Best of the Rhine

Matter of taste. Mid Rhine Valley I would explore between Koblenz and Rüdesheim / Bingen. You will see more when sitting on a roofless ship and sliding slowly along the landscape. Also better for photo quality. The driver will not have much fun about the car trip because he / she has to care for the traffic situation. If you have a car you can later explore beautiful Rheingau with some special sights, e.g. Kloster Eberbach which was used for inside scenes by movie "The name of the rose".

If you use the Search box, with the term "Middle Rhine", you will find hosts of posts about your topic. I am one of those who believe that the ship view, from Bingen to Boppard, is (by FAR) the best thing to do. Since a ship ride usually calls for a train trip to get back to the car, and then a car ride, you will have an opportunity to evaluate the quality of our advice! I don't mean this unkindly, but why would your grand-daughters make a view-decision about someplace they have never been, based on being chauffeured around in the back of a giant SUV all their childhood?! (I sound snooty because I'm a city native and neither of my parents ever owed a car. Nothing against the girls.)

Do not make the mistake of thinking there is anything to see on the river between Boppard and Koblenz. This would be a waste of time. The train is many times faster than the boat or the car, so the train ride is the least of your worries. And its cheap and unreserved. And you get a boat discount if you have a train ticket for the day. Your only problem may be need to have smaller bills to buy tickets from machines at unattended stations. Have you downloaded the timetable from KD Line yet? There are not a vast number of boats per day, although reservations are usually unnecessary.

... and you can have a nice meal and glass of wine on the ship while cruising. I think you might not have as good a view from the road as you are too close to see up the hill for some of them.

I would strongly recommend boat -- the absence of a "top" on your mode of transportation is huge for getting a better view of the castles -- and other things like the Niederwalddenkmal, an enormous monument across the river from Bingen that was built in the 1870's/1880's to commemorate the Unification of Germany.

In your other post you question the necessity of seeing the inside of Neuschwanstein Castle. Please do yourself a favour by visiting a real, authentic medieval castle, that hasn’t been destroyed or rebuild in the 19th century. There is only one like that remaining on the Middle Rhine, Marksburg Castle in Braubach.

You will see more from the center of the river than from the riverbanks in a car. Start in Bingen and cruise north for efficiency (with the current is faster!) Train from Bacharach to Bingen + cruise north + return by train to Bacharach is the strategy.

"Do not make the mistake of thinking there is anything to see on the river between Boppard and Koblenz. This would be a waste of time."

This is a tad overstated. This part of the river is less popular, and the cruise boat schedule for it is skimpier. Overall the scenery is less impressive - and if you've cruised the more impressive part (Bingen to St. Goar, or Bingen to Boppard) you don't need to cruise it, really, and it does add to your boat time. And of course, more time on the boat costs more money. But there clearly are a few good sights north of Boppard... like the Bopparder Hamm to Boppard's immediate north, and Marksburg Castle in Braubach - which is impressive both from outside and from within. It's a rare, intact medieval castle with an outstanding tour (in English, at 1 and 4 pm during the summer season.) Don't miss it if you are near Braubach.

So... should you choose to take a cruise (and you should) - and should you take one of the cruise boats north beyond Boppard - then I think a cruise as far as Braubach could make good sense. This adds 30 minutes to a cruise to Boppard. (Note that some boats end in Boppard, and that there is only ONE through-boat per day that gets to Braubach early enough for the tours - the first boat of the day that leaves Bingen at 9:30 and arrives at 12:20.)

Of course you could also drive to Braubach and Marksburg at some point. Another option is to cruise only to St. Goarshausen and take the train from there north to Braubach.

As for cruising all the way to Koblenz - it is possible, but I normally advise against it for a number of reasons.

We loved our visit to the Rhine. We traveled by train and did our sightseeing on foot.

I liked the Rheinfels Castle ruins at St. Goar with beautiful views of the river below. The ruins maybe gave me more of an impression of the how such castles were built. It is also nice to walk along the river at St. Goar with views of two other castles and the famous Lorelei.

We liked the town of Bacharach with its amazing half-timber houses. It is a nice walk up to the youth hostel castle past the ruins of the Gothic Werner Chapel and some former watch towers.

I am not much of a passive tourist and like to go out into the sights. Depends on the ages of disposition of your granddaughters.

