Sankt Goarshausen St Goar, Germany Rhineland-Palatinate
49
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
CroisiEurope (28 Cruises)
MS Beethoven
16 Cruises
MS Victor Hugo
12 Cruises
Emerald Waterways (13 Cruises)
Frequently Asked Questions
The landing stage opens straight onto the village's main street, lined with half-timbered houses and cafés facing the water. No shuttle is needed for the village itself: you are in the scenery from the gangway.
193 metres above the river, at the point where the Rhine is both narrowest and deepest. Currents and reefs capsized so many boats here that legend invented a siren to explain the wrecks.
Two ways. On foot, by steep paths climbing through the vines: the ascent is demanding and does not suit everyone. Otherwise by shuttle on organized excursions — check what your ship offers.
A visitor centre that traces the formation of this UNESCO World Heritage valley, and viewing platforms jutting out above the great bend of the Rhine. From up there you watch barge convoys negotiate the narrows, tiny from that height.
No, and it is a common disappointment: Burg Katz is private property and closed to visitors. Built in 1371 by the counts of Katzenelnbogen to collect tolls, it is admired from the water and from the footpaths.
By ferry, because no bridge spans the Rhine within the gorge. The shuttle links the twin village opposite, and the crossing is short and frequent in season.
It is the largest ruin in the valley and the best use of a slightly longer call. Lamp in hand you explore a maze of curtain walls, galleries and cellars, and the view from its terraces takes in both banks.
Stay by the water: a tree-lined promenade follows the bank, with benches for watching the convoys manoeuvre. The Rhine is still one of Europe's busiest waterways, and the spectacle is quietly hypnotic.
Two neighbouring castles the locals nicknamed that way: Katz above the village, and its miniature rival Maus a little downstream. The feline duel is retold with a smile all along the valley.
The euro, with cash for the small terraces. The wine is riesling from the neighbouring slopes, grown on inclines so steep that the harvest is still done by hand.
