Questions about traveling to (and staying in) the Rhineland area

• It's not feasible to cruise to Cologne in a single day.
• Mainz is not a good starting point for the cruise on several grounds.
• A cruise of the most scenic part of the Rhine only takes 1.5 - 2.5 hours. A solid rule of thumb is to start in Bingen or Rüdesheim and end in St. Goar or Boppard.
• The Middle Rhine Valley (Unesco World Heritage status) is a destination for at least one night, two or three if you wish to include Trier.

I like your idea of spending a day in Heidelberg (lockers for your bags) and proceeding north for the night. But I think your 2nd train leg should take you to Boppard, a good base for a multi-night stay in this most scenic region, and a good location if you are cruising the Rhine. Here's an outline for a doable visit that includes 3 nights.

Next day: Southbound train to Bingen, making a 1-2 hr. stop in Bacharach on the way for sightseeing. Cruise north to St. Goar and visit Rheinfels Castle. Train back to Boppard for the evening/night.

Next day: Train to Trier and back.

Next day: Time in Boppard (Sesselbahn lift?) Then train to Braubach to tour Marksburg Castle (best medieval castle experience on the Rhine; 1 pm and 4 pm tours in English.) Drop bags in a Koblenz locker on the way to Braubach; retrieve them after your castle visit, proceed to Cologne for the night.

What were the sights you wanted to see in Heidelberg? The castle (just the exterior or do you want to go on a tour of the inside), the student prison (my favorite), any of the churches, the Philosophers Weg?

Getting on the ship in Mainz is not the best idea. My recommendation is to board the ship in Rüdesheim, which gives you time to get your luggage downstairs for the rest of the trip, and then snag a seat upstairs. The ship then goes to Bingen, but when it gets there, all the good seats are usually gone. Can you tell I have taken this trip 100 times?
Ride the ship up to at least St. Goar or Boppard and then take the train on to Cologne. What things do you want to see in Cologne or the surrounding towns? If you don't know, then honestly, I would stay a day on the Rhein instead and explore there. My favorite town is Eltville, followed by Bacharach, but Ober-Wesel, St. Goar or Rüdesheim are also nice. Eltville has the best river promenade though. If you stay there, take the bus up to Eberbach Monastery. It has a stunning basilica and is one of the oldest and best-preserved monasteries around. St. Goar has Burg Rheinfels, which is my favorite castle on the Rhein. Other posters have their favorites too. Look at the websites to see which ones you want to visit. I like the idea of exploring on my own and this was the largest on the Rhein.

That is correct, you cannot leave your luggage on the ship. Best is to find a town to stay in and use the train to explore. The ships do not go to Cologne either, you will need to take the train.

All the great suggestions on this and your other recent post have me thinking about a trip to the Black Forest and the Rhine River for next year. I spent a few hours in Freiburg this past Sept. during my Switzerland trip and haven’t been able to get Germany out of my mind. We even preferred Freiburg over Colmar and Strasbourg.

Russ and Ms. Jo, thanks so much! What you are saying makes a lot of sense and looks MUCH more practical than my itinerary.

Russ, thank you for all the detailed and practical information, like where to leave luggage and so on. That is so helpful! I just looked up Boppard in one of my guidebooks and it sounds very charming and well suited for a base. Do you know where the luggage lockers are in Koblenz? I'm assuming the train station has them, but that looks like it's a 30 minute walk from where the boat docks. Is there anything closer?

And Ms. Jo, yes, the student prisons are one thing I want to see in Heidelberg. They were part of my paper (and the favorite part according to the other uni students in my class). Thanks for the other info as well, especially about getting a seat on board. I still remember taking the ferry from Athens to Crete back in the 90's. Because I got my ticket at the last minute, I was relegated to sitting (and sleeping) on the deck with no available seat. Not fun! I also would like to see the castle and the Philosophers Weg. Whether I see the inside depends on time, I guess. And I'd like just to stroll around town and have a nice lunch somewhere. Also, the only thing I really want to see in Cologne is the cathedral. I like your idea of exploring the Rhine a bit.

