Mainz and Rhine river 1-day trip

Have you checked to see if the Mainz cruise runs on Monday? I was looking into the kd tour from Mainz and it looked to me like it didn't run every day, but I haven't gotten very serious about my research yet. If it's not available Monday do you have flexibility to switch your days around and do Sunday instead?

Your idea of touring Mainz is not necessarily a bad one... perhaps if Mainz indeed has what interests you. Before you decide to spend a day there, I think you need to explore on your own ideas what specific things you might want to see/do there.

I suggest you have a look at the list of things to see/do on Tripadvisor and create a short list of things that look best to you.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187393-Activities-oa0-Mainz_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

It's not a big deal to help you create a schedule for your Monday plan. It will work. What concerns me a little is that you've reduced the Upper Middle Rhine Valley (a UNESCO World Heritage site) to the Rhine cruise and Marksburg - both very good experiences IMO, but that leaves you with next to zero in-town experiences there, with the exception of a tiny bit of time in Braubach. The old-world wine towns that dot the Rhine are really quite special. So I would suggest you have a careful look at those as well, starting with the west bank towns that you are skipping altogether... Boppard, St Goar, Oberwesel and Boppard are surely worth your attention. You might enjoy some time just exploring the towns themselves on foot, and check out some of the jaw-dropping buildings...

https://delveintoeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/braubach-germany.jpg
https://dynamic-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-o/25/19/c7/47/fotogeniek-pandje-in.jpg?w=1200&h=1200&s=1

For your research:

Bacharach: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g580190-Activities-Bacharach_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

Oberwesel: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g198501-Activities-oa0-Oberwesel_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

Boppard:
https://www.boppard-tourismus.de/en/sightseeing/
https://www.boppard-tourismus.de/en/leisure-activities/chair-lift/

St Goar: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g198631-Activities-oa0-Sankt_Goar_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

(Rick's materials also cover St Goar and Bacharach.)

It might well be that after looking all this over, you won't want a full day for Mainz - you may in fact want to catch a train from there to the west bank towns for part or all of your Sunday. I used to live in Mainz and like it very much; it's a great stop for those using FRA airport and for other reasons too, and a nice place, but in many ways it's not vastly different from a lot of nice, average German cities. Maybe half a day there would be right for you. Maybe a full day. Or maybe you'd just as soon spend both days in the most scenic part of the Rhine, which is certainly possible from Mainz.

Going to have to disagree about Mainz not being very special and similar to other German cities.
The Archbishop of Mainz was the deciding Elector for the Holy Roman Emperor and was the chosen person to do the crowning at the coronation. His lands stretched almost to Prague. The Mainzer Dom reflects this. The furnishings in their are superior to those in Speyer and Worms, though all three cathedrals were built at almost the same time. Oh, and one of the wives of Charlemagne is buried here, Fastrada, in 794.

The Chagall windows in St. Stephens are stunning.
The Roman ampitheater ruins are rather impressive, as is the fortress above them.
I really like the Isis Temple ruins.
There are some great museums here, especially the Gutenburg museum.

Would also recommend a visit to Eltville. Often left off of the list of towns to visit on the Rhein, it is charming, has a beautiful river promenade and has easy access by bus to Eberbach Monastery. The basilica there is magnificent.

July 6-7 is an American holiday weekend. That means you'll have even more company on the Rhine. Plus, looking at my KD Lines schedule, they are not running on Monday. If you do take the cruise and then the 4pm tour at Marksburg you'll need to consider another way back to your base as the last boat that goes to Rudesheim (or Bingen) leaves Braubach at 1300 and doesn't arrive until 1900 (7 pm). It does take a lot longer going upstream.

