It was time to head south. We had three or four days to cover the three hundred or so kilometres back to bricks and mortar. We packed up and pointed Tigín towards the Rhine (Rhein) river, along which the first part of our journey would follow. We had picked out a campsite on our trusty park4night app, not too far from Koblenz and we thought we would spend our first night there. 

Camping Loreleyblick is right on the river bank, under the shadow of the famous Loreley (Lorelei) on the opposite bank. It was perfect, so much so that by the end of our first day we had decided to scrap our plans for the week and instead spend the remaining days we had walking, biking and relaxing by the river and in the hills around. 

At this point along the Rhine river turns and narrows, is very fast flowing and notoriously dangerous, many boats have been lost here, which is why the folklore and myth has developed of a water siren (Loreley) murmuring to boat captains and luring them to disaster on the rocks. Poems and songs have been inspired by this place and it was easy to see why, when you wake up to misty sunrises and light like I’ve never seen before.

We explored along the river, crossed over on the ferry at Kaub and back up the other side returning on the ferry to St. Goar. We biked into the hills and took in the breathtaking views along the Rhine from the top of Loreley. We sat in Tigín and watched the enormous barges drift down river or force their way upstream to negotiate the turn in the river. This 65km stretch of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley from Bingen to Koblenz is a UNESCO World Heritage Area, with more castles, historic towns and vineyards than you could shake a stick at and it is stunningly beautiful to boot. Changing our plans was the right choice but we have only scratched the surface and we will be back here again to explore some more.