Carrie, I am definitely planning a long day trip to Freiburg from Gengenbach, especially after your words. It sounds wonderful!

Regarding disembarking a boat at Koblenz. You are correct. The train station is approximately a 30 minute walk from the boat dock to the train station. If I remember correctly part of it is uphill. I have done this twice, without my luggage. I didn't find the signage to be adequate for my husband and I to navigate confidently., although I don't recall that we got lost. I would not have wanted to make the trek with my luggage, even if I didn't have much to haul.

I have taken the train from St. Goar to Cologne. I believe we took a train about 9 a.m. We were interested in seeing the Cathedral. Unfortunately we arrived too late to take a guided tour which is something I would still like to do. However, signage at various points was adequate enough for us to understand what we were seeing. Someday I would like to return to take in more of the sights in Cologne.

I second the suggestion to visit the Rheinfels castle in St. Goar. It is a wonderful place. We took a bus to the top and walked back down. It is in ruins and there is much to see. There is a restaurant at the site, although we did not eat there. It would be a fantastic place to take children and children are very welcome there. At least when we were there in 2015.

Your trip sounds wonderful. I hope you thoroughly enjoy the planning part of it. I wish you all the best!

In 1970 it was possible to take the boat from Mainz to Cologne. Believe me, it was a looong ride!

Thanks, travelergirl! St. Goar sounds very nice and I'm excited about adding it to my itinerary. And that's good to know about Koblenz and the cathedral guided tour. I'll have to check into that ahead of time. Yes, I like the planning almost as much as the trip itself!

Stephen, ha! I can see that! I think the shorter cruise will be more my speed. :)

Do you know where the luggage lockers are in Koblenz? I'm assuming the
train station has them, but that looks like it's a 30 minute walk from
where the boat docks. Is there anything closer?

Luggage lockers are right in the station. I recommended those for the journey to Braubach by train... Braubach offers no lockers and you must change trains in Koblenz anyway to take the 10-minute train ride from Koblenz to Braubach.

But you are asking about lockers in connection with the cruise boat dock. I do NOT recommend cruising all the way to Koblenz. The distance between KD boat dock and Koblenz station is just one reason for that - buses are available but it's an inconvenience at best. Another reason is that the scenery declines somewhat as you proceed north from St. Goar/Boppard and approach Koblenz. It's not nearly as special as the section further to the south. Also, the KD cruise boat schedule north of Boppard is quite SKIMPY. KD runs 5 boats to Boppard but only 3 to Koblenz, and the last of those gets into Koblenz at 20:10. Another company (Bingen-Rüdesheimer) sends off 2 daily boats from Bingen to St. Goar also - but to Koblenz it sends nothing at all. A final reason (if you need one) for dropping Koblenz is the fare of roughly €45 you'll pay to get there on a trip that takes 3.5 hours. By comparison you can see the most exciting Bingen > St. Goar segment in 1.5 hrs. for around €21 as I remember. (Arriving by train = 20% discount with KD, btw.)

Normal-year KD schedule for your reference:

https://www.k-d.com/fileadmin/schiffstouren/KD_Fahrplan_2019.pdf

Bingen shares the same railway with St. Goar and Boppard. Rüdesheim was mentioned as an alternative starting point. That works too, if you happen to be there - R'heim is right across the river from Bingen, and the R'heim boat's next stop is Bingen (which is why the cruise is 15 minutes longer.) However, if you're staying in St. Goar or Boppard, getting to Rüdesheim requires a train re-routing via Koblenz, where you change trains (all of which is just a waste of time.) Either that, or you would have to waste time ferrying across the river somewhere, only to cruise back to Bingen later.

It looks like the DB train route goes from Gengenbach to Heidelberg to
Frankfurt to Cologne and the total trip takes a little over 3 hours.

I am not seeing what you are seeing at the DB site.

Any journey to Cologne with a stop in Heidelberg takes a minimum of 4 hours, as far as I can tell. And that's without stopping off in one of the Rhine boat towns.

If you are thinking you'll get in a cruise ON THE WAY to Cologne...

