RS is suggesting the travel route of Frankfurt to Bacharach -- Day cruise on the Rhine River and visiting Burg Eltz.
Just looking for feedback on the logistics of this route -- we will NOT be driving -- rather using the train.
In addition, suggestions for lodging in Bacharach.
We would continue onto Baden Baden following our visit to Bacharach.
Many thanks.
RS is suggesting the travel route of Frankfurt to Bacharach -- Day
cruise on the Rhine River and visiting Burg Eltz. Just looking for
feedback on the logistics...
Whether Rick likes Bacharach or not, the logistics of staying there are not so advantageous for train travelers.
Logistically, Bacharach's best feature is that it's closer to FRA airport than some of the other towns. But outings like yours from Bacharach will be less convenient.
The best cruise segment (see map) is Bingen > St. Goar (or Boppard, a little further north) but Bacharach is right in between those - so you can't start or end your cruise in Bacharach. (I've seen Rick's Rhine video where he cruises only the Bacharach - St. Goar segment; I still can't stop shaking my head... why travel all this distance, and then cruise only half of the best scenery?)
Bacharach has no ferry crossing that works for train travelers who just want to cross the river.
Bacharach is further from Burg Eltz than Boppard and St. Goar. Staying in Bacharach automatically adds 40 minutes to your train travel that day (as opposed to basing in Boppard) on what is already a long day trip.
Bacharach does not offer free transport passes to all its guests. But if you stay in Boppard (which does,) the train (and bus) transport you will need to get to Burg Eltz will be free of charge.
If you choose to stay in Bacharach, you can check Rick's book for his recommendations.
You can find information on Boppard accommodations and some tips for staying there below:
Read about the free guest ticket in Boppard HERE. You will also find links to accommodations in Boppard.
Boppard Tourist Information flyer
Train line map that shows you how the trains run to Moselkern (for the walk to Burg Eltz) or to Hatzenport (where there's a shuttle bus that picks up train passengers bound for Burg Eltz on weekends.)
Boppard's riverfront walk (cafes/restaurants, hotels, boat docks, etc.)
Bacharach is a nice town with very attractive buildings. But because it is separated from the river by the railway, the main roadway along the Rhine, and by some additional acreage, it cannot take advantage of the riverfront in the way Boppard does (no hotels, etc. with river views.)
If and when you take a river cruise, just take the train one way to Bingen and cruise back to Boppard (2.3 hours of cruising. Show your train ticket at the KD dock in Bingen for a cruise discount!) You can visit Bacharach for a couple of hours by breaking up your train trip to Bingen with a stop there. It is also possible (but less convenient, usually) to attempt a stopover by cruise boat. There are just 5 KD cruise boats per day - but if you can get in a couple of hours in Bacharach and find a boat to get back on later, just show your ticket to the boat personnel when you get off in Bacharach - they will mark your ticket for reboarding.
is your starting point the Frankfurt airport (Flughafen) or city? Either way, there are multiple train options to Bacharach, some involving connections. Nothing too difficult - choice depends on your schedule. There are English-speaking ticket agents at the Frankfurt train stations that can help you figure it out if needed. You can find the cruise schedule online and figure out when you get there. Again, not too difficult.
There are plenty of small hotels in Bacharach - Rick's book mentions several. We last stayed at Hotel zur Post. Bacharach is really a small place - walk from one end to the other in a leisurely 15 minutes. Its just a nice peaceful and pretty place without a lot of specific attractions.
Just note the rail station in Bacharach is unmanned, so get onward tickets ahead of time or from a machine.
ichal, two thoughts for you to consider:
1)The Rhine flows north in that area, so the boat ride is very slow in the direction you propose. Downstream is exactly the right speed, NOT too fast.
2)The daytime trains in that area are SO MUCH FASTER than the boat that using the trains to start somewhere or get somewhere after are a completely IMMATERIAL obstacle. The train time can be neglected from consideration.
