Mainz 2 Bacharach;straight train there or train fm Mainz to Bingen/KD boat to St Goar train 2 Bach.

I would take the ship from Bingen to St. Goar and train back to Bacharach. That little short ride on the ship from Bacharach to St. Goar means you would miss more than half of the Rhine, so do the longer cruise.
It is fine having your luggage on the ship. I see people do it all the time.

No Uber in Germany. It is illegal. Regular taxis are fine and not that expensive if you need one. All have regulated tarifs.

The trains run regularly until late in the evening, with a slower schedule after 21:00 or so. The train station in St. Goar is practically opposite the dock where you get off the ship. Maybe a 5 min. walk.

Thank you so much. That is what I was leaning toward
1) did I read the timetable correctly
2) do you know how far the train station is from the boat launch in bingen ? How much time should I allow for the transfer!

3) can I wait until I get to the launch to buy boat tickets or buy ahead ?
Thanks again !!

"...should I train fm Mainz to Bingen and get the KD Boat fm Bingen to St Goar?"

Yes. Jo has steered you correctly. This is the best way to see the river valley for the first time.

There are 2 Bingen stations in question... for the shortest walk to the KD dock you will want to be on a train from Mainz that stops at the Bingen (Rhein) Stadt station. The walk is flat and easy from there, only a few minutes. (The walk is possible from Bingen Hbf as well - I've done it several times - but longer.) Photo of KD dock and ticket kiosk; just buy tickets there:
http://img.marcopolo.de/api/content/images/image/0/0/o/6o/t1024/u/photo-31344.jpg
I can't imagine you'd need a taxi to move such a short distance. (Depending on the location of your Bacharach room, you may or may not need one there. Check that carefully.)

Show your train ticket at the KD kiosk for a 20% cruise discount, btw.

Of course you will have to catch the 14:30 boat from Bingen if your plan is to get off in Bacharach, drop bags, then catch the later boat at 17:15 from Bacharach to St. Goar (17:55.) If you catch the 16:30 boat from Bingen instead, getting off in Bacharach means you can continue the cruise the next day (which is possible - just check with the boat personnel so they can mark your ticket.)

Trains from St. Goar leave at 16:56 and 18:56 for Bacharach if returning the same day. Fare is €3.90.

It's a shame that Rick Steves makes such a fuss over staying Bacharach. It's much easier to do this cruise - especially with luggage - if you can just get off in St. Goar and stay there. St. Goar is home to Rheinfels Castle, btw. And St. Goar is a better town for train travelers anyway, since it has a ferry right there which provides access to trains on the opposite river bank. And visiting Bacharach from a St. Goar base is a snap, only 10 minutes by train.

Yes - your boat times look correct.

thank you so much!! i would love to stay at St Goar but I had problems. Iit's September 14 We are going on a wednesday and leaving on a Friday. Saturday night is the Rhine inFlames so most are either booked or want us to stay Saturday night. There is a wine festival during the day. We are going to drop by it but without really knowing what it is like, I wasn't sure that we wanted to stay in the middle of it. I tried Hotel Rehinelds in St Goar and they were sold out. Iif you have an idea of one that you think might not be sold out and staying there is a good idea, Pleae let me know. The first place I tried in Bacharach was sold out too.. Any further input is much appreciated.

Have you checked in Ober Wesel or in Boppard?

I had found a place in Bacharach - should I forgo that and check Boppard and O.? I need to be in Mainz for a train that leaves Mainz at 12:40 on Sat

I forgot your dilemma with the wine fest. You are probably fortunate to have a room on that side of the river. Maybe just plan around it as you've been doing.

I figured if we had our luggage fm Bingen up the river we could just keep it with us all the way to St. Goar and then take the train fm St Goar to Bacharach with our leaving St Goar to explore the next day. Going from the KD dock to the train station - what is that like, how long etc? Or should I stop in Bacharach and do the Bacharach to St Goar later as also suggested.

I dunno. If I were intent on walking St. Goar, my preference might be to catch the 14:30 boat in Bingen, disembark and drop bags in Bacharach, and proceed baglessly by boat to St. Goar after 2 hours in Bacharach. If you take the bags with you to St. Goar, you'll have at least an hour or so there with your bags while you wait for your train, which is OK if you're just sitting at a table somewhere (or if the TI office is open and will hold them for you,) but I wouldn't want to drag the bags around St. Goar on foot for an hour. Just depends on your choices - and maybe what time you want to get back to Bacharach at the end.

Exactly what i needed to know. You are an angel !