• The travel time to R'heim will be at least 4 hours.
• The travel time to Bingen will be at least 3.5 hours

Then post-cruise you have the travel time between St. Goar or Boppard and Cologne - at least 1.5 hrs.

I do think at least one night in the Middle Rhine Valley will be necessary. It might be possible to fit in some decent time in Heidelberg and a cruise and still get to Cologne at dark o'clock, but it does seem way too much for one day in light of what you're giving up along the route to Cologne. Whether you attempt this or not, you will need to figure your travel times individually for each leg. Also, if you have multiple changes between Heidelberg and R'heim or Bingen, figure in the possibility that a delay may cause you to miss a train (or one of the few cruise boats.)

You don't want to take the boat all the way to Cologne (or as far north as you can get) because the scenery is forgettable. I don't even recommend the local boat trip in Cologne. You may not have yet checked the train schedules and seen how even the most local trains are many times faster than the boat, downstream or (your trip) UPstream. Time is important in your busy itinerary. Note that Koblenz has two rail stations, and one of them is much closer to the KD dock and Deutsches Eck.

You can expect rail stations like Boppard to have unstaffed ticket machines, calling for cash or a chip-card with a PIN.

Cologne has a lot to do if you like museums or Roman sites. As you may have read, there's a lot within walking distance of the Cologne HBF. Except for the churches, most of Cologne's architecture is postwar and missable. Some people would visit Aachen or Duesseldorf from Cologne, but it's a personal choice. I happen to like Monschau, but it's maybe too much bus time for you (from Cologne or Duesseldorf, whichever has better busses), and you have other options for half-timbered towns.

Some people want to visit Wuppertal, especially to see/ride the Schwebebahn train, which features in the movie "The Princess and the Warrior", related to the better known "Run Lola Run". (English titles)

Russ, I'm not sure now what I plugged into DB but I'm sure it was my error. I think you're right - I will definitely plan on staying one night in the Middle Rhine Valley. And I totally misunderstood what you said about the lockers - that makes much more sense. No, I don't have the intent to cruise to Koblenz. I think my brain is going into warp drive trying to process all the information and failing miserably. :) Tomorrow I will sit down and sort through everything to figure this out. Thank you again!

Tim, yes, I need to look at some of the other places around there. And I might check out Wuppertal - I used to work in theatre and opera doing costumes, and one of he designers I worked with was from Wuppertal. I should see if he's around and get it touch with him. I didn't realize it was in that area! And I do like Roman ruins, so that's one reason to visit, but I will check out some of the other places. Monschau looks beautiful, but it's a bit out of the way. Time to hit the drawing board, so to speak, and figure all this out. Thank you!

You can expect rail stations like Boppard to have unstaffed ticket
machines, calling for cash or a chip-card with a PIN.

Very true - and they can be "fussy" machines about cards, so come with a couple of cards, and cash is quite handy not only for rail ticket machines but also for local stores and restaurants. IME credit cards are only minimally usable in the Rhine towns.

But by staying in Boppard and getting your VRM Guest Card from your innkeeper or apartment owner, you bypass all that. Beautiful!

But by staying in Boppard and getting your VRM Guest Card from your innkeeper or apartment owner, you bypass all that. Beautiful!

Russ, that's great! I didn't realize they had something like that there. I'm assuming it's similar to KONUS - that's wonderful! Definitely another good reason to stay there!

Tim, thanks! All my cards I'm bringing are chip cards with PINs. I learned the benefit of that a few years ago in the Netherlands.

Link to Boppard Guest Card information:
https://www.boppard-tourismus.de/en/accommodation/

It's good for transport to St. Goar and Oberwesel to the south as well as to Braubach (Marksburg Castle) and up the Mosel River Valley as far as Bullay. Rail map of coverage area:

https://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/_processed_/d/e/csm_VRM_Schienennetzplan_2021_mit_Streckenverzeichnis___neu_117e571126.jpg

You would need add-on tickets to reach Bingen (for the cruise) beyond Oberwesel, and the same for Trier beyond Bullay.

