Comparing Mainz, Mosel Valley and Nuremberg areas

I would definitely spend at least one night in Mainz. If this night is taken from Boppard I think you will experience a net gain. Of all of the sites on your itinerary Boppard is, to me, the most skip-able. I cannot imagine spending three nights of very scarce vacation time there when there are so many other wonderful cities within a one or two hour train ride.

I'd be happy to respond but I do not understand some of your comments...

"We are flying into Frankfurt, arriving in the evening, and originally had two nights in Mainz to overcome jetlag... However, because of train frequency to Boppard, we are currently leaning towards one night in Mainz and shifting our itinerary all up by one day."

What are you saying about the train frequency to Boppard?

Why do you feel Mainz is a special place for overcoming jetlag?

"If we decide to move a night to another place, is visiting these two sights in Mainz in the morning after we arrive before we head to Boppard doable with jetlag (I've never experienced it before)?"

What time/date do you expect to land at FRA? I don't see a problem with visiting 2 Mainz churches if you have the time, either on the day you arrive in Mainz, or the next morning. You may be tired and groggy but it doesn't seem overwhelming. I've never traveled with a toddler however.

"I cannot imagine spending three nights of very scarce vacation time there (Boppard) when there are so many other wonderful cities within a one or two hour train ride."

That's exactly the point of staying in Boppard, Jack. It's a small town with just a few diversions - but it has plenty of lodging and dining options and it's in a near-ideal location for doing outings by train of 1-2 hours to nearby castles, villages, cities, and for river cruising.

Russ, the OP says his group is arriving in Frankfurt in the evening. I assume that means no time for sightseeing in Mainz that day, as well as concern about actually being able to reach Boppard on that arrival day.

Mainz may not be unique but it is a nice stop for one or two nights. It is the type of town where we like to spend our first stop with plenty of restaurants and good shopping for the things that you did not want to haul on the plane. There is a Galeria Kaufhof (department store) where you can stock up on everything from a forgotten item of clothes to a snack from the grocery section in the basement. If the churches do not quite fill your time, we enjoyed the modest sized Landesmuseum.

Plus Mainz can be easily reached by frequent connections from the airport.

I would prefer Nürnberg but the train trip is longer. I hate too much additional sitting after a long flight - might just be me.

Thanks for your responses. Please allow me to clarify:

• @Jack, we see Boppard as a base, so if we added a night to Boppard, it would be used to allow a day in the Mosel Valley (the other two days were intended to do the Rhine River ferry, visit two castles and visit some small towns like Bacharach).
• @Russ, acraven is right - we arrive at night with no time for the two Mainz sights that night - only to grab a quick bite before we sleep.
• @Gary MC, we are stopping by Nuremberg later on in our itinerary (currently 2 nights, 1 day), so we can easily add another night there.

Hopefully, that clarifies my two questions:

1. How do the sights in Mainz compare against the sights in the Mosel Valley or Nuremberg area (Bamberg, Iphofen, etc) - which are more worthwhile in your experience?
2. For those of you who have visited Mainz, how much time did you spend at St Stephan's church and the Dom?

Thank you!

I would stay overnight in Mainz, get up the next morning and visit the Dom and St. Stephens before heading downriver. Ride the ship from Bingen to Boppard and you then have that done too.

For St. Stephens, 45-60 min. is going to be sufficient to see the windows. Same for the Dom unless you like a more intense look, reading text, going into the cloister or museum.

I think it is a shame that Rick lets Mainz slip through his fingers the way he does and that he goes on to tell people not to go there. My feeling is that he has never explored this city at all and just writes it off.

The Gutenberg Museum is a fascinating place, the Farmers Markets are great, the Dom is 1000 years old with the Archbishop of Mainz being one of the main players on the stage of European history. The city had a large Roman fort and the Isis Temple is interesting to go to. For anyone interested in Jewish history, it is one of the 3 SCHUM cities along with Speyer and Worms. The new Synagogue is very unique and for anyone interested in architecture, go take a look.

