KD Line Cruising (and Braubach)

1. I believe they are two different ships - basically Monday has a reduced schedule.
2. The ship will stop at each port there is a listed as a stop

https://www.k-d.com/fileadmin/KD_Fahrplaene/KD_Fahrplan_intern_2024_web.pdf
look at high season - the table on the left is upstream, on the right is downstream.

1. I will default to others that know more.

We plan on taking the 1630 boat from Bingen to Boppard where we are staying.

PS- we likely will go to Bacharach first - so there are two options - the RB26 or RE2 - then we would continue on with the RB26 to Bingen - we have purchased the D-ticket - so we do not need to buy the extension as we will use that heavily in Nuremburg and Munich.

Why not just train it back to Boppard from St. Goar? You will have already been on a boat for nearly 2 hours by then. Train gives you more flexibility.

This time we are headed to Amsterdam, Cologne, Boppard, Freiburg, and Munich.

With the exception of Freiberg, your trip sounds eerily similar to mine in a few weeks: Amsterdam, Dusseldorf (w/ day trip to Cologne), Rudesheim (KD cruise to St. Goar), Rothenberg, Fussen ,and Munich.

Why not just train it back to Boppard from St. Goar?

Not a bad suggestion. The train will get you to Boppard in about 11 minutes. The cruise, while still scenic, isn't quite as scenic as the Bingen > St Goar segment, and it will cost you an additional €24 (assuming 2 adult passengers) for a Bingen > Boppard ticket that permits you to cruise the St Goar > Boppard segment.

OH, and the train trip will be free. with the Guest Ticket (which I think you already know.)

The absence of MONDAY in any of the columns means that the ship in question does not cruise that day (The 16:30 from Bingen, for example.)

Question 3:

• Boppard > Braubach by train is FREE with the Guest Ticket. Change trains in Koblenz. No long walk or ferry crossing is needed to reach Braubach.

• If you don't mind paying an extra €15 each for another K-D cruise, you can take the 10:15 (not 10:45) boat from Boppard directly to Braubach (arrive 10:45.)

Please do not rely fully on the information you have pulled from the forum already. Confirm train and ship schedules with the DB and K-D site in advance, and do the same just before you get on the trains using the DB app, which should indicate any changes from the normal schedule.

Thanks Scottyd, nixit71, and Russ for your responses. While my wife and I do enjoy cruising on a river and don't mind the leisurely pace of river travel, I am not so sure we want to spend the extra Euros to go downstream from St Goar to Boppard. We might just follow your advice training through Koblenz to Bacharach rather than the ferry and the walk into Filsen. Going into Koblenz would give us the chance to get to the Eck and maybe Fortress Ehrenbreitstein too.

In regards to travel schedules, I will be double checking the train schedule. I do have the DB app loaded and have booked our trips between Cologne and Boppard, Boppard and Freiburg, and Freiburg and Munich. I have gotten notifications as to minor changes to a couple of the departure/.arrival times already but I will definitely keep an eye on the DB 26 as August approaches.

The same for the KD cruise line schedule too. There's a KD office just opposite the Bellevue in Boppard. I am not a fan of the printed/brouchure version of the schedule. As stated in previous threads, it is not easy to read without some guidance (thanks again Forum!) and the choice of light gray as a font color makes printing the schedule nearly useless.

As to "eerie similarities" nixit71, Rothenberg and Fussen were on our potential places to visit. Freiburg is our only return city from our 2019 trip (Oslo, Berlin, Freiburg, Nuremberg and Viking Danube cruise). We did look into both as day trips from Munich but we opted for tours of Berchtesgaden and the Eagle's Nest and Dachau instead. We found that in 2019 our Black Forest driving tour with Simone Brixel was so rewarding and our three-day stay was just too short to fully appreciate the city and the Schwarzwald region and all it has to offer. We prefer to stay in one place for at least four nights to have a home base and venture further afield each day. At least that is what we discovered about our traveling style that week. Our five night stay will let us take a couple tours of the Altstadt, and perhaps train to Gengenbach and Stasbourg.

I would, once again, like to thank the Forum (especially Russ) for the years of threads that have made the planning of this trip possible.

We might just follow your advice training through Koblenz to Bacharach
rather than the ferry and the walk into Filsen. Going into Koblenz
would give us the chance to get to the Eck and maybe Fortress
Ehrenbreitstein too.

I believe you are referring to BRAUBACH with "Bacharach."

The Deutsches Eck, while significant to Germans, is an OK place to walk around if you have time and are in the area, but I do not count it among my more memborable experiences in Germany. Might be something to do at the end of your day if there is time.

You may want to avoid the long trek across Koblenz to the cable car ride and the Eck... Bus #1 should get you there and back from the Hauptbahnhof in Koblenz. Your Guest Ticket covers this and other city buses.

