Königswinter

While I was researching castles along the Rhine, I stumbled upon Schloss Drachenburg. Along with normal castle tours, they also put on a yearly light show during early spring called "Schlossleuchten". I love castles, so I decided to go with a friend to Königswinter, where Schloss Drachenburg is. We met up in the Cologne train station and then rode an hour long train there. Right when we got off of the train, we could already see the castle all lit up above us. Like most castles, Schloss Drachenburg is on top of a hill. We had two options: either walk the hill for free or pay €5 extra to take the Drachenfels Bahn, a trolley that takes you up in less than five minutes. The €5 ticket was definitely worth it. 

The view was stunning, especially when it got darker. 

Schloss Drachenburg was finished in 1884, over 100 years ago, but we could definitely tell that the castle had been modernized. There were these cool light up spheres and an elevator inside.  

 Many of the rooms inside were recreations of what the castle was first like when it was built, with furniture to match. Like lots of other European castles, there were also murals on the walls. 

Every castle has a tower, and Schloss Drachenburg was no exception. We clambered up the narrow spiral staircase along with many others, only to reach a platform so packed full that we couldn't even move around to take pictures of the view. The picture below is the only one I managed to snap before we went back down a minute later. Luckily, the weather was nice and there weren't any clouds, so what little I did see was very beautiful. 

Along with the inner castle tour, the castle grounds were also lit up. 

While Will and I were trying to take a decent picture in front of the castle together, three women who we later found out were all studying in Cologne, offered to take one for us. They all spoke perfect English even though they were from Romania, Russia, and Mexico. It was a reminder for me that there are always people from all over the world around me but I don't even realize it. 

With a few last pictures, we waited for the trolley and then headed back to the station to wait on our train back to Cologne. All in all, this experience was great. And I got to check another castle off of my bucket list!