What could be a best place to enjoy a weekend before Christmas??
The Drachenburg Castle is located in the NRW State of Germany in town called Königswinter near Bonn (Old capital of West Germany).
How to Reach Drachenburg Castle:
The Castle is highly accessible with public transport and it's a must visit place during your trip to Germany. As we were traveling from Dortmund, we bought a NRW day ticket for € 30.50 and traveled unlimited on Regional Express (R.E), Buses and trams in NRW state for a day from 6:00 AM to 3:00 AM on weekends and 9:00 AM to 3:00 AM on weekdays.
From Dortmund to Bonn, we took the regional train with one transfer in Cologne and it was around 2:00-2:30 hour’s journey depending on train connections. From Bonn Bahnhof Tief, the direct Tram No. 66 in direction of Bad Honnef Stadtbahn goes directly to the station of Königswinter Fähre (25 minutes Journey).
It's a station on the bank of Rhine river and also a stop of the ferries and Cruise trips from Dusseldorf and Cologne. Visiting Drachenburg Castle in Bonn, Germany must be included in your "Things to do in Germany" list.
Drachenburg Castle:
From the Königswinter Fähre station, we walked for 5 minutes and reached to the ticket point for the Winter Bahn that takes up to the Drachenfels hills. The ticket is for € 12 including the ticket to Winter Bahn and Castle. Another option is to go on foot to castle and it is around 20 minutes walk on a sloppy hill.
The ticket point was not that crowded but there was a very very long queue for the winter bahn. The queue was moving very slowly and after a wait of 40 minutes. Finally we reached to a point, from where we had to take a bahn.
Luckily, we were standing on the front and got a seat in Bahn. The Bahn was fully packed with tourists and still lots of the people standing in the long queues. It was a short journey around 5 minutes and took us up to the hill where castle is located.
OMG - what took us so long to visit this fairytale castle? You have to add this in your list of things to do it Germany.
The Drachenburg Castle was standing magnificently on the hill. It was constructed only in 2 years from 1882 to 1884 as a residence for Stephen von Sarter (Finance Expert) who never lived in the castle. Later on, it was renovated and restored from 1995 to 2010.
The Christmas festivity was at the peak in the Castle. On the main entrance, there was another ticket office for the tourists who are not coming on the Bahn and also a ticket checking point.
The walk way to the castle was full decorated with small Christmas shops. We decided to visit the castle first and walked towards it.
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It was lightened with multi color lights which make it as a marvelous Christmas wonderland. Actually, we wanted to cover the castle in the evening to have an ultimate experience of the view of the castle with wonderful lightings.
We stepped inside the Castle and it led us to the main corridor where they had Christmas stalls and selling Christmas souvenirs.
The band was performing the Christmas songs near to the Christmas tree and Santa. On the other side of the corridor, it was a library with antique writing table and books.
On the left side of the main corridor, there's a dinning room with an amazing art work depicting on the walls. There's a wooden stairs taking to the first floor of the castle.
The stairs also has a wonderful painting on the walls. There are three carpeted bedrooms on the 1st floor.
Two of them are the double bedroom with antiques style furniture and the most fascinating thing for me- the real animal skin mats. The rooms also have a small sofa set and walls covered with wall paper.
All the bedrooms has a different theme of furniture from typical brown wooden to white furniture. It also has a small council room for the meetings.
The second floor of the castle was not opened for the tourists. We went directly to the museum in the basement. It has a small museum where you can learn about the history of castle but unfortunately it was in German so we did not understand it much.
The museum also has a miniature of the castle and other arts pieces. The restaurant is also located there. You can order nice coffee with some snacks and relax a bit in the restaurant.
After enjoying the Christmas evening inside the castle, we went outside to have a look on the Architecture of the castle.
The glorifying Drachenburg Castle on one side and breathe taken view of the Rhine river on the other side is just beyond the words to explain. The castle has a best backyard to enjoy the river and the hills.
Christmas Market Drachenburg, Castle:
Time to explore the Christmas market in the lawn of the Castle - the castle has one of the cutest Christmas market with a background of beautiful Drachenburg castle which increases the beauty of the market. The floor of the market is covered with hay to give it a traditional look of medieval markets.
The small stalls has lots to offer for the tourists from the traditional wooden toys for the kids to the warm scarfs for the women, from the Christmas decoration lights to beautiful candles and also German traditional food like Curry wurst, Pommes, crepes, potatoes with different sauces.
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It also has small rides as entertainment for the kids. It offers lots of stuff to every age group. The musical bands were also performing and everybody was enjoying the music with their friends and family.
The hall is also located in front of the castle and it is also decorated for the Christmas. It was fully crowded with people and has small stalls selling Christmas toys. That is also another entry and exit point for the tourists.
Ending Note:
After exploring the castle and it’s Christmas market, I took the Winter Bahn back to Konigswinter town. Because of the Christmas festivity, the Drachenburg Castle and Christmas market was opened until 9:00 PM on Saturday. Don’t forget to check the timings before planning to the castle.
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