Just east of Heidelberg in the Odenwald region, the Neckar River Valley winds along the border of the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Hessen.  Of the border towns, Hessen can claim two # Neckarsteinach and Hirschhorn.  In my assessment, on average Hessen got the absolute best of the deal.  Hirschhorn (seen in the Neckar River travelogue) has the most picturesque castle setting around, and Neckarsteinach has not one, not two, but four old castles strung in a row overlooking a very pretty stretch of the Neckar River.  Indeed, the town's calling card is as the Vierbürgenstadt, or the City of Four Castles.  If you are in good physical condition and can walk the hills to the castles, I recommend you go and visit the ones you can # they are very different in their construction and the views they give of the valley.

Of the four castles, there are two that you can access fully (the Hinterburg and Schadeck), and one that you can walk around but not enter (the Mittelburg).  The fourth castle (the Vorderburg) is not accessible to the public.  The Hinterburg and the Schadeck are outside the town limits, while the Mittelburg and Vorderburg are inside.

Getting there is not difficult, but you have to be careful if you are approaching from the west, because the castles will be way above you and you'll miss them.  There's an easy way to know when you are approaching # you'll be on the left bank (on the north) and across the river on a vineyard hill you will see Dilsberg, a walled city at the very top.  When you get close to it, you will come upon a parking lot where you can get out and walk the path up to the castles.

The pathway takes you almost to the base of the Hintenburg, a squarish observation tower overlooking a complex set of ruins, as the second photograph shows.  The Hintenburg was once a noble residence, as indicated by the original (but centuries-worn) coat of arms over the door.  Much of the structure's interior walls are intact, but it wasn't intact enough for me to tell how it was all laid out.  The Hintenburg's tower was quite a climb, and a dark one at that (the interior has, like, no windows) but the view from it was absolutely awesome.  The first photograph, showing one of the Neckar's ferryboats chugging upstream, was taken from the Hintenburg tower.

The Schadeck is downstream from the Hintenburg, and looks almost like a pure watchtower, but it wasn't.  Built in the 13th century, an inner palace was added in the 15th century.  It was difficult to gauge just how much of the castle had been restored, as the round towers up top were rebuilt completely, while the rest was left alone.  Visitors cannot access the top of the round towers, the observation decks are at their base, and are lower than the Hintenburg's.  But, the Schadeck offers the best view of the medieval walled Festung of Dilsberg.

The fourth photograph shows the easily-identifiable tower of the Mittelburg, location over the town.  Currently occupied by (I believe) a private firm, visitors can't enter it, but the walking path goes in a complete circle around it, so the heavily moss-covered towers can be looked at up close.  As I said earlier, the Vorderburg is not at all accessible to the public.  The path is clearly marked "Privat" and fenced off.  However, based on what little of the castle appears above the tree line in the photographs, it's the least distinctive of the four.

The riverfront district of the town pretty much caters to the tourist crowd.  Indeed, several restaurants are strategically positioned near the parking lot, regularly luring in tour buses.  But the rest of the town is as sleepy and normal as they come.  While I was on the Hintenburg, I listened to a youth soccer fest going on below.

Neckarsteinach is just one of many great reasons to visit the Neckar River Valley when you come to Germany # either to take a pleasant Sunday drive or devote a full day to castle hopping.  In this town, you can hit several in one shot!