Home Base / Itenerary Help - Rhine, Rothenberg ODT, Black Forest, Burg Eltz

A couple of suggestions.

1. Learn the correct spelling of towns. It's Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Burg Eltz. A Burg is a castle (the town of Rothenburg was named for a castle that no longer exist); a Berg is a mountain (hill, etc).

2. I don't know if the list is supposed to be chronological or just random. You don't want to do the Rhein cruise, then go to Rothenburg, then do Burg Eltz. You want to do Burg Eltz at the same time as the Rhein cruise.

3. The Rhein cruise is much better to do down the river (to the NW on the map). The current on the Rhein is very strong and the trip is slower and, IMO, boring going up the river. Also, most people would use Rüdesheim or Bingen as the terminus on that end. Between Mainz and Bingen is not that interesting and only two boats per day leave from (go to) Mainz. Use the K-D schedule. If you take the train to your boat departure site, you can get a 20% discount on the boat ticket when you show them your train ticket.

4. I find small towns (Bad Herrenalb, Bad Wildbad, Freudenstadt) in the northern Black Forest to be quite charming. I did not find Baden-Baden to be particularly pretty.

It looks like you have 3 days to see and do all of this? A bit short on time, so if you can extend it, this will help you have more of a relaxing trip.

The best part of the Rhine is going to be between Rüdesheim and Boppard. If you want to visit castles, like Burg Rhinefels, the Marksburg, Rheinstein, or Reichenstein, a train will be best. Burg Eltz is on the Mosel, so a bit of an outlier.

Rothenburg isn't anywhere close to the other places you are wanting to go. You might want to pick a town just like it, (walled, medieval, full of half-timbered buildings) but that is closer to your route. My usual recommendation is Büdingen, as it is only 1 hour by train from Frankfurt, but there are others that I am sure other posters will suggest.

Anything special in Baden-Baden that you want to see? There are thermal baths all over Germany, and if you want a royal thermal bath treatment, you could get that in Wiesbaden, Bad Nauheim, Bad Homburg, etc.

Suggest you stay in either Frankfurt or perhaps Eltville on the Rhine. As a base, it is then easy to visit many of the places you want to see. Do you know which towns your families were from?

jk,

Three days is not much time to see all the sights you've listed. I suspect you'll either need to pare the list down or add more time. A few thoughts.....

• You could (for example) spend a few days in Bacharach or one of the other towns along the Rhine. This will allow you to take the KD boat cruise to St. Goar and perhaps visit Burg Rheinfels while there, returning by train to your starting location. The KD dock is right across the street from the town of Bacharach, so very easy access
• From that location you could also take a day trip to Burg Eltz. It's a bit of a long day, but certainly possible (I know as I've done that trip). Many travellers like to make the hike to the Castle from Moselkern, but as I recall there are Buses running from one of the other towns which would be an easier solution. The Buses go to the car park at the top of the hill, and from there you can either walk down to the Castle (very steep) or take the small Shuttle Van (~€1.50 or so each way). I'd suggest taking the Shuttle one way and walking the other, as there's a great vantage point for photos about half way up the hill.
• Rothenburg ODT and Baden-Baden are going to be diffifult to fit into that time frame. Rothenburg is on a "spur line" from Steinach, and it will be about a 5.5 hour trip from the Rhine area with about three changes. You can check the bahn.de website to see all the rail solutions for the trips you want to make.

Because of the multiple train connections and travel time, I would rather move hotels and minimize backtracking. Of course, packing light is a key part of this strategy, since you'll handle your bags yourself in a variety of situations, including stairs and cobblestones.

How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it.

Besides Büdingen (an excellent recommendation), another example of a walled, mostly historical town that's much more convenient to your itinerary is the twin town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, just off the Rhine near Remagen. It sits in a valley surrounded by terraced vineyards. The Ahrweiler section retains it's defensive wall and most of the historic architecture. Bad Neuenahr, as the name implies ("Bad" roughly translates as "bath" or "bathing" in German) has a thermal baths facility. There you go, two for one, and you don't have to travel all the way to the northern Black Forest (Baden-Baden) or western Franconia (Rothenburg od der Tauber). I only drove through the Bad Neuenahr section, but I thoroughly explored Ahrweiler. Good for at least a few hours.

Here's what I'd do. This should work even if you don't pack like Rick. You won't see the Black Forest, or Baden-Baden (a bust, really, and there's no time anyway for everything) and you won't see any of the additional places that have been suggested, but you will be able to see most of what you want. (The abbreviated cruise I suggest is only 1.5 hours long but no worries - it spares you about €30 each on the cruise fare and also a lot of dull boat time south of Bingen and betweeen Boppard and Koblenz.)

Burg Eltz Castle:

5/8: Pack a lunch. Lv. A'dam 8:05, ar. Moselkern 12:49 (drop bags in lockers at Koblenz station during 31-min. layover there.) Walk to Burg Eltz for tour and back to Moselkern. Lv. Moselkern 17:00, ar. Boppard 18:06 for the night. (fetch bags during 17-min. layover in Koblenz.) Enjoy Boppard's old town and river promenade.

Half-timbered buildings
Rhine Promenade
Boppard eatery

"Both of our families are from the Rhineland / Palatine Region and we would like to be in that area as much as possible."

5/9: 9:15 train to Bad Sobernheim (ar. 10:44) to see how your ancestors lived. Amazing place.

Open-air museum

Lv Bad Sobernheim 15:12, ar. Bingen 16:01. Catch 16:30 KD cruise north to St. Goar. (ar. 17:55.) This covers the most scenic part of the river. Catch 18:19 train to Bacharach (ar. 18:29) for evening meal and look around this attractive town.

Bacharach

Return to Boppard at 20:21, 20:28, or 20:58 (a 20-min. train ride.)

5/10: Destination Rothenburg ob der Tauber:
Have a relaxed morning in Boppard. Lv 10:07, ar, 14:49 in Rothenburg.

You will want a Rheinland-Pfalz ticket for the 5/9 train journeys. It will also get you a 20% discount on the cruise fare if you show it at the KD kiosk in Bingen.
Rheinland-Pfalz ticket details

Thanks to all for your generous time and replies. We are taking all into consideration
-Joan and Jeff

Thanks again to all who replied
We have changed our itinerary, and are arriving from Amsterdam On May 8, to Boppard and using that as our home base for 3 days at the Best Western Bellevue Rhinehotel.
We took your advice and scratched Rothenburg ODT, and The Black forest/ Baden Baden area. Some of the things we are considering are Going to Eltz Castle, Visiting the small towns along the Rhine, and visiting Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Question:
Is the distance from The Boppard Hbf Train Station to the Best Western walkable (with Luggage) or should I arrange for a transfer
Thanks
Joan and Jeff

About 1/4 mile (5 minute walk).