Germany walking vacation, Rhine River & Castles Walk

Planet

The Rhine Gorge stretches 65km along the river between Bingen and Koblenz in Germany and with its rich history, geological characteristics and unique culture it was understandably listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002. Exploring on foot along the Rhine Trail (Rheinsteig), is an ideal way to visit this picturesque and historic region, all while having minimal impact on your environment.

The slow style of a walking vacation, not only affords you more time to appreciate the natural beauty of the region but, just as importantly, positively contributes to the regions that host you. To help avoid erosion, we recommend you stay on the marked footpaths at all times.

We are aligned with “Leave No Trace”, an international organisation that has set the global standard for outdoor ethics. Through targeted education, research and outreach, its mission is to ensure the long-term health of our natural world while maintaining sustainable recreation in nature.

Our Waste Management Policy encourages our travelers to take their own reusable water bottles, coffee cups and reusable stuff sacks to avoid single-use plastics. We follow this same philosophy in our office as well as on the trail: in our London office we have banned single use coffee cups and water bottles. We use recycled paper in our office and we are working towards reducing the amount of paper we use, as well as recycling all of our paper and plastic waste.

People

Our preferred accommodations we use on this trip are locally owned small hotels and Inns; this way we ensure your tourist spend is staying within the area and benefiting local people. For example, when available, we book the Hotel im Schulhaus, which also sources many of its breakfast products locally including honey from the local beekeeper, sausage from the local butcher and bakery products from the neighbourhood bakery.

The trip has been planned on a bed & breakfast basis only, leaving you free to choose a neighbourhood restaurant for the evening, and to help your tourist spend spread further in the community. During your tour we encourage you to purchase your lunch/snacks from local shops and cafes whenever you get an opportunity. It will give you a chance to meet the local people, and can encourage genuine cultural exchange. For example you might like to stop at Niederwald above Assmannshausen, which services traditional cuisine.

We have also planned wine tasting for you at the Rössler winery, which will give you a chance to try the local wine, meet local people and helps contribute to the local economy.

In 2000 we developed the award winning Responsible Travel Guidebook, which presented our Travel Group’s comprehensive policies on sustainable travel. Over the years our Responsible Travel Guidebook has evolved to meet the ever-changing landscape of sustainable travel. In March 2018 The Thoughtful Traveler booklet was launched, which is an easy-to-read document that empowers travelers with suggestions about how they can be part of the solution and collectively make the world a better place when they travel. Everyone is encouraged to read the Thoughtful Traveler ebook before departure.