Sooneck Castle — Attraction in Rhein-Nahe

This was a great experience for us two adults and three kids ages (almost) 6, 4, 2 years. The parking lot is easy to get to, though I think Google Maps did try to bring us a "back way" that we were clearly not allowed to go - we ended up driving past that and following the clearly marked signs on the road. From the lot, the path was clearly marked to the castle and was only slightly uphill, mostly shaded. My older two walked the 5-10 minute trek without complaint or difficulty. Once there, we entered the room with the kasse/reception desk and purchased our tickets, including an adorable little book that led a treasure hunt for my kids, which they were a bit young for but were excited to do it with our help. The castle was GORGEOUS inside and out. There were decorated rooms inside with some signage explaining the history and beautiful terraces and walkways outside, with magnificent views, despite the neighboring quarry. It was truly one of the most beautiful, understated castles we''ve been to (and we've been to many) with almost no crowds on this July weekday afternoon, and a minimally difficult walk from the parking lot. We ended up purchasing ice cream cones and small gifts for the kids (in addition to the badge they got for completing the treasure hunt!) as it was so reasonably priced. We went to Rheinfels castle after this which was nice but less intimate and with less beautiful nuance than this castle had. The flowers throughout the scattere gardens were just gorgeous, though covered in buzzy bees buzzing away, as well as butterflies. This castle was an hour drive for us and well worth the trip. If you bring food, there are multiple beautiful places to picnic. I don't think there was much food selection beyond coffee and ice cream and a few select specials at the kasse otherwise. Bathrooms were a tight squeeze but clean. The walk is stroller accessible but the castle...

The veiw is stunning, the castle layout is fun to walkaround with various levels of gardens terraces, a treasure hunt for families,food and toilets.

The castle is a short, up hill walk from the carpark (5 minutes). You can buy tickets just for this castle or a combo ticket, to visit the close by, Reichenstein Castle. This saves a little bit of money and you dont have to do both visits in one day.

The castle has lots to see and discover with balconies, walls and garden areas to walk around. Inside the keep you will find paintings armour and old furniture with information in German and English throughout. You can walk around the walls and get a really good view of the castle from several points of view.

The treasure hunt looks like great fun for children and we saw several families enjoying this.

Food and drink there are sandwiches and jacket potatoes in the castle shop, you can eat of the castle terrese or ask for food to takeaway, so you can use one of the benches out side the castle or in the carpark.

There is local wine and softdrinks available in the shop and they even cater for dogs as well with dog food available in the shop and water bowels by the entrance.

Toilets are on your left just after you buy your tickets and if you go in and turn right the stairs take you down to one of the nice balconies with a living pagola.

All in all a really nice sunday outing with lots of options to explore and walk around from the carpark to see more of the landscape and viewpoints(you will need good walking shoes or boots if you do this, the...

It is a small castle and not many rooms can be visited but it was great for our son (6 years) who was able to participate in the Rally. This is a kind of treasure hunt where you have to search for 8 treasure boxes to get 8 stamps in your little booklet. In order to open the boxes which are closed with a lock with 4 numbers you have to solve little quizzes and answer questions. Only tricky thing was the map with the places of the treasure boxes which was a bit inaccurate and therefore we spend a lot of time figuring out which places were meant to be the correct ones. So he wouldn't have been able to do the Rally on its own but we saw a group of older kids running around on their own. The questions and quizzes were great and you could learn something about the castle and it's history and the booklet was very nice. But it took us much longer than expected ( around 1.5 hours). As a price, the kids receive a wooden knight/ princess medal which is great quality and made them very proud. Of course we had to buy also a helmet and a shield in the little shop for our son as he had already a wooden sword. He loved the visit so much, that he wanted to return with his sister right away. The restaurant/ cafe was closed but in the shop they were able to make fresh waffles and sandwiches. Parking is very close, around 400meters from the entrance with a great view...