Mike's Reviews

The legendary beer hall... nice garden seating available, and reasonably priced food (including a variety of yummy sausages)... oh, and beer. Plenty of beer.

After Central Park, this might be the nicest urban park I have seen (shout out to Stanley Park in Vancouver, though, which is also great, but quite different...).  The park is quite large, with paths winding here and there, a river of sorts running through it, various scattered lakes and plenty of meadows for sunbathers, football games, frisbee, and (believe it or not) BASEBALL! Warms this poor expatriot American boy's heart. And bring your surf board, because they actually managed to sort out a little surfing wave in the river! Jugglers and tight rope walking practice, and even some musicians... Basically, there is a lot going on, and yet plenty of space to find a little niche and get away from the rest of the people. If you get hungry, you can stop by the Chinese Tower for lunch!

This castle is the more developed for tourists. There is a big parking lot for busses, a gift shop, an entrance fee, and so forth. Also, there are little displays set up inside that tell a bit about the history of the castle and show the clothing that was worn by people in the middle ages, and so forth. There is also some spooky music piped in and some kind of little adventure story (with signs and recording) for the kids... kind of like a little guided adventure tour through the castle. All of this took a bit of the romance out of it for this childless traveler (can't really compare to scampering around in some castle in the middle of the woods), but it was still worth checking out. And if you have kids, they will probably love it.

There are actually two castles here, directly adjacent to each other - Grand  (large) and Petit (small) Wasigensteins.  The forest grows all around them and even one them, as you see in the photos. You can climb up to the top of both castles for great views of the surrounding woods. Its somewhat remote location makes this castle relatively tourist-free. Also, the short hike through the woods to get there is quite pleasant. in fact, the castle is connected to other castles and towns in the area by a pretty extensive series of well-marked trails. Maps are available in the Lembach tourist office (when it is open!).

This was the first castle ruins we went to in the area. Not much left of the castles, but we still got to scramble around in the ruins for a while and try to imagine what it might have been like back then.

Since we stayed at the hotel, we paid a little extra to have dinner and breakfast included, and it was well worth it. The dinner was quite tasty, and the buffet breakfast was generous. And the views from the dining room are terrific.

This church/cloister/religious museum/pilgrimage destination is definitely worth a visit. The grounds are beautiful, and the views are very nice. And you can see the tomb of a famous religious saint who performed many miracles in her lifetime. You can also do some hiking in the surrounding woods. We didn't have much time for that, although we did get suckered into going down many steps to visit Saint Odilia's Spring, which was a small pipe of water coming out of a rock. One of those great tourist moments when you just have to laugh at yourself and the whole tourist business, and then climb all the way back up the hill.

The people were super friendly, the rooms were clean and neat, the shower was nice and hot, and the view was lovely. OK, the decor was a bit 70s, but we're not too concerned with that kind of thing. It was nice to stay in a place with some history!

A pleasant walk (about 1.5 hours roundtrip) uphill through the woods outside of Scherwiller. .  There is not much left of Ramstein, but Ortenbourg is a nice ruin that you can get inside and climb around a little bit.

OK. This is the big daddy of Alsace Castles, and not to be missed. Fully restored at the beginning of the 20th Century, this is really like stepping back into time. The rooms are packed with furniture and fixtures that give you an idea of what life was really like back then. There is an entrance fee, but it includes a pretty extensive and informative guided tour (you can also get one of those audio headsets and do your own tour). The only drawback to this castle is that this is a major tourist attraction. The busses roll up regularly and disgourge massive groups of tourists. Go really early if you want to avoid the crowds. Don't miss the display near the end of the tour that shows the restoration process. Very interesting to see the before and after pictures!