After a night of exploring Munich, we packed up our suitcases and headed onto the coach so we could visit our next stop; Rhine Valley.

Famous for its beautiful landscapes and ‘romantic setting’, Germany’s Rhine Valley region was a quaint and picturesque place. We had the option of taking a cruise along the Rhine, where we all got a free drink (I tried the Riesling, naturally), and despite the overcast weather we still had majestic views!

After the cruise, we headed into town and stopped off at a cuckoo clock shop to hear how they were made and to have a look around. As touristy as it was, it was so cool to see so many cuckoo clocks in once place! They also had plenty of other souvenirs – I got some Schnapps for Ali and an authentic Stieff bear for his nan. We then walked across to the stein shop for a stein demonstration – Topdeck even have their own stein for people to buy there!
After exploring the Rhine, we were all pretty tired and wanted to head to the hostel – but this wasn’t just any old hostel we would be staying in tonight – nope, it was a 12th century castle! It looked like it was just taken out of a fairytale! As nice as the castle was, it was in a very remote place so there was nothing really to do but play drinking games in the boys room to pass the time. Also the shower cubicles were see-through. (Luckily we had all gotten to know each other pretty well up until this point, so it was a case of having a buddy to hold a towel over the door to keep your modesty in tact!) Despite the shower situation, our stay in the Rhine was an amazing experience, and something to tick off the ol’ bucket list!

After a great couple of days in Germany, it was time for the place everyone had been looking forward to going this whole trip – Amsterdam!

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