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Going Off the Beaten Path in Germany - Rhine/Mosel area and a bit more, Itinerary help needed

I've started a "rough draft" of my 5 days in Germany/Luxembourg to visit the towns of my ancestors. Geography has never been my strong subject, so I'd love some advice/alternate route suggestions that may make more sense than what I've listed, to make the most of our time there. :) I have a few months before we leave, but would like to start booking hotels.

Day 1 - Land at Frankfurt Hahn Airport - take bus #750 from Hahn to Bullay, and the train from Bullay to Cochem.

Spend the night in Cochem - possibly take the mustard tour and/or wine tasting or just simply enjoy looking around

Day 2 - Cochem to Koblenz by train -
Rent car in Koblenz, and drive from Koblenz to Limburg an der Lahn,
Drive to Munstermaifeld, then Bernkastel-Kues, then Trier.
Stay the night in Trier.

Day 3 - Drive from Trier to Septfontaines (Luxembourg). Look at ancestor's house, the cemetery where they are laid to rest, and the church. Possibly meet up with distant cousins for coffee or lunch. Visit the 7 fountains. Drive back up to Kyllburg, for a brief stop to say I've been there, then if time, visit Burg Eltz. If not enough time, park and take pictures of the area. Proceed to either Bingen or Bacharach to stay the night.

Day 4 - Cruise the Rhine from Bingen to St. Goar. Explore area. Maybe see castles? Either stay another night in Bingen or Bacharach, or head to Frankfurt Intl. Airport area.

Day 5 - Drive to Frankfurt after breakfast, or if already in Frankfurt, see a sight on the way to the airport.

This seems heavy on the driving, but I'd like to see as many of my relatives' towns as is doable. I've already cut out most of my Mom's side, as it looked like mostly farm areas and were further north - out of the way. Kyllburg will be the only town on my Mom's side that I will visit, so that is a "must-do". All other areas are my Dad's side.

As always, thanks in advance for taking the time to help! You guys are the best!

Posted by
198 posts

It sounds like a very full trip, I'm sure you'll enjoy visiting the towns of your ancestors. Since you are planning on renting a car why not rent it at the airport rather than bus then train. I think the list of places you want to visit is doable, but Limburg is out of the way of everything else you plan to see. To me it would make sense to go there either first or last. It would be helpful to really study a map and plot out your route to maximize your time and be more efficient.

Posted by
909 posts

I would suggest a loop - Trier- Septfontaine - Trier - Moselle valley (Cochem and Bad Eltz) to Koblenz - side trip to Limburg an der Lahn from Koblenz and back to Koblenz and then back to Frankfurt up the Rhine valley. A car is nice but maybe not necessary for most of the trip.

Bacharach is a great place to stop.

https://www.google.de/maps/place/Limburg,+Germany/@50.0289131,7.643477,9z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47bc332cf6579ded:0x422435029b0a760!8m2!3d50.3986005!4d8.0795783

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml

Frankfurt Airport to Trier is about 4 hours on a train and about $50/pp. You can pick starting and ending cities on bahn.de to try out different routes.

Posted by
8982 posts

Note OP is flying into Frankfurt Hahn airport not Rhein-Main - might impact suggested routing. To OP, if your flying back out of Hahn, then Frankfurt itself might be out of the way - Hahn is west of Frankfurt, halfway to Luxembourg.

Posted by
174 posts

Hi Vanessa- My first thought was not to rent from Frankfurt Hahn due to bad reviews on their rental agencies, but upon further investigation, it looks like the car rental agency in Koblenz isn't as near the train station as I had originally thought. I'm back to square one considering Frankfurt Hahn again.
I've plotted my route on Google maps, but I might not be using the app to it's full potential. I'm not as Google savvy as I'd like to be.

nickwoodwsrd - thanks for your reply

stan- Thanks- we are flying in to Frankfurt Hahn (HHN), however we are flying home out of Frankfurt Intl (FRA)