Where can I find the train and ferry schedule? I'm really trying and reading and researching but I'm lost without y'all

Sorry, assumed you had the DB train itinerary search page:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

This is the KD cruise boat schedule:

https://www.k-d.com/fileadmin/kataloge/KD_Timetable_intern_2017.pdf

St. Goar also has a ferry that shuttles back and forth across the river all day every 20 minutes or so.

do you know how far the train station is from the boat launch in
bingen ? How much time should I allow for the transfer!

Google maps shows the trip from Bingen Stadt Bahnhof to the KD dock as less then 400 yds (4 minutes). You'll also have to save time to buy your ticket as the kiosk.

Coming from Bingen, only the milk run, RB (or MRB) trains stop at the Stadt Bahnhof. It you take a faster train, you will have to go past the Bingen Stadt Bahnhof and get off at the Bingen Hbf and take an RB back to the Stadt Bahnhof.

Use the Bahn schedule website for schedules.

1) is there a schedule for the ferry somewhere esp the one at St Goar ( i have seen somewhere in a previous post where I think it was Russ that outlines how to get to Marksburg time by time so I am going to search for that but I wondering about the ferry timetable)
2) I already had the KD timetable which was very helpful but I not seen the whole brochure so thank you for posting that and I will dig into that next. I was hoping for some sort of similar time table for the DB train.
3) For the life of me, I can not figure out how to use the train website. I feel marginalized. I have a college degree but can't figure out how to book a train???! and I don't understand about the MIlk run - is that booked thru another website other than DB. I see only one train station in Mainz but 4 stations (!!) for Bingen.

Bingen Rhine KD
Bingen (Rhine) Hbg
Bingen (Rhine) city
Bingen - Gaulsheim
when I type in Mainz to Bingen Rhine Stadt it changes it to Bingen Rhine City and then I get these time
12"03-12:31 or 12:32-13:01 or 13:03-13:31 or 13:32 o 13:59

I will need to get to the KD dock. It was my impression that the Rhein Stadt dropped me rigth there <400 and that the Bingen Hof to KD was also walkable though I'm not sure how long to allow for that and I have no idea what the Bingen Rhine City means or is located.
Is there a BD tutorial? I have had trouble trying to coordinate other cities as well. I am going to need to take trains of the rhine to Marksburg etc is that the BD website or some milk run website. I saw mention on another thread about another train website other than BD for the Rhine. Then throw in the Rhineland Pfalz ticket that many mention of for discounts (if not for this run then for the run I need to take the next day which I quiver at even trying.) I am going off to research the Marksburg leg for the next day now bc I will have to time ferries and trains. I have analysis paralysis. I need:
1) a train fm Mainz to Bingen to catch the KD boat,

2)a train to use to tour the Rhine or at least Marksburg and St Goar and back to Bacharach the next day, any way to maximize my time on the Rhine that day and night if there was something else in beside the two castles or not. Some say the English tour is not neccessary bc of the pamphlet they give you - one person said it took 30 minutes to get up to marksburg even if the people mover is broken- one person said 1 1/2 hours to get fm train station to Marksburg so I'm gonna research that now but I digress

#)and then finally the last day a train fm Bacharach to Mainz in order to catch a train that leaves Mainz at 12:40.
THank goodness for you kind souls who take the time and energy to help clueless people. If you need suggestions on places in the US or parts of Italy or how to cook something - i make a mean chicken cacciatore and a roast that is similiar to beef bourguignon, or pulled pork or beef barbacoa, I can help you. Otherwise I am throwing myself at your mercy

Here is Rick's tutorial for the Bahn website: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules

St. Goar Ferry: http://www.faehre-loreley.de/fs_fahrplan.html
Boppard Ferry: http://www.faehre-boppard.de/s/cc_images/cache_2467299356.jpg?t=1468483596

The Rick Steves guide to DB will not help you with local trips like yours.

Mainz to Bingen: Start station = Mainz Hbf
Use Bingen (Rhein) Stadt (Stadt=City) for the closest station to the KD dock
When you do your search, click on "only local transport" for the local/regional/milk run train schedules.
You are looking for SCHEDULES - not for PRICES or TICKETS, which you will not find at the DB site. There is no reason to buy any of the tickets you will need in this area at this time - just buy them at the station. I would NOT use the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket on this day for what you have in mind - too expensive. This is a local trip covered by thelocal transit authority. Mainz-Bingen should be €7 each from a ticket machine in Mainz.. You will use the normal local trains (RE, RB, MRB) that run between Mainz and Bingen.

