Frequency of boats on the Rhine

Are you just wanting the ride on the ship or to see Rudesheim? You can take trains to Bacharach via Mainz and/or Bingen easily enough. Once you get there, you can take a boat ride at your leisure.

Bingen-Rüdesheimer, the other big cruise outfit, has a similar 11 - 14:00 gap in scheduling.

It's more convenient for you to head straight to Bacharach first (11:23 - 12:20 direct RE train if your flight is on time.) Drop bags and grab a bite to eat. Then catch the 13:06 train to Bingen Rhein Stadt station (13:26) which gives you time to get tickets, enjoy a stroll on the waterfront promenade, and board the 14:30 boat north (same boat that leaves Rüdesheim at 14:15 - you miss no scenery at all really since Bingen is just across the river from R'heim.) Then do as you planned - arrive in St. Goar at 13:55 - maybe visit Rheinfels Castle?? - and return by train to Bacharach. And since you have no bags, you are free to enjoy the cruise, St. Goar, Rheinfels and whatever without the hassle.

You are correct in starting the cruise either in Rüdesheim or Bingen. If you first board in Bacharach and head north, you will lose out on half of the most scenic cruise segment!

Thanks! My husband and I visited this area 18 years ago and are back with our kids. We romantically wanted their first experience in Germany to be similar to ours- arriving via the scenic part of the Rhine by boat.

We will consider going straight to Bacharach to leave our bags, etc. but we also might just choose to get lunch and maybe ride the gondola up the hill in Rudesheim to kill time. We have never been there. My research showed a place we can leave our backpacks at our near the train station of we want.

Traveling with kids is a whole different ballgame and I think we are going to be doing a lot of playing things by ear...I just wanted to know all my options and make sure I wasn't missing something!

"My research showed a place we can leave our backpacks at our near the train station..."

Good to hear - and news to my ears. Would you mind sharing that find?

"Traveling with kids is a whole different ballgame and I think we are going to be doing a lot of playing things by ear...I just wanted to know all my options"

Yes, very wise to play it by ear - but then you are making time-specific plans that commit your movements and reduce your options on Day 1 after a transatlantic flight. First off, your flight may be on time, or it may be delayed (happens quite often these days.) And if your family's like mine, jet-lag and drowsiness could be your travel mates. Kids and parents alike may have genuine trouble staying awake for the cruise that day. It seems you were thinking about this yourself back in May, when you had the cruise scheduled for Day 2, and when you wrote,

"We currently have 3 nights in Bacharach, the first being the day we arrive in Germany - I'm sure we will be a bit Jet Lagged."

Since you have shortened your Rhine stay - and since you want to enter the Rhine gorge by boat AND play it by ear - both wise choices - then I think you really should consider staying in Rüdesheim or Bingen rather than Bacharach. Then instead of having to get to Bacharach by boat that day (with your bags) you'd be able to assess where everyone is at after arrival in your town of choice - and make an informed decision whether to cruise either that first afternoon of the following morning. (Another good reason to cruise early in the morning might be the weather. No clue WHEN your trip is, but afternoon cruises in the warm months can get quite hot and uncomfortable.) If you wake up on Day 2 in Bingen or Rüdesheim and cruise north around 9-9:30, you could easily make a stopover in Bacharach to see the town for 1-2 hours.

Rick Steves' "one-size-fits-all" enthusiasm for Bacharach (attractive as it is) as a Rhine base town simply does not address everyone's needs. It's a nice town but really is more geriatric than family-oriented. As you discovered, there's a nice chairlift ride in Rüdesheim (among other diversions.) And Bingen has a fine facility for kids/families with a little free time - the Park am Mäuseturm, with water-playground, bike/skate park, and open grassy areas by the river:

https://www.bingen.de/media/be832181-1c59-418a-8f65-2d716b715341/r-h-ein-zum-spielen.jpg?mw=1200
https://www.bingen.de/media/d034d720-6a70-46b9-95f7-e060b66689ad/park-am-maeuseturm.jpg?mw=1200

We stayed at the NH Bingen hotel a few years back - very nice breakfast there in a dining area with expansive views of the river

Thanks for your thoughts, we are talking it all info consideration. I hadn't looked into Binge at all, we enjoyed Bacharach when we were there years ago.

Yes, very wise to play it by ear - but then you are making time-specific plans that commit your movements on Day 1 after a transatlantic flight. I'm not making any time-specific plans- we aren't buying any tickets and will see how everyone feels once the plane lands and we are through customs... possibly even changing our minds on the train. I do like to be prepared for all options though, and know that I have accurate information in hand when the decision making happens, like knowing if there's a more frequent boat than what I was finding.

We are open to doing the Rhine cruise another day, too. We are planning 2 nights in Bacharach and two nights in Cochem now, we could easily do it day 2 or 3. Thanks for your input, good food for thought!

I might not have stated my point well... I was addressing plans, not specific tickets. I'll try to restate... Your idea to cruise the Rhine for the kids' first glimpse of the river is a very good one, I think - and if that "virgin" experience is your objective, and if you've reserved in Bacharach, then you don't have much flexibility on this day. There are 5+ hours between FRA arrival and Bacharach arrival. Once you step on the train at FRA for Rüdesheim (maybe around 11?) it's too late to change plans - you are pretty much locked into sightseeing for a couple of hours in R'heim and later that same day taking the 14:15 cruise (drowsy, asleep, or otherwise.) If the crew poops out in Rüdesheim, you can't just flop in your room - dropping the cruise would mean you have to ferry across the Rhine to Bingen and then catch a train into the scenic section of the Rhine Gorge to Bacharach (which you had hoped to avoid.)

OTOH staying in Bingen allows more flexibility - do whatever you please when you get there - check in, freshen up, relax, nap, walk, play, sightsee, whatever - then you have until around 14:00 (instead of 10-11:00) to make your decision about how everyone is doing. Take that 14:30 cruise (and train back) - or postpone that until Day 2. (If you stay in Rüdesheim, you will have similar flexibility and choices that afternoon.)

So is it the TI office in Rüdesheim that will hold bags for you? (Several other Rhine-area TI's do this for visitors.)

Ah, I understand what you mean, thanks for clarifying. We will look into staying in Bingen, or going straight to Bacharach via train.

I was mistaken about luggage in Rudesheim! I thought I had read about lockers there but I must've gotten mixed up. Definitely glad to know now, thanks for following up.

"We will look into staying in Bingen, or going straight to Bacharach via train." Bingen works well, but so does Rüdesheim - I wouldn't exclude the R'heim base option altogether. If your dates are at a busy time, accommodations for 4+ could be tight, and R'heim might have more lodging options than Bingen anyway. R'heim preserves the "first glimpse" cruise option as well and keeps your other choices open too. You could cruise from there on Day 1 to St. Goarshausen with stopovers (if you wish) in Bacharach and/or St. Goar - or postpone that for Day 2. (Note also that R'heim is the cruise starting point - the boat is largely empty prior to the 14:15 and 16:15 cruises - so you may have a better shot there at preferred seating than in Bingen.) The Day 3 train ride to Cochem is simple as well from R'heim. And of course you did want to try the aerial cable car trip anyway - that and the sightseeing up top are probably simpler to fit in if you are staying in town.

Sad to hear about the locker situation there. It's a real shame as R'heim is a good stopover place... a real disservice to the rail-riding public.

Thank you! Your insight is invaluable.