Remagen Things to Do Tips by RhineRoll

The Arp Museum

The 2006-opened Arp museum is Remagen's only tourist attraction that can be rated first-class, that is to say, it is definitely worth coming for. The Arp is actually a very interesting building complex consisting of the lower building which is the former Rolandseck railway station and a newly built upper building designed by the famous architect Richard Meyer. As in Meyer's Getty Museum in Los Angeles, he has done an extremely good job in enhancing through his architecture an already spectacular location inbetween lush trees high above the Rhine valley. Hans Arp was a Dadaist painter, poet and sculptor. The upper complex permanently houses some of his works and hosts a number of other exhibitions of modern artists each year. The lower railway station building currently hosts the splendid Rau collection and contains the upscale Bistro Nr. 253, where you can have an artsy cup of coffee.

Although there are some absolute masterpieces in the Rau collection, in my opinion the best thing actually is the building complex itself. The combination between landscape and architecture is hard to beat -- a Neuenschwanstein palace for art lovers!

The entire complex is completely wheelchair-acessible. Good job!

Address: Remagen-Rolandseck

Website: http://www.arpmuseum.org/

Oberwinter

Oberwinter is arguably the most beautiful village that is incorporated into the city of Remagen. About 5 km downstream from Remagen proper, Oberwinter enjoys an even more spectacular setting as from this bend in the Rhine valley there are wonderful views towards the Seven Hills range (Siebengebirge) just south of Bonn. Aside from one of the largest privately owned marinas, Oberwinter features a small pretty main street with a couple of good cafes and restaurants. The valley slope is less interesting to the tourist as it is dotted with affluent private properties.

Website: http://www.oberwinter.de/

The Rhine Promenade

Remagen has a long stretch of river promenade. As a matter of fact, the paved riverside walk- and bike path continues endlessly both north towards Bonn and south towards Koblenz. In downtown Remagen, the promenade offers one or two restaurants with outside seating and a great view across the river towards the town of Erpel and the cliff "Erpeler Ley". A passenger ferry allows people to explore both banks of the Rhine. In Remagen, the downtown promenade stretch looks a bit deserted -- this is the result of two disastrous floodings in 1993 and 1995. A lot of businesses had to close down after the second inundation and the promenade is still far from full recovery, although house after house is being renovated now. You can still see the water marks on some house facades. Scary.

The tourist boats call at Remagen, this is especially useful for those to use Remagen in order to take the train into the Ahr valley. In doing so, it is possible to do combined Rhine and Ahr valley tours -- both valleys have great hiking and biking paths.

The river valley becomes quite nice north of Remagen with lovely views of the town of Unkel and the distant Drachenfels near Bonn. Following the Rhine path into this river bend is highly recommended!

Website: http://www.remagen.de

Erpeler Ley -- Great Vistas of the "Golden Mile"

The broadened valley section around the river Ahr with the towns of Remagen and Sinzig is called "the golden mile", probably pertaining to its fertile soil. Geologically, it is actually a small tectonic depression, just like the much bigger valley section around Koblenz. The best view over the Golden Mile and across the river towards the hills of the Hohe Eifel can be enjoyed from the Erpeler Ley, the eye-catching crag behind the WWII-bridge pylons. The top of the Erpeler Ley is nearly flat, and you can drive up to it with your car -- the signposted access route leaves the B 42 in Erpel near the bridge pylons. There are also a couple of nice signposted hiking trails. A restaurant and beer garden caters for the hungry and thirsty sightseer. Thanks to its flatness, the Erpeler Ley is quite accessible for wheelchair users, it doesn't really look like it when you look at it from the valley!

Directions: B 42 (right bank) from Linz or Unkel -- drive towards Erpel and turn into the signposted access road near the black pylons of the WWII-bridge.