I agree with Ms Jo, Mainz is not to be missed. But you need to check the dates, because the Isis Temple is not open Sundays, and it's quite easy to overlook, as it's inside a shopping mall (the Romer Passage). And Sundays are not the best days for visiting St Stephans to view the Chagall windows, because they do hold services there. The Roman Amphitheater has major construction going on on one end, and the Citadel's interior space is filled with the stage and seating for the summer concert series. (I was there last week.)The Gutenberg and the Landeskrise museums are excellent. The Dom is, as noted, better than many, but also covered on the outside in scaffolding. Sundays can be rather quiet because much of the shopping will be closed.

I suggest you cruise Sunday, tour Mainz on Monday. Or go down the river Sunday, and overnight.

A very nice place to eat in Mainz is Heiliggeist.

Thank you very much for all your responses. Greatly appreciate all of them. The only reason why I wanted to do Rhine cruise on Monday is because we are only arriving Germany on the 5th and I thought with the jet lag on a first day it would be wise to see Mainz and be closer to the hotel in case we get too exhausted . But maybe we should reconsider, if that gives us a chance to see more.
In Mainz we are planning to visit Gutenberg museum, main Cathedral, church with Mark Chagall’s windows and just walk around, but I’m a bit overwhelmed with the logistics for the Rhine day trip . We will have a base in Mainz July 5-8, leaving for Munich on the 8th.

Are you planning on taking the boat from Mainz ?? I’d take a train to Ruedesheim and get the boat that starts from there

In Mainz we are planning to visit Gutenberg museum, main Cathedral, church with Mark Chagall’s windows and just walk around...

OK, so you have a plan that looks good to you.

"I thought with the jet lag on a first day it would be wise to see Mainz and be closer to the hotel in case we get too exhausted ."

Makes perfect sense to me. That's what I'd do. You are right, no telling how fit for sightseeing you will be on th 5th. Play it by ear. I suspect you might knock out a couple of those Mainz things on the 5th.

July 7: It's not true that the cruise boats are not running on this date - it's just that K-D's schedule is reduced on Mondays. The schedules show clearly that there are cruise boats on this day and on July 6. Your options for either day below:

• 8:02 Direct RB train from Mainz Hbf > Bingen Rhein Stadt (8:29) + walk to dock + 9:15 KD cruise to St Goarshausen (10:45.) 11:32 VIA train to Braubach (11:53) and walk up to castle for 1 pm English tour of Marksburg. See Braubach after tour.

• 10:02 Direct RB train from Mainz Hbf (10:29) + walk to dock + 11:00 Bingen-Rüdesheimer cruise to St Goarshausen (12:45.) 13:32 Via train to Braubach (13:53) + see Braubach + walk up to castle for 4 pm tour of Marksburg.

(On July 6 there is an additional boat from Bingen to St Goarshausen at 11:15 (KD) which reaches St Goarshausen at 12:50.)

Return by train to Mainz by train via Koblenz at whatever time suits you. The train crosses the river on a trestle - no ferry or boat needed. You do not want to use a southbound cruise boat.

(Because your day starts in Mainz, I would not take the train to Rüdesheim for the cruise - it's a longer train ride and requires a change of train as well.)

If you like th 8:02 trip (which frees up your afternoon/evening) you will do better financially by going on SUNDAY because the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket day pass at €38/2 adults - your train ticket for handling the train ride to Bingen and back to Mainz later - is usable only after 9 am on Monday... and an additional train ticket would be needed. Buy the R-P ticket on the app or from a ticket machine at Mainz Hbf station.

After Sunday you can assess your interests for Monday and either stay in Mainz or go back to the towns I mentioned within the Rhine gorge by train (Rheinland-Pfalz day ticket, use from 9 am onward.)

You have some great recommendations here. A few more details that may be helpful:

You want the Frankfurt airport regional train station. When you get there, look for the green/blue RMV ticketing machine, not the red ones. The RMV machines are for commuter lines that run to Mainz and beyond.

If you arrive in the morning, it is conceivable that you can complete your entire Mainz to do list that day. It's a great way to stay awake to help you adjust to your new time zone. I've done exactly this list upon arrival with a stop for lunch, and did not feel rushed. All of the things that you have mentioned are walkable from one another. This will leave you with two full days to explore the Middle Rhine.

