Sleeping like Royalty: One Night in a Castle

A couple of weekends ago my family and I spent the night in a castle. Quite an experience if you ask me and I realize YOU didn’t ask but something led you here so let me tell you about it! 

I saw a post on my local travel advice page on Facebook about sleeping in a castle, and it immediately intrigued me. Our time overseas will eventually come to an end, so I’m trying to stock up on experiences while we can and how cool did that sound?!

It is only an hour from the Kaiserslautern area, so it would be an easy weekend trip. Booked it!

We got to the Bensheim area and decided to explore the downtown area a bit before retreating to our royal chambers. It’s a very small pedestrian downtown with mostly boutiques and a few common stores. 

We stumbled upon a fun little playground and had some laughs and burned some energy before continuing on to do some shopping. 

After shopping we decided to stop for ice cream and check out the city park. It was a little hidden and tucked away but very easy to find. It first seemed really small, but once you walk on the path it seems to just go on, and it was beautiful! Large open grass area, a few things for kids to play on, and a gorgeous background view of never-ending vineyards. A few gazebos surrounded by flowers and benches, there was plenty of open and plenty of secluded areas.

Then it was time to drive the winding road up to Schloss Auerbach, and we easily found our way to the Air BnB, but first, we took our time exploring the castle gardens! 

It was mostly ruins which made sense since the castle was built in the 13th century. It was a pretty impressive castle for its time and was built for protection. Today, it is listed as a cultural monument. In 1674, a devastating fire burned most of it to the ground, which was then abandoned. A few restorations and constructions later, the leftover ruins are what we can explore today! 

It’s a popular location to experience medieval dining and entertainment. 

There was a lot to explore, so we took our time walking around. We had some fun taking photos with the Pillory, a dragon statue, and enjoying the scenery in all the little nooks and crannies of the ruins. 

One of the really neat things to see was the 300-year-old and 7 meters high tree that grew on one of the castle walls. It has exposed roots, quite beautiful if you ask me. I imagine they’ve grown flat over the years from so many people walking around and over it.

I did some research and even found a legend that goes with the tree: 

“The Treasure in Auerbach Castle “

We explored one of the towers and walked the steep steps to the top. They weren’t too steep, our three-year-old managed them fine but if you’re familiar at all with European castle structures, the towers are always somewhat challenging to venture up and down. 

The view from the top, however, was amazing! On one side we could see beautifully forested hills and on the other was an almost eagle eyes view of the castle grounds with a far view of modern-day Germany.

Here are some more photos of the castle grounds and artifacts before moving on to the room:

After exploring the grounds, we finally opened the door to our chambers, aka the Air BnB. 

Inside was a winding stairwell, not nearly as steep or narrow as the tower but still enough to tire out your legs, and we were staying at the very top in the room named Zwergenreich.

A cute and quaint little upstairs apartment with cozy features, beautiful views, and, of course, sleeping in a castle wouldn’t be fully equipped without squeaking wood floors. That’s not a complaint… it actually enhanced the experience with some laughs and thankfully wasn’t disturbing my toddlers’ sleep that night. 

Before we decided to call it a day we had to get some dinner. The restaurant that was built on the castle grounds was closed for a private event, so we ventured down into the small village of Auerbach and ate at the Alte Dorfmühle Auerbach (Old Village Mill Auerbach). 

It was definitely a unique place with lots of character and good food. From there, we walked towards an ice cream shop for a treat before heading back to the castle. 

Often times I try to remind myself to look up when I’m in new areas and it has allowed me to find some interesting characteristics of new places but this time I’m glad I was also looking down. 

Not only was nearly our entire walk from the restaurant to the ice parlor lined with a creek adorned with flower boxes and bridges to cross into the street I happened to see some bronze plates in place of the otherwise cobblestoned sidewalk. 

I took a photograph to research later, and while enjoying our ice cream, I looked up what they were. 

If you’re into history, you will like this. Those bronze plates, called Stolpersteine, are actually part of the largest decentralized memorial in the world. They can be found all over Germany and in 30 other countries laid in the ground in front of the last freely chosen home of Nazi victims. 

If you’re intrigued, I highly suggest reading more about them!

After our dessert, we walked back to the car and drove back to the Air BnB. It was quick to bed for our little man! 

My husband and I watched a movie on Netflix and then joined our son in bed.

I can’t exactly say we slept like royalty because if you have ever slept with a toddler in your bed it doesn’t matter where you are, it won’t be the best night of slumber. 

The next morning, we woke up and went back into Auerbach to have some breakfast at a bakery before heading out on our drive for the day! 

Honestly, for booking a night at a castle, it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but nonetheless, it was a fun day and experience for our family that we all enjoyed! 

I’ve got plenty more adventures to talk about! Some that we’ve already been on and some that we’re looking forward to!

See you next post!