One of our favorite places to stay in Germany has always been the 800 year old Zum Ritter Hotel on the Neckar river in Neckargemund near Heidelberg. It was built as a hunting lodge in 1286 and turned into a hotel at some later date. The floors are not real level and you have to walk up several flights of stairs because there is no elevator but its very romantic and the rooms have a great view of the river.

That stretch of the Neckar has several castles including the huge old Heidelberg Schloss. You can get to most of them by catching an excursion boat right in front of the hotel. When we got there we were shocked to find the Zum Ritter closed due to fire damage. I hope it will be rebuilt so we can stay there again some day.

The day we were there was a holiday so we had a hard time finding accommodations for the night. We ended up at The Gruner Baum in Neckargerach, a small town nearby. It was a pleasant place and we had a good time wandering around the neighborhood before having dinner on the veranda of the hotel.

Home