2 Best Sights in Bacharach, The Rhineland

From the southern side of St. Peter's Church, a set of stone steps (signposted) leads to Bacharach's undoubted landmark, the Wernerkapelle. It's a bit of a climb, but well worth for a close-up look at these romantic sandstone ruins, famous for their filigree tracery, as well as for the sweeping views around. The Gothic chapel's roof succumbed to falling rocks in 1689, when the French blew up nearby Burg Stahleck; it's a 10-minute walk from here to the old castle, which lay dormant until 1925 when a youth hostel was built on the foundations.

The massive tower in the center of town belongs to the parish church of St. Peter. It's a prime example of the "Rhenish Transitional Style," a brief 13th-century movement when old Romanesque churches were decorated with elements of the newer French Gothic style, but without undergoing any major structural alterations. The church is most notable for its impressive four-story nave.