With two days by train/boat, my bias would be to include a river cruise, Marksburg, St Goar/Rheinfels, and Bacharach.

This gives you a very diverse three days including a historically significant cathedral, art, a museum, a boat cruise, a castle ruin, a preserved castle, and two charming Rhine villages.

Ticket machines vary. New ones appear regularly. Combo RMV/DB machines are common and have both logos and might be green, red or both.

https://www.rmv.de/c/fileadmin/_processed_/2/9/csm_Automat-c-RMV-EN_234ddb36ce.jpg

https://www.nahverkehr-ffm.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DB_RMV_Fahrkartenautomat_neu_980px.png

Just look for a RMV logo and pay €6.60 pp for a RMV ticket. Board soon after purchasing as RMV tickets expire otherwise.

We are also going to Mainz in September and we have the Gutenberg Museum on our itinerary. As well as other sites mentioned by others here. It is named after Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of printing from movable metal type in Western Europe. The collections include printing equipment and examples of printed materials from many cultures.

Thank you so much for all the info!
1) So from what I can see, since we should arrive around 13:00, we can take a regional train or an ICE at 14:57 ( price wise - for 4 of us ICE comes to 28 Euros. Not sure how much cheaper S train would be) Difference in travel time - 18 min vs 25? Then we will have to take a taxi in Mainz from the train station to H2 hotel. Does this sound right?
2) We would have just the evening on Saturday to walk around/ have dinner. any recommendations?
3) I've seen some info that Gutenberg museum is still under renovation and the exhibition has been moved to Natural History museum. Still planning on visiting it. So the plan for the day is : Gutenberg monument, St. Martin’s Dom Cathedral, near by St. Augustine church , Market Fountain/Gutenberg Museum ( Natural History museum) St.Stephan church ( Chagal) Marketplatz, if we can do it all in 32C! ( Maybe it is better to try and do the River cruise + Castle that day if it is better with the breeze from the river ( Hoping we would be up for it after an 11 hour flight the day before :-) ?
4) After Marksburg castle, we should take the train to Koblenz and then get to the Deutsches Eck and transfer to the other side of the river to take a train back to Mainz or there is another way to do it?
5) Is that correct, that on either days we decide to do the Rhine cruise or, if time permits, visit any of the beautiful towns, we should by Rheinland-Pfalz ticket day pass ( use after 9am on Monday). We would also need to get to Frankfurt main station on Tuesday , arriving at 11am. should we just purchase 4 tickets for a regular S ban or there is a family discounted ticket?

Sorry for all the questions, trying to be ready . So excited about this trip!

Thank you all for your time and for sharing your knowledge.

Mariannashch

Thanks for the info on the renovation. I just looked on line at

https://www.mainz.de/microsite/gutenberg-museum-en/Exhibitions/bereich2.php

And saw:

The new exhibition “Gutenberg Museum MOVED” was opened on the premises of the Natural History Museum at the end of November 2024. The exhibition extends over a total of three levels and offers visitors a new way of experiencing media and understanding their history. The entire exhibition can be experienced in English.

Looks like the Gutenberg and Natural History museum(s) are either on the same site or the same city block. Perhaps someone who is knowledgeable might confirm this.

1) The ICE price you are looking at is the "Super Sparpreis Aktion" saver fare... train specific, miss the train for any reason (like a delayed flight) and the ticket is useless. The Flexpreis ticket(€71.60) can be used at other times the same day on the ICE trains to Mainz. But it's too expensive, right?

The S-Bahn is a poor choice on this day as there are notifications of possible delays due to construction on this line.

