Doing Germany, Austria, Switzerland tour 2023

If it were me, since Cologne is covered by the tour, I'd stop somewhere between FrankfUrt and Köln. Maybe Rudesheim or St Goar, etc.

I spent about a half day in Cologne and that was enough for me and your tour is visiting there. If I am looking at the right itinerary, I would spend the 2 days between Bingen or Ruedesheim and Koblenz. Boat ride between Bingen/Ruedesheim to Boppard. Perhaps stay in Boppard. Chairlift in Boppard, Burg Rheinfels ruined fortress in St. Goar, cable car across the Rhine in Koblenz to the massive fortress, Town wall walk in Oberwesel and the interesting Frauenkirche there, cute town of Bacharach. I’ve spent about 30 days along this stretch and haven’t done everything I want to.

All good suggestions in the previous posts. Not mentioned however was the most impressive and important (IMHO) sight in the Middle Rhine Valley - Marksburg Castle in the town of Braubach:

https://www.marksburg.de/en/circuit/#

Boppard is a great base town; getting to St. Goar, Oberwesel, Bacharach, Koblenz, and Braubach from there is quite simple.

http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/walking-hiking.php

Jan,
I think we are taking the same Tour, ours begins the end of July. We have not worked out all the details…but we plan to spend a few hours in Frankfurt, then take the train to Bingen or somewhere around there and spend 2 nights. Using our days to explore the Rhine River Valley, we plan to take a local river cruise, explore a few castles, wineries and bike along the Rhine. Then we will take a train to Cologne (Köln) on the day our tour begins. I will be following this thread and would welcome any recommendations on what to see and which forms of transportation are best.

We are also doing the GAS tour beginning the 3 rd of June. We are flying into Frankfurt and taking the train to Boppard where we are spending 2 days exploring the middle Rhine valley. We plan on taking the train to Bingen and booking a Rhine River cruise back to Boppard stopping at one or two towns along the way.

@lilashull: It remains to be seen whether there will be through-boats to Boppard this coming year on the KD schedule. Those wishing to cruise to Boppard this year ypically found themselves with a mandatory stopover of some length in St. Goar or St. Goarshausen. The final KD boat of the day in 2022 was indeed a through boat, though at one point it was cancelled for the season due to low water levels.

Bacharach, Oberwesel and St. Goar are good towns to stop at between Boppard and Bingen. I suggest making your stops on your way south to Bingen by train (and taking the late-afternoon cruise back to Boppard.) Hopping off and back on by train is much easier than it is by boat due to the solid frequency of trains on this route and, by comparison, the rather skimpy boat schedule.

Your free VRM Guest Ticket (obtained from your hosts in Boppard) is valid as far south as Oberwesel; train travel beyond that to Bacharach and Bingen will require a supplemental ticket from Oberwesel. I believe the DB ticket from Oberwesel > Bingen costs around €8 and permits hopping off (and back on) on your way.

Hi, following this thread. My spouse and I are also doing the Jun 3 GAS tour, making up for one canceled two years ago by pandemic. Still sorting out options for time at front end and end of tour. In addition to options discussed by others on this thread, I was looking at revisiting where the tour used to start, in Trier. Does anyone know why the tour starting point shifted to Cologne? Aftermath of floods in that region over past year? Was looking at starting in Trier and then trying to do a wine tour neaby on the Mosel, perhaps a dayboat tour as well. Somehow getting up to Koblenz and then to Cologne. Also intrigued by proximity to Bastogne and Battle of Bulge region -- sounds like a train day trip from Trier. We didn't see a reason to spend a lot of extra time in Cologne before the tour as opposed to spending it somewhere outside of the city.

Oh that's interesting that the tour doesn't start in Trier anymore. I did the tour back in 2019 and really enjoyed it. You will have a blast!! And for those going in late fall, you might be gifted with a dusting of snow while in Switzerland. It's magical!

"Was looking at starting in Trier and then trying to do a wine tour neaby on the Mosel, perhaps a dayboat tour as well. Somehow getting up to Koblenz and then to Cologne."

It's roughly a 3-hour train trip from FRA airport to Trier. It's Germany's most scenic train route via the Rhine and Mosel Valleys. That's a lot of transport time to add directly after an overnight transatlantic flight. Perhaps that's why Rick has chucked Trier for Cologne (roughly 1 hour from FRA) but it's also a good reason for the Trier-bound to stay somewhere closer to FRA on Day/Night #1. Mainz (25 min. by direct train) and Koblenz (1.25 hrs. by direct train) are the city-sized options en route to Trier. But the small-town Rhine destinations of Boppard, St. Goar, Oberwesel, Bacharach, and Bingen are also on your rail route to Trier (and will require roughly 1 - 1.5 hours of train time. One fairly simple/flexible option is FRA > Bingen. Once in Bingen you can check in and rest up if exhausted, or take a scenic walk along the expansive waterfront promenade, or hop on a cruise boat to through the most scenic part of the Rhine Gorge to St. Goar (then return by train or boat to Bingen.) After some sleep and breakfast the next jmorning, the eye-poppingly scenic ride to Trier will be more doable and enjoyable.

Trier > Koblenz > Cologne is a snap by train.

An alternative to staying in Trier: book in Cochem instead. It's an incredibly scenic small town half way up the Mosel from Koblenz to Trier, not far from Burg Eltz Castle, and it's one of the better places for visiting wineries and taking a scenic cruise (like the 1-hr. cruise to Beilstein) on the Mosel. On one day you could head to Trier by direct train in the morning (about 45 min's from Cochem) for a full day of sighseeing there.