The Pfalz and Rhine Terrace: Places to Explore

The landmark of this little spa town is the baroque Schloss (palace) of the dukes of Zweibrücken. The Gasthaus Zum Engel (Königstr. 45) is an impressive Renaissance house with elaborate scrolled... Read more

This pretty spa-town is nestled into the hills at the edge of the Palatinate Forest and ringed by vineyards. The saline springs discovered here in 1338 are the source of today's drinking and bathing cures... Read more

Deidesheim is the first of a trio of villages on the Wine Road renowned for their vineyards and the wine estates known as the Three Bs of the Pfalz—Bassermann, Buhl, and Bürklin.... The half-timber... Read more

Gleiszellen's Winzergasse (Vintners' Lane) is a little vine-canopied street lined with a beautiful ensemble of half-timber houses. Try a glass of the town's specialty: spicy, aromatic Muskateller wine... Read more

Mainz is the capital of the state of Rheinland-Pfalz. Today's city was built on the site of a Roman citadel dating to 38 BC. Given its central location at the confluence of the Main and Rhine rivers, it's... Read more

This wine village is the birthplace of the writer Carl Zuckmayer (1896-1977) who immortalized the town in his farce Der fröhliche Weinberg (The Merry Vineyard) in 1925. He described Rheinhessen wine... Read more

Neustadt and its nine wine suburbs are at the midpoint of the Wine Road and the edge of the district known as Deutsche Weinstrasse-Mittelhaardt. With around 5,000 acres of vines, they jointly make up Germany's... Read more

Surrounded by 2,700 acres of vines, Nierstein is the largest wine-growing community on the Rhine and boasts Germany's oldest documented vineyard (AD 742), Glöck, surrounding St. Kilian's Church.... Read more

Oppenheim is slightly off the beaten path, making it an ideal destination if you're looking to avoid the hordes of tourists that often descend on the Wine Road in mid-summer.... The Katharinenkirche is the... Read more

The southernmost wine village of the Pfalz lies on the French border. During the economically depressed 1930s, local vintners established a route through the vineyards to promote tourism. The German Wine... Read more

Speyer was one of the great cities of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in pre-Celtic times, taken over by the Romans, and expanded in the 11th century by the Salian emperors. Between 1294, when it was declared... Read more

This is one of the most charming wine villages of the Pfalz. The entire Altstadt (Old Town) is under historical preservation protection. For 350 years the Knights of Dalberg lived in the castle Kropsburg,... Read more

Although devastated in World War II, Worms (pronounced vawrms) is among the most ancient cities of Germany, with a history going back some 6,000 years. Once settled by the Romans, Worms later became one... Read more