Rüdesheim am Rhein Travel Guide

Rüdesheim is most magical from May to October, when the vines glow green, open-air taverns and riverboats fill, and the late-September harvest festival brings bursts of colour and flavour. Compact but layered: ride the gondola over the terraces to the Niederwald, take in the Rhine bend, castles and vineyards from the monument, then wander a hillside winery for a Riesling; finish back in the Drosselgasse for band music and dinner by candlelight. Often a Rhine cruise stop, it connects upriver to the Loreley and more castles. Easily covered on foot, the town fills up in season — book lodging and the gondola ahead. Vineyards, an evening lane of wine and drifting riverboats make this Germany's most romantic wine town.