Walk in the footsteps of the Rhine Romantics

Gothic castles, rugged cliffs, woodland tumbling down to the water’s edge, a paddle steamer plying the river – this could describe the Rhine gorge of today or 200 years ago. Hikers on our two walking holidays in the Rhine valley follow in the footsteps of the poets, painters and musicians who put the area on the map and gave birth to Rhine Romanticism.

“To me, the only beautiful land scape is one that is normally called rough and wild” – so wrote Friedrich Schlegel in 1802, describing a new landscape aesthetic that rejected the formality of the Baroque and Classical years. It’s easy to see why the narrow, rocky valley, with its abundant nature and soaring medieval ruins, appealed to romantic sensitivities. You can even hear the water irresistibly flowing through the gorge in the second movement of Robert Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony.

The poets Achim von Arnim and Clemens von Brentano wrote of their walk from Bingen to Koblenz, initiating a whole new genre of literature. The growing popularity of walking for pleasure in the early 19th century happily coincided with the inclusion of Germany on the “Grand Tour” itineraries of the young and wealthy. And so it was that Lord Byron passed this way, with his epic poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, a thinly veiled account of his travels through Europe, appearing soon after.

Artists couldn’t resist the charms of the Rhine either – the great English painter William Turner visited in 1817, and was one of the earliest to capture the dramatic aspect of the landscape. Walking in the opposite direction to our On Foot route, he filled notebooks with dozens of sketches that were developed into many watercolours over the coming years. A particular favourite scene was Ehrenbreitstein Fortress at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine.

Inspired by the 200th anniversary of Turner’s walk in 2017, the William Turner Route project has identified 26 locations where Turner must have stood to make his sketches. The project is creating plaques to set into the ground at these places, accompanied by an excellent website where you can see the paintings and lots more. The first group of plaques has been installed around St Goar and St Goarshausen – watch out for them on your walk!

Read more about Beethoven’s journey along the Rhine here.

Our self-guided walking holidays pass through truly rural country, and local food and wine are, of course, high on the agenda for our walkers. Here, wines are produced largely for the local market, so have an individuality missing from the grandes marques.

The land, the vine and the vintner

On Foot Holidays’ founder, Simon takes a particular interest in how the wines of a region reflect its landscape and personality: “As a walker you are part of the landscape, just as the vine is. What is more, the very vines through which you have been walking may well be the same that have produced the wine you are drinking. Most European wine grown in small family vineyards stays in the region – even in the village; that puts the walker in direct touch with the soil.

“It is not wine country generally that appeals to the walker, but a particular scale of operation and depth of history and tradition, that the old European wine areas have managed to sustain in such abundance.

“Likewise the wine is an integral part of the culture of the region, and the true, thinking walker is in touch with the soul of the locale – it is a function of this pace of travel; slow and considered, as the old-fashioned vintner is in the vineyard, cutting and pruning with deft care, weighing up each bunch of grapes to decide whether it is suitable for the style of the wine that he or she has in mind before snipping it off, carefully, so as not to damage the grapes. The vintner has a son, a daughter, maybe a grandchild, learning through watching, and if the spurious glamour of modern life does not waylay the child, he or she will be there to carry on the tradition as “fils” or “hija”, proudly waiting to welcome that next set of walkers from all over the world, and to explain the way that wine is produced in the family vineyard.”

For the connoisseur looking for some interesting wines to relax with after a day’s walking that will pair especially well with local dishes, we’d like to recommend a few routes.

Germany

Little-known dry Rieslings from both banks of the Rhine Gorge go particularly well with food. Our friend Werner at Rhens recommends a red wine – ‘Dornfelder’ from Weingut Kronen-Hof – to drink with ‘Wildgerichte’ (game dishes), particularly venison and wild boar, though a richer Riesling will also work well.

Spain

Our walk in the El Priorat region of Catalonia begins in Conca de Barbera wine country, and ends in the Priorat region. This is the place that scored American wine guru Robert Parker’s first 100% rating for a wine. At Falset you can taste Priorat wines from various winemakers, based on the Garnacha (Grenache) grape.

Galicia is a seafood lover’s paradise and the range available on our Lighthouse Way route is extraordinary. We liked ‘navajas’ – razor clams, often in a garlic or white wine sauce. ‘Percebes’, the oddly-shaped goose barnacles, are harvested from the cliffs at great risk to life and limb, and are the iconic delicacy of the region. For wine lovers, Albariño is the best to have with seafood, and there is an interesting red too (Mencia).

Still in Galicia, the Ribeira Sacra holiday will take you through the deep valleys and vineyards of an area whose traditional wine growing has been experiencing a revival, now starting to get the recognition it deserves.  The grape varieties are principally Godello (white) and Mencia (red), mainly drunk quite young, though some vineyards are starting to produce wines that age well, and other grape varieties such as Tempranillo are creeping in.

Italy

And so to Italy. The Oltrepo Pavese on the southern edge of the Po valley on our Ligurian Hills route is a delightful area of rolling vineyards producing little-known but immensely palatable reds and whites. The most quaffable is ‘Bonarda’ – a slightly fizzy refreshing gulper for a hot summer’s day, but there are many more serious wines too.

In Southern Tuscany you’ll find not one but two great wines – Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano – the acme of Sangiovese viticulture which will excite taste buds and can drain wallets.

Slovenia

Classic Slovenia was one of our first routes, and is still one of our favourites. It has a variety of drinkable whites from the Malvasia grape, and an unfathomable red – Teran (Terano in Italian), which requires a second bottle to get to proper grips with its charms. It’s worth trying Teran with homemade prsut (prosciutto) and some local cheeses.

France

Finally, we can’t ignore France, of course. Our Northern Provence walk is centred around the Côtes du Rhone, linking the major wine areas of Vacqueyras, Beaumes de Venise and Gigondas, a stone’s throw from Chateauneuf du Pape. There are plenty of great wines to be sampled with your dinner at the end of a walking day.

Simon, Director of On Foot Holidays, has valiantly sampled the wines on our routes, and will happily talk to you about them, so do give us a call if you would like more insights into what’s worth trying. Cheers!