Home base for several days of Mosel/Rhine/Trier sightseeing

I would avoid Koblenz - central but not much atmosphere at the main rail station (assuming your doing outings by train) and generally a mostly modern city like many others. Try Winningen or Boppard for one-base solutions - both are just a few train minutes from Koblenz and very nice old-world towns. From Boppard you can be in Bacharach for a look around there in 20 minutes (but stay in Bacharach, and you'll add 40 minutes to any Mosel day trip; Boppard to Cochem can be done in one hour.)

If you plan to do a Rhine cruise from Bingen (the best starting point IMO,) Boppard is a far better place to end it than Koblenz for several reasons and also better than Bacharach (which would cut the cruise much to short) - step off the boat and you're "home."

My wife and I are staying in Bacharach in Sept at a B&B to do the Rhine and then moving to Beilstein on the Mosel for that part of our trip.If you want a nice place to stay I would look at lodgings now.
Mike

Prof,

I used Bacharach for a home base for touring the Rhine and Mosel, and it worked well. It may not be the most central, but I enjoyed my stay there.

Bacharach is very cute. But a town like Boppard also has several wineries and nice old-world buildings and makes it much easier to get around if you're using public transport. Boppard has more dining and lodging options and a bit more to see and do as well, including the Klettersteig, a nice chairlift ride (and the Gedeonseck clifftop cafe) and a developed river promenade. Also, there's a ferry that runs all day long for getting across the river to Filsen, which has a station for easy access to Braubach (Marksburg Castle) and other east bank towns.)

Popular Boppard eatery with Roman walls
Boppard street scene
Boppard's tea house
Boppard's town square w/ outdoor cafes
Boppard's Römerpark with some minor Roman ruins

Thanks, all. I went back and forth between Boppard and Bacharach, ultimately deciding to stay in the more central Boppard (we'll visit Bacharach).

We stayed at the Mittelrhein Pension in Boppard, and that was the perfect place. Boppard is larger than the other options (but not so large and impersonal as Koblenz). Found a good restaurant there in Servus Stube, enjoyed walking round the town and having a decent-sized grocery store right by the hotel. Visited the Deutsche Eck, Bacharach, and Burg Eltz during our stay. Will return and stay in Boppard (and at Mittelrhein) again. Thanks, all.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Boppard.

"Found a good restaurant there in Servus Stube"
That's actually the "Severus Stube" for others looking to take your suggestion.