Um, there’s no bridge across this river, GPS! (aka Rhine River Ruedesheim)

We had heard good things about a town called Rüdesheim, on the Rhine river, and decided on a day trip there. It looked to be about an hour away, maybe a bit more from the K-town area. The website for the river tours of castles was slightly confusing, but it looked like there were a bunch of choices, and we’d figure it out when we got there.

Alas, the car’s GPS tried to send us across a river without a bridge. Literally! As in, “turn right here.” Good thing there were some cars lined up and a large car ferry was approaching the river bank! The 5 Euro and change fare was collected once aboard, based on the number of people and type of vehicle. It was a short journey across the river, and we were on the outskirts of Rüdesheim. Street parking is limited, but we found a gaited (paid) lot by following “P” signs.

As we walked towards the river, we saw signs for an aerial tram up the hill. One option was to walk across the top of the hill after the tram ride, and then take a boat back, so we opted for that plan, which is called the “Ring” tour. The weather was a bit grey (surprise!), so the photos feel fuzzy, but the views were nice. You can see the tram in the lower left of the first photo with vineyards above, but it looks very small.

The walk through the woods across the top of the hill was very nice. We didn’t realize that the ride down the hill was a chair lift, like at ski mountains! It was a bit nerve-wracking to ride the chair lift facing outwards down a really steep slope, but we were safe and fine. We had lunch in the village while we waited for our boat to bring us back to Rüdesheim. The restaurant we chose had nice outdoor seating, albeit with smokers, and we found out later that the inside of the restaurant was filled with Americans! They brought our beverages with ice cubes, which I haven’t seen in about a year! You can see the chair lift between the red lines in the photo.

The half-hour boat ride back was nice, though next time we’d like to try the longer boat tour with stops at castles. We ambled back through town and drove home, once we safely crossed the river again on the ferry.