we are planning a trip on the KD Rhine boat.....starting in Bingen and ending in Boppard....we then will be continuing on to Amsterdam by train......does anyone know if we can take our luggage on the boat.....and if so, would it be secure while we hop on/off the boat to visit towns along the Rhine........thanks
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8942 posts
When you get on this ship, you can bring your luggage on board, but when you get off, you need to take it with you. The ship doesn't just sit there waiting for you. It isn't a hop on hop off kind of trip. The ship continues down the Rhine.
Some towns have lockers to store suitcases, but most don't.
Posted by
Paradise
6632 posts
If you are overnighting in Boppard, then I suggest that you go there first by train to drop bags at your hotel. Then catch a train south to Bingen to start your cruise back to Boppard. If you aren't staying over in Boppard, you might still go there first to drop bags - there are no lockers but you might be able to drop them at the TI office (see below) so that you can try your hop off - hop on-the-cruise-boat plan.
If you will be boarding the cruise with bags in Bingen, you must first check the KD schedule carefully. Find out if another boat is coming to Bacharach, Oberwesel, St. Goar, or wherever it is you want to hop off. If there are later boats, will they allow you adequate time in those towns? Hopping off and on is usually a little tricky to arrange. Another factor of course is your luggage. There are NO LOCKERS in stations between Bingen and Boppard. The TI offices will hold bags for you normally - St. Goar's has held my bag before - but you have to be careful about their hours (lunch closures, etc.) to make sure you can get your bags back when you need them. If you want to go to the trouble you can look into all that:
TI office contact information
The other option is to stay on the cruise with your bags the whole way to Boppard - drop bags at the TI office if possible - or at your hotel if you wisely decide to stay overnight in this lovely town - then backtrack by train to the towns you want to visit. Bacharach is 20 minutes south of Boppard. Oberwesel is 15, St. Goar 10. Trains run every hour and are much easier to hop on and off than the cruise boats.
Posted by
OP
brampton, ontario, canada
9 posts
what was I thinking......of course we can't leave luggage on the boat if planning to stop at some towns......unfortunately it seems to be getting very difficult to plan this trip........originally we were checking into the overnight cruises e.g. Viking but found them far too costly......not planning on trip until May 2016 so will just keep researching........thank you all for your input
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
You might do a little more checking into schedules to see if this is doable.
Are you staying in Bingen so you can start with the first boat in the morning (9:15)? Sound like you want to go on to Amsterdam that night. Here is what you will face.
The first boat down the river leaves Bingen at 9:15.
If you get off somewhere before Boppard, you will have to stay an hour and catch the next boat. That boat gets you into Boppard at 12:50.
The next fast connection to Amsterdam leaves Boppard at 12:51. You won't make that one. It is a least a 10 min walk from the boat dock to the Bahnhof.
The next fast connection to Amsterdam leaves Boppard at 14:51. This means almost 2 hours in Boppard OR another 1 hour hop off/on somewhere else on the Rhfein and a stopover in Boppard of just under an hour.
If you force an ICE from Köln to Amsterdam, you will get into Amsterdam at about 8:30 PM. (If you leave Boppard at 13:43, you can take route including an IC bus one hour from Düsseldorf to Roermond and get to Amsterdam by 7:30 PM.