Excellent advice! I love this site because People are so kind to give such wonderful advice and added tidbits. I love the idea of me getting to see the sights by riding on a boat instead of watching the road. We will definitely ride a boat. Now I just have to start digesting all of the great advice and decide where to start and end. We will have a car for our entire stay in Germany of 2 weeks. We actually will be staying in Oberheimbach for two nights just for the purpose of this river cruise. The first night we actually will just be relaxing after our long flight from Phoenix. So we have the next day to do the cruise on the river. Taking a train back to the car sounds wonderful. and I am guessing that we could spend the early part of the following day visiting the castle mentioned by driving there. We will then be heading south to spend the next 3 nights in Blaufelden to use it for a base to explore the surrounding area! Thanks again!

"I just have to start digesting all of the great advice and decide where to start and end."

Here's a map of the most scenic part - Bingen to St. Goar (home of Rheinfels Castle.)

The consensus here is to cruise one way from Bingen to St. Goar (1.5 hours) or slightly further north to Boppard (2.3 hours) depending on which town you want to see.

For most people it's simplest to stay either in the cruise start town (Bingen) or the cruise destination town (St. Goar/Boppard.) That way you take just one train to Bingen, either before or after your cruise.

"We actually will be staying in Oberheimbach for two nights just for the purpose of this river cruise."

Oberheimbach is sort of in the middle of the usual cruise route - not the easiest cruise base town. There's no station (or KD boat dock) in Oberheimbach, so... from there this is how you'd do it... Car south to Bingen and find parking (then the cruise to the north) + Train south to Bingen for car + Car back north to Oberheimbach.

Alternatively you could drive into Bacharach and board the train to Bingen there. Then when you return after the cruise to Oberheimbach, you don't have to take the train all the way to Bingen to get your car - just get off in Bacharach and drive the short distance back to Oberheimbach.

June weather isn't very predictable. Sometimes the days are stiflingly hot and humid (happened to us this past June once again.) So if the weather is like this, it might be worth thinking about doing the cruise FIRST on Day 2 (at 9:30) before the heat intensifies. (The cruise boat deck is typically very exposed - and it can get pretty uncomfortable.) You'll reach St. Goar at 10:55. The same cruise boat continues north to Braubach (12:20.) I guess it depends on which castle tour you want to do. Perhaps you might find time for Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar on the afternoon of Day 1 - then Marksburg on Day 2 after your cruise. That way you don't need to choose.

My advice is to listen to Russ! He knows his stuff. We stayed in Bacharach. One day we took train to Bingen, boat ride (such fun, great views) to St Goar, toured Rheinfels (awesome ruins), ferry to St Goarshausen, train to Braubach to tour Marksburg (a real castle!) Train back to Bacharach. A very tiring but fun day. We logged many miles and slept well that night. Have fun!

Thanks! Yes I do so appreciate Russ's advice. It gave me a whole new perspective on this part of our trip. I checked out the Marksburg Castle on the internet and it looks wonderful. Definitely a must see.

This brings up a couple of quick questions. Would we need to have reservations for the boat cruise or can we count on just showing up the day of. Also, say we drive over to Bingen to catch the cruise, is there a parking lot where we can leave the car. And when we get to St Goar, or wherever, can we catch a train nearby, within walking distance, to return to Bingen to retrieve our car, and if so, can we walk from the train station there to retrieve our car? Thanks to all for the wonderful information.

Oh - sweet comments. Gulp.

There are no reservations for the KD boats. Buy tickets at the dock. If you arrive by train in Bingen, use the Bingen Rhein Stadt station if possible (closest to the dock.) Show your train ticket to get a 20% cruise discount. A cruise to St. Goar costs about €16 each this way. Don't buy the online day pass at the "KDRHINE" site (€32 each, still no reservation.) You will get on. For a map with the KD dock location scroll down on the following page and click "+" on "Karte".

https://www.k-d.com/anlegestellen/bingen/

For car parking (fee) click on the map at this page:

https://www.bingen.de/wirtschaft-tagungen/parken-in-bingen

St. Goar map: you can see the parking (P) and that the station (Bahnhof, J7) and docks are in close proximity.

https://www.st-goar.de/media/stadtplan-st-goar-2018.pdf

Train fare for St. Goar to Bingen is €7.20 each from a ticket machine at the station.

If you were to drive only to Bacharach and take the train from Bacharach to Bingen, that fare is €4.60 each (which the KD discount just about covers) and you don't have to pay for parking in Bingen. Are there still 4 of you? After St. Goar, the train trip back to Bacharach costs €4.30 each. I don't know what your parking fees will be but these 2 train trips total €8.90 vs. €7.20 for the one train trip you asked about - and you don't have to backtrack so much or drive so much.

Russ, thank you soooo much! I sincerely appreciate your explanation and the links you provided! You are a scholar and a gentleman!