The cruise on the Rhine between Bonn and Cologne offered amazing views of ruined castles and mansions once used by diplomats when Bonn was the German capital. One official guest house hosted former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, who was given a \mercedes as a gift and then crashed it while trying to drive it down the hill.
Another important historical site: the ruins of the bridge at Remagen. It was a strategic point in World War II as the last remaining bridge over the Rhine River. A US flag still flies there as a tribute to the Americans who died defending it.