Mainz also has a nice museum about Roman ship building, focused on Roman river patrol ships excavated there. The museum has replica ships, exhibitions on the roman settlementet and the rolle the Rhine played as the frontier of the Roman Empire. There is also a childrens section and play area with various ship themed toys.

"How do the sights in Mainz compare against the sights in the Mosel Valley or Nuremberg area (Bamberg, Iphofen, etc) - which are more worthwhile in your experience?"

Of course I agree with all the others that Mainz is a nice place - I've been a forum cheerleader for Mainz for many years - probably THE main cheerleader. I am still in the dark about your actual ETA at FRA, BUT... now that I've got it in my skull that you're arriving later in the day... choosing to stay in Mainz is making less and less sense to me. Mainz is generally a good stopover spot for FRA. But you now have less time than I'd first imagined for seeing Mainz - and your primary destinations, the Rhine and Mosel towns and castles (2 full days,) and the Nuremberg area (1 full day,) are already hugely compromised. As I recall, an earlier plan had you 5 nights in Boppard. Now it looks like you've swiped 2 Boppard nights in order to squeeze in Nuremberg, and you're thinking of squeezing in Mainz sights as well.

It's getting very unwieldy. It's 25 minutes from FRA to Mainz, 1:20 to Boppard on the direct trains. So you save close to an hour by staying in Mainz but you have to do an additional train-to-hotel-check-in-unpack-pack-check-out-back-to-train routine. There are Mainz hotels right near the station, but to take in the Dom, you and the toddler will need to trek across town and back the next morning. If you just cannot get to Boppard that first evening, then OK, Mainz is a port in a storm - stay there if you must, and only if you must, IMO. But you are going to be in places like Florence, Venice, Nuremberg, etc. so another two Mainz churches IMO, as nice as they are, will detract from your limited time elsewhere.

To the comparisons you requested: It's mostly apples and oranges. Mosel/Rhine towns = great scenery, medieval and other castles, tiny half-timbered towns with old wall remnants, some small specialty museums (doll museum, mustard museum, etc.,) river cruise and chairlift-ride diversions. Bamberg sights: more city-like, medieval town center, churches, similar but superior all in all to Mainz, IMO (but you are considering Mainz only for 2 churches.) Iphofen: very small compared with Bamberg, sedate and serene, a quicker outing from Nuremberg than Bamberg; Iphofen has a cool church (St. Vitus) with some Riemenschnieder works.

So IMO you need to skip Mainz if possible as there are similar experiences elsewhere and try to get 4 nights in Boppard or elsewhere nearby. If you arrive so late that Boppard isn't feasible, I really think I'd just stay at a FRA airport hotel, then move on to Boppard in the morning.

And you try to get an additional night in Nuremberg as well.

(There's a direct train from FRA to Boppard at 21:23, BTW.)

Thanks everyone.

If Mainz indeed pales in comparison to the sights around Mosel Valley and Nuremberg, and I only had one night left to allocate, what do you all think - Boppard (currently 3 nights, 2 full days) or Nuremberg (currently 2 nights, 1 full day)? I'm leaning towards Nuremberg but keen to hear your personal experiences from those of you who have travelled around the two areas.

Thank you!

If Mainz indeed pales in comparison to the sights around Mosel Valley and Nuremberg, and I only had one night left to allocate, what do you all think - Boppard (currently 3 nights, 2 full days) or Nuremberg (currently 2 nights, 1 full day)? I'm leaning towards Nuremberg but keen to hear your personal experiences from those of you who have travelled around the two areas.

I would add the day to Nuremberg but spend that extra day in Rothenburg odT. In Nuremberg a full day should allow you to see the old town, the Nazi trial (after WWII) court room, the Documentation Center and the Nazi Party Rally Grounds.

Rothenburg is one of the most popular sights in Germany. It's only about 60 miles (one hour) from Nuremberg. The night watchman tour is a great experience with lots of humor (see Rick's video).

If you decide to include Rothenburg while you are staying in Nuremberg I would see Rothenburg the first day so that you can include the night watchman and only have an hour drive to your home for the night. As an alternative you could spend the three nights in Rothenburg and do Nuremberg as a day trip.