3)Many loyal Rick readers take note of possibly misguided slavish dedication to Rick's three-triangle attractions. But even Rick does not believe that Burg Eltz is the only castle worth visiting:
So, don't make that long Mosel detour unless you really want to do it for reasons other than ONE castle.
I think Tim is right about Burg Eltz - and an excellent alternative is located across the river from Boppard - Marksburg Castle in the town of Braubach. Although we've discouraged cruising north of Boppard, the KD cruise line has an 11:50 boat from Boppard that gets you there in just 30 minutes and right in time to walk up to the castle take the 1:00 pm ENGLISH tour (you can also get there by train or by ferry + train, and cheaply, or for free, with your Guest ticket.)
Please remember that the advice you get HERE is individualized based on your comments and also subjective - it is not necessarily what you read in Rick's guidebook.
Rick began publishing back in the early 80's and "came out shooting from the hip." Since then he has familiarized himself a little more thoroughly with the Europe he wrote about. 30+ years after his first travel book, after decades of praise for Bacharach, he took his first steps in the neighbor-town of Oberwesel - a town already well recognized in many other travel publications as a fine town to visit. You can read what he blogged about Oberwesel 6 years ago, after his first look around:
https://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/visiting-the-rhine-river-valley/
He writes that Oberwesel has "the best collection of historic Rhine artifacts... within the romantic Rhine gorge."
Another discovery new to Rick in Oberwesel: https://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/the-wine-queens-or-wine-witches-of/
My basic point: Rick's relationship with and strong recommendations for Bacharach over other Rhine towns were not necessarily informed by visits to other nearby towns with which he might compare Bacharach.
In this travel article on the Rhine, Rick discusses cruising...
"A Rhine boat cruise is the most relaxing way of all, but it's slow. I'd do just the hour-or-two span from Bacharach to either St. Goar (nine miles) or Boppard (17 miles) by boat, and the rest by train."
Well, the general consensus on this forum says differently... it's a measly 40-minute cruise from Bacharach to St. Goar (€16.) If you begin the cruise in BINGEN, back in the area where the Mäuseturm, Burg Ehrenfels, and Rheinstein Castle are located, you'll spend €5.40 more, but you'll have a full 1.5 hours on the cruise to St. Goar - and of course you won't miss out on these and many other nice sights on your way to Bacharach and St. Goar (or Boppard.)
I suspect if Rick were to board the cruise in Bingen sometime, and visit / stay in some other Rhine towns, then someday he might provide somewhat different advice to his readers. But it looks like Rick's audience will continue to be sent to Bacharach for the time being.
Take the boat from Bingen ( or Rudesheim if on that side of the river ) to Boppard. Visit the other towns by train. Stay in whichever town strikes your fancy or where you find an accommodation you think you might like. I have stayed 22 days since 2010 in Bacharach and plan on 4 more next year staying with the sweetest ‘little old lady’ - Irmgard Orth - in her 3 room Privatzimmer. All the places to stay in Bacharach are listed at the town website - www.bacharach.de. Other towns have similar websites.
We liked our stay in Bacharach (hotelMakerwinkle) and if that it's what I was going to ok do - stay- I'd do it again. Quite relaxing, slower paced, good access to hiking. But agree other places have advantages for getting about. We liked Bingen for that and found it to be much less touristy to boot. Maybe next time we'll check out Boppard, sounds good.
PS- Baden-Baden is another one of those places that Mr. Steves focuses on and highly touts... perhaps because its the only one of the hundreds of spa towns in Germany that he has explored in any depth. See it if you must, but I can think of several reasonable alternatives on or very close to the Mittelrhein. There's nothing wrong with it, especially if you like German bathing culture (lots of mixed gender public nudity!) or shopping for designer bling, but Baden-Baden is yet another example of Mr. Steves making something rather typical seem extra-ordinary. And Baden-Baden is also a far detour for most travelers.
I second the recommendation for Marksburg as a suitable alternative to Burg Eltz for an intact medieval castle. The only downside is that English tours are given less frequently.
