Rheingau scenic drive: Rüdesheim, wine and the Loreley

The right bank: wine, Rüdesheim and the Loreley itself

The Middle Rhine has two banks, and they are not the same. The left bank, from Boppard to Bacharach, is the classic castle side. The right bank, which this loop drives, is the wine side: the Rheingau, where the Rhine bends briefly west and fills its south-facing slopes with Riesling. Here lies Rüdesheim, the busiest and most cheerful wine town on the whole river, with the Drosselgasse and the Niederwald monument high in the vineyards. From Rüdesheim you follow the bank downstream past Assmannshausen, one of the few German villages famous for its red wine, and quiet Lorch where the Rheingau ends.

Then the road dives into the gorge proper. At Kaub the Pfalzgrafenstein sits in the middle of the Rhine, with Burg Gutenfels above it, and then comes the climax: the Loreley. On the left-bank route you see that rock from across the water; here you drive up it yourself. From Sankt Goarshausen you climb to the plateau, high above the sharpest, deepest bend of the Rhine. The return does not follow the water but crosses the Taunus heights, through the quiet Blaues Ländchen around Nastätten, in a wide arc back to Rüdesheim. About 84 kilometres in all, a full day of wine, water and long views, without a single metre of motorway.

The route on the map

A schematic overview by Touren.app, not a navigation map. The exact route opens under “Drive this route” or in Google Maps. Map orientation: north is up.

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The places along the route

1. Rüdesheim am Rhein

Start · the heart of the Rheingau

Rüdesheim am Rhein is the best-known wine town on the river, and on summer days the busiest too. At its centre is the Drosselgasse, a narrow lane barely a hundred and fifty metres long, packed with wine taverns and music. Above the town, in the vineyards, stands the Niederwald monument with its colossal Germania figure, raised after 1871 to mark the unification of Germany. You reach it by the Seilbahn, a cable car that carries you silently up over the Riesling slopes, the Rhine widening below you. A lively place to start, with big views.

Practical: park on the edge or by the river; the cable car to the Niederwald monument leaves from the centre. Explore the Drosselgasse and the quays on foot.

2. Assmannshausen (Höllenberg)

the red wine · Assmannshausen

A little downstream, where the Rhine turns into the gorge, Assmannshausen clings to the steep slope. Where the rest of the Rheingau grows almost only white Riesling, this village is famous for the opposite: the Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) of the Höllenberg, the slate slope right above the houses, counts among the finest red-wine sites in Germany. An old chairlift lifts you from the village up to the Jagdschloss Niederwald hunting lodge. Below lie narrow lanes, old wine houses and the ferry landing.

Practical: park in the village or by the bank; the chairlift to the Jagdschloss leaves from Assmannshausen. This is your first look into the gorge proper.

5. Sankt Goarshausen (Loreley)

the climax · the Loreley

At Sankt Goarshausen the great rock comes into view: the Loreley, a steep slate bluff rising a hundred and thirty metres above the sharpest and deepest bend of the Rhine. On the left-bank route you look at it from across the water; here you drive up it yourself. From the town a road winds up to the plateau, with a visitor centre, a viewpoint right above the bend and the well-known open-air stage where concerts are held. Above the town hang Burg Katz and, a little further on, Burg Maus. This is the most famous image on the whole Rhine, and you stand right in it.

Practical: from Sankt Goarshausen you drive up to the Loreley plateau (parking at the visitor centre). A ferry crosses to Sankt Goar and Burg Rheinfels on the left bank.

Practical: for convertible, motorbike and camper

From the Netherlands and Belgium: the Rheingau lies on the route south, just past Wiesbaden and Mainz. From the border you reach Rüdesheim in about three and a half hours; a ferry at Bingen or the bridge at Wiesbaden brings you onto the right bank. To start the loop from your holiday base, type your start town into the planner and Touren.app rebuilds the same route from Rüdesheim, Assmannshausen, Lorch or wherever you are.

Two banks, two drives: this loop takes the right bank, the wine side with Rüdesheim and the Loreley. For the castle side there is the Middle Rhine scenic drive along the left bank, from Boppard past Sankt Goar and Oberwesel to Bacharach. Car ferries cross between the two banks (at Bingen, Lorch, Kaub and Sankt Goarshausen among others), so you can also tie the two drives into one big figure of eight.

Which vehicle: the riverside road (B42) is flat and wide, the Taunus heights winding and open, and the Wispertal at Lorch is a classic; together great for convertible and motorbike. It works well in a campervan too; mind the busy, narrow centre of Rüdesheim and park on the edge.

The Moselle and the Eifel are around the corner: at Koblenz, downstream, the Moselle flows into the Rhine. To make a few days of it, combine with the Moselle scenic drive around Cochem or the Middle Moselle scenic drive around Bernkastel, or head to the High Eifel.

How we keep it honest: we have measured this loop and curated the stops; the label is 'measured and checked'; driving it comes next. The distance was set via Google Maps with motorways avoided.

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