With the announcement of a Ruthmann distant cousin celebrating a 95th Birthday in Hattingen, Germany, we decided to visit and make a fun trip of it by finding Schlosses and Spas to explore along the way. Luckily, Germany has plenty of both, so after taking the high speed train from Paris to Cologne (Köln), we went out by car to see what we could find along the way.
Our first stop took us to the Grand Hotel Schloss Bensberg which Alex had visited a couple years prior with his father and brother for dinner. As a bonus, this Castle ALSO has a spa with pools, saunas, and steam rooms inside that can be accessed with a day pass or as a hotel guest- so it's a 2 for 1 Castle + Spa spot.
Our first stop took us to the Grand Hotel Schloss Bensberg which Alex had visited a couple years prior with his father and brother for dinner. As a bonus, this Castle ALSO has a spa with pools, saunas, and steam rooms inside that can be accessed with a day pass or as a hotel guest- so it's a 2 for 1 Castle + Spa spot.
Our next stop was Schlosshotel Hugenpoet, which may be one of the first castles I've seen with a full moat! They have a bar and restaurant as well so you can at least get a bite to eat even if you don't plan to stay the night. It's also a two for one castle stop since it's directly across the street from Schloss Landberg which seems to only be accessible to the public as a park, as its privately owned, but still keeps open gates and a parking lot for the public during the day.
On the other side of Cologne is one of the grand palaces of the 16th Century, Augustusburg and Falkenlust in Brühl are on the level of Versailles outside of Paris due to the extensive landscaped gardens and heavy French influence. However, it still holds interesting and unique elements that aren't found many other places, especially considering how much time and handcraft went into making them. If you decide to visit - definitely get the audio guide in your language at both locations- it's free and adds a lot of detail and information to the tour.
Our final night in the Cologne area was spent relaxing at Neptunebad, which was one of the best spa experiences I've had in Germany....
While not technically a castle, we also experienced the Castle-like views from the top of the Hotel in Wasserturm in Cologne.
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