In the 1820s, privately owned Rheinstein, 6km downriver from Bingen, became the first Rhine castle to be converted – by Prussian royalty (a branch of the Hohenzollerns) – into a romantic summer residence complete with turrets and battlements. Today, the neo-Gothic interior is furnished more or less as it was over a century ago. Highlights include a tiny chapel, the Rittersaal (Knights’ hall), and 14th- to 19th-century stained-glass windows brought from churches in Cologne and Düsseldorf.
A path leads from parking places along the B9. Also here are two apartments for rent (per night from €65; minimum stay two nights), and a tavern.