge of a small medieval town full ...

After so many days in small towns it was quite overwhelming to arrive for a brief stay in Heidelberg. Heidelberg has a population of around 170,000 people, about a quarter of whom are students. Heidelberg University is Germany's oldest, established in 1386. The city itself lies in a green densely wooded valley, surrounded by hills clad with trees, and spans the river Neckar. Our hotel was on the edge of the city, but the tram service stopped two minutes away from the hotel entrance, so it was easy to get to the old town and explore. At first we walked down Hauptstrasse, a mile long pedestrian street full of shops including a number of global brands. At the end of Hauptstrasse after taking a picnic lunch in the main square with the Rathaus (town hall) in front and the main gothic church, the Heiliggeistkirche, behind us, we crossed the Neckar and made the relatively short, but unrelentingly steep, climb uphill to a path that contours gently downhill for over a mile called the...

OK - it was an invention of the German Tourist Board in the 1950's, but the Romantic Road is still something rather special. Its a route running north-south that connects some of Germany's most picturesque medieval walled towns. There are brown signs way marking the roads to follow. Te Romantic Road route marker - our Rothenburg hotel in the background My self planned route only took in a small section of the Romantic Road but it was probably a 'highlights package'.  We joined the Romantic Road south of Nördlingen, first visiting a picturesque village, Harburg, situated by a river with a castle overlooking the town from a steep rocky outcrop. Our hotel in Nördlingen overlooked the old medieval town walls.This was an excellent base from which to explore.  The town walls at  Nördlingen are complete and encircle the town. After a very brief exploration of the town the previous evening we spent a few hours the day after our arrival and walked the walls....