So this forum has been a great help in planning our end of this month trip to Germany. First time to this part of Germany but train traveled throughout Europe.

Two seniors - Here is our plan for July 26 Friday - we have one day to do Rhine cruising starting and ending in Mainz. No bags to carry or store.

Buy the daily pass
Train to Rudesheim.
KD boat Rudesheim (11 ish) to St Goar - explore the castle a bit. I've read that getting on in Rudesheim is better for seat selection than in Bingen
St Goar to Bingen by train explore Bingen .. the monastery
Bingen to Mainz by train

One of the party is not a great walker so wont be excited to walk uphill to the castles and wanted stations that are easy transfer from boat to train and vice versa.

I know we dont have to buy the train in advance, and not even sure if with these few stops if it makes sense to buy the pass at all or if we should take the earlier train from Mainz to Rudesheim to catch the boat (since I know the pass only starts at 9am on a Friday)
Should we buy the KD tickets in advance or will be OK to show up.

Do the train ticket machines take US credit cards or should we have euros available?
With our time frame, would you recommend any other towns?

If we want to stay for dinner on the valley would you recommend Bingen or Rudesheim since I am assuming we can return to Mainz from either one at 8 or 9 pm.

Thanks to all who provide advice and suggestions.

@edelmanmichelle

we have one day to do Rhine cruising...wont be excited to walk uphill to the castles

With a full day and not so much interest in castles or walking around a lot, you might want to try this suggestion instead.

Buy the daily pass
You mean the day pass for trains, correct? That's the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket. Buy it from a station ticket machine in Mainz for €35/2 persons.

• Direct train from Mainz to St. Goar 9:03 - 10:00. From the station it's a short walk down to the K-D dock. Take a detour along Heerstrasse to check out the shops on the way (cuckoo clocks? bier steins?) and take in the river views. This is all short, easy walking, NOT a steep climb to Rheinfels castle and its multitude of steps. View the castle from Heerstrasse: https://www.weinkonvent-st-goar.de/images/heerstrasse.jpg

KD Cruise boat: 10:55 > Rüdesheim Ask for the senior discount when buying your ticket dockside.

• It should be pretty simple to get a seat. The boat starts its southbound cruise in St. Goar so there should not be crowds competing for chairs like in Rüdesheim. People who cruised north from Rüdesheim do not typically stay on the same boat for the round trip back.

• Suggest you get off the boat in Bacharach (12:05) to see the nice half timbered buidings. Have lunch there? Walking here is flat and easy.

• Board the next boat at 13:30 for Rüdesheim (15:15.) This is the Goethe Paddlewheel boat. R'heim is a nicer town for sightseeing and dining than Bingen.

Stay as long as you like in R'heim, using the same R-P ticket/day pass you bought that same morning for the return to Mainz.

dinner on the valley would you recommend Bingen or Rudesheim

I had Zum Weinkeller on my Bingen radar. Haven't been there, but the reviews are good.

Russ

Thanks for this alternative suggestion. Interesting idea to go all the way to St Goar and go back up. The boat ride is a little longer I'm guessing going up river but I like the idea of a couple of stops along the way and having gone the farthest drstination first.

Sillyquestion. The train is at 903 and the pass can't be used until after 9. We can buy before 9 and just not validate until we get on train or need to buy right at 9 and quickly board the train?

Is the paddle boat different than the other KD boats?

"Sillyquestion. The train is at 903 and the pass can't be used until after 9. We can buy before 9 and just not validate until we get on train or need to buy right at 9 and quickly board the train?"

Not a silly question. You can buy the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket earlier that morning. You can buy it the day before - or some other day before that - for convenience, if you wish, as long as you buy it for the actual date you will be cruising. (Just remember that once bought, it's not refundable.)

You do not "validate" this ticket other German Railways tickets. I think the names of the travelers might have to be written in. It's been a few years since I've bought one.

The Goethe Paddle wheelboat story:

https://www.k-d.com/en/charter-service/charter-request/charter-contact-thank-you/the-fleet/rms-goethe/

Thanks again for your quick answers. Starting to understand the system especially the train tickets. So we just need to get to the station a little early, buy the pass and then its valid for that 9:03 train (and the rest of the trains for the day) Sounds perfect. Your plan/suggestions make a lot of sense and I love the idea of the paddleboat! Do you think we need to buy the KD tickets in advance or given this route we can just do at the dock.

Just one more question(at least now). The monastery in Bingen and its history looked very interesting. Would you recommend stopping there on the way back to Rudesheim and then ferry to Rudesheim for a walk around. We can take trains to Mainz from both Bingen and Rudesheim correct?

