Stately overnight stayA guest of the nobility

Hertefeld Castle has been in the hands of the Eulenburg and Hertefeld family for 23 generations. Count and Countess zu Eulenburg run the family hotel in Weeze, which not only has differently themed rooms and suites spread across various buildings and in the castle park, but also a free Zoo in the immediate neighbourhood.

If you want to get more exercise, you can go canoeing on the Niers, which flows behind the castles. Other water sports options in Xanten include water skiing, stand-up paddling and windsurfing. For even more action and adrenalin, visit Kernie's family park in Kalkar and Irrland in Kevelaer.

The nearest stately hostel is only around three kilometres away. At Schloss Wissen, the ancestral seat of the von Loe family for around 550 years, the rooms are spread across very different areas of the castle. Some buildings in the estate belonging to the castle complex have been transformed into guest houses with individually designed rooms and flats, such as the carpenter's house, coach house and miller's house. Other areas also attract guests: Regular festivals and concerts take place in the castle courtyard, the historic halls and the spacious park.

Not only for a cultural trip, but also for an active holiday: the Grenzland-Draisine offers cycling fun on rails between Kleve and Kranenburg. On a tour with the GeccoMobil, up to seven people can take a trip sitting in a circle. Everyone has to pedal in order to move forward.

Emperor Wilhelm, Napoleon Bonaparte and Tsar Alexander II have all visited here. Today, however, the doors and gates are no longer only open to the high nobility: Auel Castle, which was first mentioned in documents in the 14th century, is now home to a boutique hotel. Since 1818, it has been owned by the La Valette family, which descends from the French aristocracy and included the Grand Master of the Order of St John and later the Order of Malta, Jean de la Valette, after whom Malta's capital, Valetta, is named.

The family of La Valette-St. George still lives at the castle today and offers guests a boutique hotel as well as a golf course and spa. Visitors can enjoy the tranquillity of the Bergisches Land region around Lohmar or take a detour to Cologne or Bonn to explore the city's art and culture.

Although the name might suggest otherwise, this is actually a castle. The Salm-Salm princely family still lives in one part of the castle, while another part houses a hotel. The main castle with the princely art collections is also a museum, with works and showpieces from the 17th and 18th centuries on display in the marble room and various halls.

The surrounding countryside here on the border between Münsterland, the Lower Rhine and the neighbouring Dutch regions is also worth seeing: lynx, wolves, bison and around 50 other animal species live nearby in the Anholter Schweiz biotope wildlife park. A little further afield in Xanten on the Lower Rhine, the LVR Roman Museum brings the region's Roman past back to life. And if you would like to visit other stately destinations, you can visit the Museum Schloss Moyland or Raesfeld Castle, for example.

Boetzelaer Castle in Kalkar is one of the oldest castles in the Lower Rhine region. Built over 770 years ago, the current owner family, Maximilian Freiherr von Wendt-Papenhausen, took over the ruins at the end of the 1970s and completely renovated them. Today, seven hotel rooms and three suites, including a Rapunzel maisonette suite, await guests in the main castle and outer bailey. Breakfast is served in the historic knight's vault, in winter by a crackling open fire.

Well-fuelled after breakfast, you can explore the Lower Rhine, preferably by bike. In one direction, the Museum Kurhaus Kleve and the Museum Schloss Moyland are great places to visit, while in the other direction, the LVR Roman Museum in Xanten and the Bislicher Insel nature reserve make for great excursions.

Satzvey Castle has been in the family for over 300 years. The current owner is Franz Josef Count Beissel von Gymnich Junior, who has made the ancestral seat famous beyond the borders of the Eifel with knights' festivals and other events. Suites and double rooms in the castle itself and in the castle's manor are also an authentic experience for anyone who likes medieval flair, regardless of Evens.

If you would like to immerse yourself in other history(ies), you can visit the LWL open-air museum in Kommern and travel back in time through the rural Rhineland between the 15th and 20th centuries. Or follow the Roman Canal Hiking Trail, which follows the traces of Roman engineering from Nettersheim in the Eifel to Cologne over a distance of around 116 kilometres - and also passes Satzvey Castle along the way.