Cochem and hike to Eltz castle

Mike, It would be an extremely long hike from Cochem. What most people do is take the short train ride from Cochem to Moselkern and do the hike from there.

cochem is a very nice town to walk around in. It also has a castle, but not as "authentic" as Eltz. (although we enjoyed it just as much).

For a fantastic upscale meal I highly recommend Hotel-Restaurant Lohspeicher for dinner!

Jill,
Should we just take the train straight to moselkern ?

Moselkern station is extremely small and I think unmanned. There is definitely no left luggage:) The train takes 17 minutes from Cocehm to Moselkern and runs once an hour. If you will just have a small overnight backpack then you could probably carry that with you on the hike, but otherwise I would go into Cochem first. Ideally you would spend 2 nights in Cochem, or if the only reason you are going is to go to Burg Eltz, then maybe just do it as a daytrip from Cologne.

"Is Cochem a nice town to walk around in."

The old town center, on the same side of the river as the station, is a delight to wander around, though it does get crowded during business hours.

There is paved access for the short uphill hike to Reichsburg Castle in Cochem. This article by an American professor of German explains the building's history and about the castle dating from 1100 that was sacked by the French in the 17th century. The views alone are worth the walk up.

There's also a nice hike across the river to "Valwiger Berg" which provides nice views of the town.

Eltz: Take the train to Moselkern and walk from there:
http://www.bensbauernhof.com/burgeltzfrommoselkern.html

"Probably get there around 10 am and staying overnight."

My nephew stayed recently at Zum Fröhlichen Weinberg, an inn on the hillside mid-way between Reichsburg Castle and the old town; figure €50-€60/double with breakfast. Rooms page with photos, in German.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g198637-d2626931-Reviews-Zum_Froehlichen_Weinberg-Cochem_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

We only have one day in the Rhine and trying to decide if we should use this day to see burg Eltz or go to St Goar and see the castle there and continue on the Rhine cruise to Mainz.

Mike - if I only had one day for the Rhine / Mosel, I would probably stay on the Rhine see Rheinfells and Marksburg and a short cruise if there is time left over.

Jill,
So take the train from cologne to Braubach to see Marksburg then cruise to St Goar to Rheinfels?
What about Burg Katz at St Goarshausen ? Is that worth seeing ?

We only have one day in the Rhine and trying to decide if we should
use this day to see burg Eltz or go to St Goar and see the castle
there and continue on the Rhine cruise to Mainz.

Katz is in private hands. Mainz is not a good cruise destination.

So your day starts in Cologne and you want to end up in Mainz... and you want to visit castles and do cruises, and you'll do this with your bags...

Eltz and Cochem do not make sense in that case. You should stick to the Rhine.

You need some help to organize this if you want to have a good day. A few more details are needed... Can you leave Cologne early? How early? Are you using a rail pass to do the train trip, or other tickets? Just 2 adults, right? What is the date for the day in question?

Russ,

We plan on leaving cologne around 9am, not using a rail pass.5 adults. Traveling Sept 13. We want to end up in a rhine city where we can spend the night and take the train to Offenburg the next day.

There are some constraints on your day to consider. You need a place to leave your bags (I've picked Koblenz for several reasons.) There will be time for just one castle - IMO that should be Marksburg. English tours are in the afternoon so you can't go there first. You'll need to leave Cologne at 8:32 to fit in the cruise AND Marksburg. Here's a schedule that will work for you. I've used the DB itinerary page to work this out. You can check over the travel times, platform numbers, etc. yourself at the webpage. Check "only local transport" when you do your search to get the right trains.

• Depart Cologne 8:32; arrive Bingen Hbf 10:42 using the RE trains)

(You get off in Koblenz for a 21-minute layover - use it to stow bags in lockers - then board a second train.)

• Walk to KD dock, buy cruise tickets at KD kiosk; catch 11:30 cruise boat to St. Goarshausen.

(This is the best part of the river for a cruise. Arrive 13:05.)

• Walk north to train station; catch 13:32 VIA train to Braubach (arrive 13:53.)

(Visit Braubach's old town, have lunch - https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4143/4751924826_36d7071291_b.jpg )

• Walk (or taxi or shuttle) up to Marksburg Castle for the 4 pm tour (in English!)

(This is the only Rhine Castle that is both tourable and remains intact as it was in medieval times.)

• Train to Koblenz (18:24) on VIA train to fetch bags - you'll have a 28-min. layover there before the RE train to Mainz Hbf at 19:04 (arrive 20:08.)

TICKETS: the RE and VIA trains can be used on the above regional trains with ticketing as follows.

1 VRS single ticket for 1 adult (Einzelticket) + 1 "4er Ticket" (ticket for 4 adults) from Cologne to Bad Godesberg: €38 total

1 Rheinland-Pfalz ticket day pass for 5 adults (€44 total) for travel after 9 am from Bad Godesberg onward.
(You do NOT get off the train in Bad Godesberg - it's just that you have one ticket that gets you that far and a second ticket, the R-P ticket day pass, that covers the rest of your trips.)

You can buy ALL these tickets from ticket machines at the station in Cologne. Allow adequate time for the purchase process. (You can buy the R-P ticket the night before if you wish - not sure that is so with the VRS ticket.)

Be sure to show your R-P ticket at the KD counter in Bingen for a 20% cruise discount (you'll save €4 each.)

(Note that I provided a final stop of Mainz Hbf (Hbf = main station.) If you want to stay at the other station I mentioned, you'll have an additional train to catch.)

I've put you on a northbound cruise in the interests of saving time - you could cruise St. Goar to Bingen instead but that would take about 3 hours because the boats are so slow in that direction (strong current.)

I believe this is your best shot at doing what you have in mind. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks Russ - this sounds like a good plan ! We will now try and buy advance tickets for the 4pm English tour of the castle