Father / Son trip to the Rhine

If your fathers primary goal is to se old buildings and nothing modern, then Cologne might be a bit too much on the modern side. What was old was destroyed during WW2. Only really the Cathedral was spared, but that is also really impressive. It is right next to the central station.
In most of the towns in the middle Rhine between Koblenz and Bingen you can find plenty of old buildings.
The only remaining intact medieval castle on middle Rhine is Marksburg in Braubach https://www.marksburg.de/en/ The rest of the castles are either ruins or have been destroyed and then rebuild after the medieval period. The ruins of Burg Rheinfels in St. Goar are also quite impressive.

"Day 3: Train to Cologne, quick visit to the cathedral, then train to the Rhine via Koblenz."

Not sure what you mean here exactly. If you visit the Cathedral and then transport yourselves south to one of the Middle Rhine towns, that would make good sense to me. I'd suggest Boppard (just south of Koblenz on the west bank) which has a nice old town, lots of hotels, and lots of restaurant choices:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2IjTma6VRY

Maybe there's time to take the chairlift ride up for a great view of the town and river - and a nice cold one:
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/a0/b5/90/cafe-overlooking-rhein.jpg

The next morning, take the early train (8:15) to Bingen (southern end of the scenic part) and board a cruise boat north past all the castles at old-world towns. The Bingen Rhein Stadt station is closest to the boat dock. You'll get there at 8:56 after a change of train at the previous Bingen station (Bingen Hbf.) Walk to the dock and get tickets (show train tickets for a cruise discount!) Catch the 9:30 boat north to Bacharach (10:15) and step off for 2 hours for a look at the valley's best collection of old-world buildings. Make sure personnel authorize your ticket for reboarding before getting off. Reboard at 12:15 and continue to St. Goarshausen (13:05,) the town you bought your cruise ticket to. A train (13:32) will take you from there to Braubach (13:53) where you can have lunch (if you didn't do that on the boat or in Bacharach) or some refreshments and you'll have time to see the old town as well before the 4 pm tour in English of Marksburg. You may want to take the in-town shuttle if running or a taxi up to the castle, as it's a steep hike of 20-30 minute otherwise. The TI office in Braubach (near the train station) may be able to assist you with information on this:

Rathausstraße 8, 56338 Braubach

Telefon: 02627 976001, Fax: 02627 976005
E-Mail: [email protected]

When you're done with the tour, return by train to Boppard via Koblenz.

A Rheinland-Pfalz ticket will get you around by train on this day:
http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets/tickets/ticket-offers/rheinland-pfalz-ticket/

Yes, that is exactly what I meant by that sentence. I appreciate the advice.

I've been looking into rail passes but I think pay as we go seems cheaper. We fly standby so I don't want to book too much in advance but leg by leg on the trains seems to be our logical bet.

When traveling with my kids I've found we accomplish far less than I plan for and considering my father is a novice traveler, I expect similar. When driving, he is one to get sidetracked by various sites, so I think this will be the same. And that's okay.

Scott

Edit... Your advice is spot on Russ and exactly what I was looking for. Very much appreciated!

I am wishing you well and hope you have a fruitful trip.
However, I am wondering if this is such a good idea. When I was in my 30's I went from Ohio to Hawaii and back in 6 days and it wasn't pleasant.
I know you are used to flying a lot for your job, but I think for the rest of us that would be a brutal schedule.
Please do everything you can for him in regards to treating his jet lag.
I hope you can reconnect with your ancestors. That sort of thing becomes more important to me as I get older. I regret not taking my father to an old family cemetery (late 1700's) before he died.

Have you thought about doing this trip in reverse? Arrive in Frankfurt, train to a Rhine town. Explore the Rhine gorge next day then train to Cologne. Explore Siegburg. Train to Frankfurt to fly home.
Have you already gotten in touch with any town historians in Siegburg or perhaps the cemetery office that could possible tell you the locations of graves? Doing this will save you time in Siegburg.

Well, we'll find out if it's a good idea. My father does travel often, just inside the US, so I think he'll do just fine. I could be wrong. He seems to function just well on little sleep so I expect him to do better with the jet lag than me!

Yes, I have seriously considered doing the trip in reverse and it does make a lot of sense. I would be able to buy ICE tickets in advance of our trip back to Frankfurt (after being assured we're in the country), which would save a little money, and it would follow the Rhine downstream. It is under serious consideration. My main concern with that was is the Rhine is so stunning and beautiful, that I fear it would make Siegburg look pale in comparison. And it would put the primary purpose of the trip at the end.

I am in the process of trying to find more information as you suggest regarding historians and cemeteries, and have not had too much luck yet. But I am trying!

All advice appreciated!!! Thanks much.

Here are some of the things we learned when doing a genealogy trip. Make sure to make appointments. I emailed the town that we were researching and they got me in touch with the right groups. The one time I didn't do this, what we were looking for got really lost in translation.

Second, I would not count on finding graves in the cemetery. It is not like it is in the US, where you pay money up front and you are there for eternity. There, for a lot of cemeteries, it is more like a rental system. families pay an amount for the grave every few years and when the money runs out, the remains are moved. So if someone from the family who remained behind is paying the "rental" then you may find some graves.

I will say it is really cool to walk in the same place your ancestors did. We even found a street named after one of ours as he had a Saw Mill there. The lady in that town (I had an appt with her) even found the plans for the mill, and gave us a copy.

enjoy your trip with your dad! My trip with my dad to hunt down the towns was an incredible trip for both of us!

Thanks. I've been in touch with the Siegburg tourism office with little luck. So, mostly we will plan to just see the town, enjoy good beer, and enjoy the sights of the Rhine. If it gets my father away from the television and out into a world he is largely unfamiliar with, and it enlightens him, then it's been a success!

Thanks all!