You can see Bingen (Rhein) Hbf station (Hbf = main station) at the far left of this map, the Stadt station on the right, the docks in the middle. Solid Black Line = tracks:

http://seniorenwohnen-germaniablick.de/Images/Stadtplan_gross.jpg

To catch a train after your cruise from St. Goar to Bacharach: Buy a normal DB ticket from a St. Goar platform ticket machine (€3.90 each.)

Train from Bacharach to St. Goar and Marksburg (in Braubach)
Use the DB itinerary page to find schedules. Use the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket on this day to cover all your train rides. No ferry is needed if you want to keep it simple. St. Goar is 10 minutes from Bacharach by direct train. To reach Braubach from St. Goar or Bacharach, take the train to Koblenz and change there for Braubach. At the DB itinerary page just enter Braubach as your destination and it will show you how to get there. Click on "show details" after the itinerary pops up - this will show you the train platform changes in Koblenz and the connecction times. Go back to Bacharach as you came - enter Bacharach as your destination to find schedule and changes to be made in Koblenz.

The local trains leave Bacharach for St. Goar and points north at :50 after every hour in the morning. The first one available to you on the R-P ticket (good after 9 am weekdays) leaves Bacharach at 9:50. The same trains leave St. Goar for Koblenz and points north at the top of the hour. (You may also find some RE trains - regional express, also OK to use on the RP ticket - out of Bacharach heading north at :21 after the hour, but these trains do not stop in St. Goar AFAIK.)

Bacharach-Mainz: Normal ticket again from the local transit authority is available at a ticket machine - should be €9.40 each on the local/regional trains.

You asked about normal one-page schedules. These can be found online for many routes but they're in German and pretty confusing. At the station there will be poster-sized schedules for departures on goldenrod paper. White schedules are departures. Here's a sample, but they all look something like this:

http://bahnreise-wiki.de/w/images/9/9b/Fahrplanaushang.jpg

1) is there a schedule for the ferry somewhere esp the one at St Goar

http://www.faehre-loreley.de/fs_fahrplan.html

Scroll down to »FAHRPLAN FÄHRE LORELEY« (there are additional runs in times of heavy demand)

Bingen Rhine KD
Bingen (Rhine) Hbg
Bingen (Rhine) city
Bingen - Gaulsheim

»KD« is the boat dock, »Hbf« (not: Hbg) is the main station (Hauptbahnhof), »city« is the station where you want to go. It is served by the slowest trains only, so you might need to change trains at Bingen Hbf. All trains you need you can look up at the DB website, independent of the actual carrier (not being a native speaker of English, I don't know the expression »milk run train« either; I suspect it's kind of a nick name, in (southern) German trains of that type are called a »Lumpensammler«, i.e. a rag-and-bone collector). The DB website will also display the best ticket for your trip, provided you have filled in the correct number of travellers and have indicated whether you want an outward ticket only or a round trip ticket. You may want to double check that against information given by the distributors of the local Verkehrsverbund, wich are placed often side by side to the DB machines. Just do a dummy booking (there is no advantage in pre booking regional tickets).

)and then finally the last day a train fm Bacharach to Mainz in order to catch a train that leaves Mainz at 12:40.

According to the DB website there are hourly trains leaving Bacharach at minute six past the hour and arriving at minute 55 in Mainz Hbf. So you have to catch the 11:06 train which arrives in Mainz at 11:55, which gives you plenty of time for transfer and a quick lunch.

As Lee is using it, milk run is the road less traveled, where historically milk or other supplies might have been delivered on an infrequent basis and with very little other traffic on the route. This would mean a smaller, slower, and less frequent mode of transport.

goody goody I have new found skills. I see the error of my ways now on the train website. THank you for giving me specific instructions bc there were mistakes to be made. And I was making them. i can't wait to try your instructions out. One thing tho - if I did the ferry intead of going to Koblenz would it be faster? I know I sound (well I'm not sure how to spell incompetant and now that I think about it - that may be a sign in itself) but I am brave and mighty and willing to try in order to have more touring time!!! I had unearthed this website somewhere in my surfing and was unsure how that compared or if it was the local run for db http://www.vrminfo.de/en/
On another note- personally how much time would you allow at Marksburg (seems like it take about 30 mins to get there fm the train stop and 50 min tour- is that about right or should I plan for more tiime ) and how much time would you plan for touring Rheinfels Castle? I was going to do the self tour ( i have Ricks book downloaded and a couple of other Germany tour guides) unless you tell me I should do the guided one.
thanks again for your kindness for a newbie