I'd prefer to see you take the REGIONAL EXPRESS (RE) TRAIN - no such warnings on the schedule - from the Regionalbahnhof station at FRA airport to Mainz Hbf. Schedule:

13:24 - 13:49; 14:24 - 14:49; 15:24 - 15:49

The RE train and the S-Bahn are both classified as "local transport" and are priced the same, €21.40 for all of you using a fare-level 4 "RMV Gruppentageskarte (Group day ticket) 5 Personen." Buy this ticket once you are present AT THE Regionalbahnhof STATION from a ticket machine or the DB app just before travel; it must be used soon after purchase or it expires.

You can take the taxi from there.... Or you can hop on a city bus. Bus 76 runs frequently from the Mainz Hbf bus area to a stop near your hotel (14:04 - 14:10; 14:34 - 14:40; 14:49 - 14:55; 15:04 - 15:10, etc.) called the Feldbergplatz/Mainzer Stadtwerke stop. You can walk to the H2 from there. This bus ride is included in your RMV group ticket price for the regional express train at no extra charge since the level 4 price covers this additional travel distance. Just don't toss the ticket away when you step off the train in Mainz!

Because the H2 location means either a bus or taxi ride to the station for all your coming and going, I'd encourage you to get a hotel near the station within easy walking distance instead. It's a pleasure to just walk out the hotel door in the morning to your train platform and take off.

4) "After Marksburg castle, we should take the train to Koblenz and then get to the Deutsches Eck and transfer to the other side of the river to take a train back to Mainz or there is another way to do it?"

Don't do that.

Take the VIAS train from Braubach to Wiesbaden Hbf; transfer there to a HLB-RB Mainz Hbf-bound train.

The DB site will give you the travel times and connections. Just enter Braubach as your "from station," Mainz Hbf as your "to station."

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

Your travel on this day should be completely covered with the purchase of a Rheinland-Pfalz ticket for 4 persons. If you do this on a Monday, you may not use the R-P ticket before 9 am. On Sunday you can use it at any hour.
https://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets/tickets/leisure-tickets/rheinland-pfalz-ticket/

5)...We would also need to get to Frankfurt main station on Tuesday , arriving at 11am. should we just purchase 4 tickets for a regular S ban or there is a family discounted ticket?

The same "RMV Gruppentageskarte 5 Personen" ticket that got you to Mainz will get you from Mainz to Frankfurt's main station. The price should be a little higher because of the greater distance to Frankfurt's main station. Fare level 5, €36.50 for 4. Buy it using the app or at the station from a ticket machine. (Or if you are still using the city bus... you can maybe buy it from the driver.)I would hunt down the RE trains again for the trip to Frankfurt.

Find the bus area H (blue dot with white letter H) on the upper left side of the map below. That is where you can board Bus 76 to reach your hotel. Mainz's railway station is on the right. The main entrance/exit from the station is right where you see "Vorplatz" - so bus area H is located just a short walk at about 2:00 from the entrance. Buses typically show their direction they are headed by displaying the final destination of the route; the final destination for Bus 76 in your case is "Am Lemmchen B." The Feldbergplatz stop should be the 5th stop from station stop H.

https://www.rnn.info/fileadmin/downloads/Bahnhofsplaene/RNN_Bahnhofsplan_Mainz-Bahnhof_13122015.pdf

Alternatively, numerous hotels are located on/near the far left side of the map and elsewhere within walking distance of the station.

Thank you so much @ Russ!
Do we need to validate this RMV Gruppentageskarte ticket at any ticket machine each time prior to boarding trains or we just need to show them if the conductor walks by and asks to present them on the train ( like in old times)?

No validation. Valid for the date printed on the ticket, the whole day. "The names of the travellers must be entered indelibly on the ticket. Only then does the ticket become valid." Transport personnel check tickets randomly and issue fines to those without a valid ticket.

Thank you @Russ

One bit of incorrect information. A group day ticket does not have to be used immediately after purchase. It is a day ticket and can be used any time that day. Once you buy your group day ticket from the airport to Mainz, you do not have to rush in fear that it will expire. Just write your names on the back. No validation needed in this transport area. It is a day ticket though and not a 24 hour ticket. You would need a 2nd one the next day for travel.

Thank you!