london to germany

The boat schedule allows for only very limited hopping on and off: http://www.k-d.de/uploads/pics/fahrplan-hauptsaison.png Best way is to start your cruise in Bingen - where the scenery starts - and cruise north on ONE boat to Boppard or Braubach or thereabouts. This route covers all the major scenery and takes just under 3 hours. Cruising the same segment north to south requires 5 hours - you're fighting the current - so don't try it. Boppard's a great little town, and pretty Braubach has Marksburg Castle. Then use the train to return south along the left Rhine bank to visit St. Goar, Oberwesel, Bacharach. The trains run every hour so it's easy to hop off for 1, 2, or 3 hours wherever you like. Cologne and Frankfurt are too far from the action. If you overnight first in Bacharach, St. Goar, Oberwesel, or Boppard, it's easy to catch a train to Bingen to start your cruise. You can overnight in Bingen, of course, but I like the other towns better. The closest of Bingen's train stations to the boat docks is the "Bingen (Rhein) Stadt" station, so if you're coming from one of the other villages to start your cruise, don't get off the train at the first station you reach (Bingen Hbf.) A train daypass called the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket is 24 Euros for 2 travelers and covers the area outlined above - and beyond; details and map here: http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and-fares/ticket-offers/rheinland-pfalz-ticket/

I'm posting this under the Eileen Doctrine of 8/5/11 - "this is why I usually chime in, in (dis/)agreement, after someone else has given advice/info about something - so that the OP doesn't wonder if the first poster has a clue". Normally you would get no other response to your posting, not because no one noticed it, but because Russ has covered it so thoroughly. Everything he said is right on. Hop on/off doesn't really work well for more than one stop on the few Rhein boats. They're not like buses that come by every 5 minutes. If you want to do an on/off tour, use the trains. One thing I might add, Braubach (Marksburg) is on the right bank of the Rhein. (The Rhein flow NE into the Netherland, not to the south as everyone assumes.) To get to the left bank, and the trains to St. Goar, Oberwesel, and Bacharach, you need to cross the river. This is best accomplished from Braubach by taking the train or bus across the bridge into Koblenz.

...and I'm invoking the 'DISagreement with a poster' clause that would be in the EILEEN Doctrine ;-). But Lee, you've saved me enough $/€ so I'll overlook it this time. Besides, if I had a dollar for everytime I've been called 'Elaine'... Carol, if you haven't worked out your 'London-to-Germany' itinerary yet, DO go to TheManInSeat61.com and click on 'Germany'. With enough advance notice you can travel to anywhere in Germany for €39 or €49 - I forget which.

Not daring to disagree with the Germany/Rhine experts. Our first Rhine trip was from Wiesbaden to St Goar. Found it interesting all the way. Wiesbaden is a nice town to spend a day and night before the cruise