| Destination: GERMANY | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Things To Know Traveling in Germany The North and the Baltic The Rhine The East The Black Forest and Bavaria Spa Towns Mad King Ludwig |
The Rhine
The great 820-mile Rhine flows from the Swiss Alps across the western regions of Germany, through the ancient city of Koblenz
and the former seat of West German government, Bonn, and through the industrial country of Ruhr toward Rotterdam. Its valleys
and those of its tributaries, the Mosel, Main, Nahe and Neckar, have been producing wines (mainly white) since Roman times.
Castles with fairy tale Gothic towers loom over the river, built for their powerful princes' protection and profit, which
was gleaned from tolls on passing river traffic.
On the Lorelei rock, above the twisting Rhine gorge, the beautiful siren Lorelei is said to lure sailors to their death with
her enchanting song. This is a romantic, myth-laden part of the country, and a river cruise is one of the most popular ways
of seeing it.
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