GERMANY - Best of Europe 2014 - page 626

Internet Access: The TI is your best bet (€0.50/10 minutes), but if it's crowded or closed,
the backup option is the expensive coin-op access (€6/hour, 4 terminals) or Wi-Fi (€5/
hour) amid the slot machines at Hotel Montag (Heerstrasse 128).
Bike Rental: Goar Bike, run by Richard and Gabriele Langhans, is near the train station
(€7/5hours,€12/day,mustshowIDandleave€50deposit,May-OctTue-Sun9:00-13:00
& 15:00-19:00, closed Mon and Nov-April, go right as you exit station, Oberstrasse 44,
tel. [phone], [e-mail] ). Richard, who speaks English, has maps and can
suggest routes (or ask at the TI).
Parking: A free lot is at the downstream end of town, by the harbor. For on-street parking
by the K-D boat dock and recommended hotels, use coins to get a ticket from the ma-
chine (Parkscheinautomat) and put it on the dashboard (€4/day, Mon-Sat 10:00-18:00,
Sun 12:00-18:00, coins only, free overnight).

Sights in St. Goar

▲▲▲ Rheinfels Castle
SittinglikeadeadpitbullaboveSt.Goar,thismightiestofRhinecastlesrumbleswithghosts
from its hard-fought past. This hollow but interesting shell offers your single best hands-on
ruined-castle experience on the river.
Cost and Hours: €4, family card-€10; mid-March-Oct daily 9:00-18:00, last entry at
17:00; Nov-mid-March Sat-Sun only 11:00-17:00, last entry at 16:00—weather permitting.
Tours and Information: Follow my self-guided tour. The free castle map is helpful, but
the €2 English booklet is of no real value. If it's damp, be careful of slippery stones. Tel.
06741/7753, in winter 06741/383, www.st-goar.de . Gaby Loch is the castle manager.
Services: A handy WC is immediately across from the ticket booth (check out the guil-
lotine urinals—stand back when you pull to flush).
Let There Be Light: If planning to explore the castle tunnels, bring a flashlight or buy
one at the ticket office (€3.50). For a real medieval atmosphere, they also sell candles with
matches (€0.50).
Getting to the Castle: A taxi up from town costs €5 (tel. [phone]). Or take the
kitschy “tschu-tschu” tourist train (€2.50 one-way, €3.50 round-trip, 8 minutes to the top,
hoursvarybutgenerally April-Oct daily9:30-17:30,2/hour,complete withlustymusic,mo-
bile 0171-445-1525). The train waits between the train station and the K-D dock. To avoid
feeling silly as you sit on the train waiting for the “conductor” to decide it's time to go,
browse the shopping street and hop on as he goes by (just wave him down, then pay at the
top). The train returns to town from the castle at about the top and bottom of each hour.

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