Rheingau

The Rheingau is in the South of the state of Hesse, in Germany.

Cities








Talk
The locals dialect is known as Rheingauer Platt. The word you will probably come across is Gude, which basically means Hello. But if you understand standard German you should have no issues with the local accent. In the more touristy areas such as Rüdesheim English is widely understood.

By Plane
Frankfurt Airport is easily accessible just south east of the region. Almost as close by car is Hahn airport but is a challenge with public transport.

By car
From the east take the A66 Wiesbaden exit of the A3 then B42. From the west the A61 then one of the Rhine ferries.

By train

 * Train SE10 (Rechte Rheinstrecke "Right Rhine Line") from Neuwied via Koblenz to Wiesbaden and Frankfurt.

By bus

 * Bus 171: Wiesbaden Hbf via Wiesbaden city to Rüdesheim.

On foot
The Rheinsteig or the Rheinhöhenweg (right hand side)

By boat
A large number of luxury cruise operators sail up (and down) the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel, Zurich or Strasbourg or from the Rhine cruise up the Main and Danube to Budapest. The leisurely journey with plenty of stopovers typically takes anywhere from one to two weeks, with accommodation on the boat itself. Large operators include Avalon and Viking.

The Köln-Düsseldorfer Rheinschiffahrt, better known as KD, runs cruises and scheduled services up and down the river between Cologne and Mainz. The summer season (May-Sept) sees up to 8 services daily on the busiest parts of the river, but services are cut considerably in the shoulder seasons of April and October and slow down to a trickle in the winter. Traveling end to end takes over 11 hours (€49 one way), so most travellers opt for much smaller segments.

While KD has the most extensive network and schedules, there is quite a bit of competition. For example, Bingen-Rüdesheimer operates scheduled services on the south half between Rüdesheim and St. Goar.

Get around

 * Bus 172 from Eltville Bahnhof to Kiedrich and Kloster Eberbach (Eberbach Abbey)

Hiking trail
The Rheinsteig walking trail passes through Wiesbaden-Biebrich, Kiedrich, Kloster Eberbach near Eltville, Schloss Vollrads near Oestrich-Winkel, Monstera Marienthal near Geisenheim and Niederwalddenkmal near Rüdesheim.

Buildings and Monuments

 * Rüdesheim
 * Niederwalddenkmal
 * Burgruine Ehrenfels (Ruins of Ehrenfels Castle)
 * Brömserburg
 * Drosselgasse (pedestrian street)
 * Rüdesheim-Eibingen: Benediktinerinnen-Abtei St. Hildegard
 * Geisenheim
 * Schloss Johannesburg
 * Oestrich-Winkel
 * Schloss Vollrads
 * Eltville
 * Kurfürstliche Burg (Electors Castle Eltville)
 * Kloster Eberbach Eberbach Abbey
 * Kiedrich, The Catholic pilgrimage church consecrated to Saint Valentine.
 * Wiesbaden
 * Wiesbaden-Frauenstein: Goethestein, 13.5 m-high stone obelisk and beautiful view to Rheingau)
 * Wiesbaden-Biebrich: Schloss und Park Biebrich

Museums
Rüdesheim
 * Siegfried's Mechanical Music Cabinet
 * Wine Museum
 * Medieval Torture Museum

Do

 * Cabin Cable Car to the Niederwald Monument from Rüdesheim and the Assmannshausen-Niederwald Chair-lift

Itineraries

 * Rheinsteig
 * Rheingau-Riesling-Pfad from Wiesbaden-Biebrich to Bonn

Drink
With over 3000 hectares of vineyard this is a great region to buy and drink quality wine. The main grape is Riesling with Spätburgunder (Pinot noir) making up most of the rest and a little Müller-Thurgau. Spätlese and Eiswein wines can also be found in the region.

Stay safe
This area is generally rather safe if you take common sense precautions against theft and pickpocketing.

Go next

 * Middle Rhine Valley
 * Rhenish Hesse
 * Bingen
 * Mainz
 * Taunus