Do you know how much longer the boat ride to do this way vs Rudesheim to St Goar? It may not really make a difference if we make the stops that you mention and we dont have any fixed time to be back in Mainz.

With your previous plan - the 11 am boat - you'd arrive in St. Goar at 13:15. 2.25 hours.

Before that, your only train option from Mainz to Rüdesheim would be 9:36 - 10:35 including a necessary change of train on the way. And the train station isn't so close to the K-D dock... you might need to rush, or even miss the boat if the train were a little late.

With the plan I suggested, your actual cruise time on the boat will be 3 hours. But if the train that gets you to St Goar is a little late, you will still have a nice time cushion in St Goar for catching the 10:55 boat.

Now, if Bacharach isn't a priority, you can stay on that 10:55 boat to Bingen (13:35) or Rüdesheim (13:50.) You can catch a train from either Bingen or Rüdesheim at any hour of the day, but Bingen > Mainz takes less time and does not require a change of train. However, I think you might be talking about the abbey on the other side of the river outside of Rüdesheim:

https://www.bingen.de/en/hildegard/searching-for-traces/st-hildegard-abbey-eibingen

See number 12 at the top of this map:

https://ruedesheim.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Umleitung-Ruedesheim-2021_mit-Stadtplan-scaled.jpg

Whether you include or skip Bacharach, I think staying on one of the cruise boats to Rüdesheim makes more sense for sightseeing, as long as you still have the time and energy - even if you have a change of train when you head back to Mainz. There's more in R'heim to see and do as well...

https://ruedesheim.de/en/home-english/

You can buy your tickets at the St. Goar dock. Advance purchase tickets are possible but are not seat-specific. Line up a little early for the boat for your best choice of seats.

Thanks again for all the detailed advice. It's really really helpful. I think we have a good plan now with stops in town and the river.

I think we do want to make the stop in Bacharach and then take the boat back to Rudesheim visit the town and the monastery. I think the confusion over which side of the river was that the saint is named Bingen but the monastery is actually on the Rudesheim side. It looks like the grounds are open until 830 pm so there is plenty of time to visit the town and the monastery and get back to Mainz for the night.

You mentioned a change in trains from Rudesheim to Mainz. Where do we transfer?

And lastly, the train to St Goar from Mainz .. Are there stops listed on the train tracks in Mainz or is there a terminus I should be looking for to get to the right track? It's always the little things and times that trip up the best laid plans so more I know in advance the better!

Rüdesheim > Mainz Hbf: The transfer is in Wiesbaden, always, I think.

You can look up this train journey and any other train journey by doing a journey search at the German Railways site. Enter your "from" and "to" stations, date, time, etc. When the itineraries pop up, click on "details" to see where you change trains and at what time, which platform numbers your train is scheduled to arrive at / leave from, etc.

https://int.bahn.de/en/

Platform numbers are not shown if the date is too far out. Also, the platform numbers can change on short notice according to need, so there will ALSO be electronic signage at most larger stations (like Mainz and Wiesbaden) to guide you... like this one at Mainz Hauptbahnhof:

https://www.bkcw-bahnbilder.de/PictureGallery/pix/de/station/m/mainz/hauptbahnhof/bfmainzhbf_bk0804150117.jpg

Hauptbahnhof (Hbf is the abbreviation) means main station, by the way. Will you be staying near Mainz Hauptbahnhof, or somewhere else?

The departure time, final destination of the train, and the updated platform # ("Gleis" in German means track/platform) will be shown on these signs in the lobby. Individual platforms have signage for the trains which changes as trains arrive and depart.

The 9:03 train from Mainz to St Goar should be represented on the station signage with Köln Messe/Deutz, a station in Cologne, as the final destination. Signs often indicate intermediate destinations as well in smaller letters... Koblenz and Bonn would likely be mentioned for this journey.

Great information as always from this forum. We are arriving the night before and staying at the Hilton Mainz which I believe is by the river (the other Hilton has been closed I believe)

With these instructions, and the terminus of Koln for the train, we should be good. Not having luggage makes us much more mobile in the stations as well. I've got the app for Deutsche Bahn on my phone, and I've used it to purchase tickets onward to Berlin, so understand how to use.

Sooo... Hilton Mainz by the river... one more tip...

At the DB site, enter Mainz, Hilton Mainz Hotel (Hotel) as your "from" location and Mainz Hbf (main station) as your "to."

This will bring up multiple bus trips that will get you to Mainz Hbf in about 12 minutes from the Rheingoldhalle/Rathaus bus stop.

The Rheinland-Pfalz ticket will NOT be valid for this trip since you must leave prior to 9 am. Pay the driver for that ride. However, the return trip to your hotel that same night WILL be covered by the R-P ticket.