Oberwesel > Bingen = €6.80 on any regional train

Bullay > Trier is €13.90 each way :( so you will be better off just buying the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (day pass for broader area) for that trip. It's €25, valid weekdays from 9:00 on. Your trip has a change of train in Koblenz. This trip would be best on Sat or Sun; on weekdays there's a 9 am restriction for both the VRM Guest ticket and the R-P Ticket so you can't leave Boppard on these passes prior to that hour on M-F.

I've stayed in both St Goar and Boppard. Of the two, I would prefer St Goar. Although I had a great time staying in a Privatzimmer near the train station in Boppard, most of the hotels are on a street across from, and facing, the river in Boppard. The train station is a half km walk uphill from there.

Comparatively, in St Goar, there are a lot of hotels clustered around the town square next to the KD dock. The train station is probably less than 100m up the hill from the KD dock. Google Maps doesn't show it, but there is a walkway along side of the Stiftkirche, which chops a big amount of walking from the route that Google shows. Unless you just have a boat fetish, I don't think the extra travel on the Rhein between St Goar and Boppard is worth the time spent.

BTW, in St Goar, we stayed in Hotel am Markt and enjoyed it. Reasonably priced, right across the street from the KD dock, in the center of everything.

St. Goar and Boppard are 10 train minutes apart. Unlike Boppard, which is served by both RB (milk-run) and RE (regional express) trains, St. Goar is not served by RE trains, only RB trains. Connections can be odd at times. From the south, the 11:32 RB departure out of Mainz requires a change of train in Bingen; the connecting RE train then continues north past St. Goar to Boppard for a second change of train that backtracks to St. Goar. So although St. Goar is 10 train minutes closer to Mainz than Boppard, it's actually 17 minutes further! Anyway... coming and going on day trips from St. Goar sometimes takes longer and/or requires an additional change of train.

That said, St. Goar has a very advantageous FERRY CROSSING. Boppard has one too, but train travelers who use Boppard's ferry have a lengthy walk to the nearest train station on the opposite river bank. After crossing from St. Goar, St. Goarshausen's rail station is only a couple of blocks from the dock. The St. Goar ferry is quite handy for exploring east-bank Rhine towns like Rüdesheim to the south and Braubach to the north or for hiking the popular Rheinsteig trail.

Both are "small" riverfront towns but St. Goar is much smaller. Dining, lodging, shopping, and sightseeing are quite limited in comparison to Boppard's. The towns have a different character as well. Both are tourist towns, but Boppard, as the largest of the small Rhine towns, serves as a hub for locals as well. (It's even a train hub, actually. There's a small line that runs steeply up the steepest tracks north of the Alps from Boppard Hbf to Boppard-Buchholz and Emmelshausen, an interesting mini-adventure if you have the time like these folks did.)

As for scenery... the views across the river from any of St. Goar's waterfront hotels are "wow." Boppard's waterfront hotels are very nice too but not as impressive. OTOH, if a bevy of riverfront restaurants and cafes is what you had in mind, Boppard wins that battle hands down. And I think the views that come with Boppards Sessellift (chairlift ride) combined with a short walk to Gedeonseck at the top are probably the best anywhere on the Rhine.

Aerial view of St. Goar area
Aerial view of Boppard

Having stayed in both towns numerous times, I share Lee's love for St. Goar. But I think the base town choice depends on your purpose. St. Goar's my pick for a chill stay that involves lots of time watching the river go by and nature walks. The setting is inherently more dramatic/romantic and better represents the natural and historic essence of the Rhine. Boppard is busier and more convenient overall, maybe a little better suited for more active in-town sightseeing and outings to other places.

"The train station is a half km walk uphill from there." This wording makes the walk sound scary, but it isn't 500 meters of uphill walking. Just zoom in on the area between the tall church with 2 steeples and the old stone tower to the right (where the station is.) You'll see it's mostly level walking along the river with a short uphill segment to the station. But at the station you do have a 26-step staircase to the platform.

Thanks to both of you for all this information! Lots to read through and think about. One thing that Boppard has that I will not be taking advantage of is the Sesselbahn Boppard, as I have a bad fear of heights.

If you have a problem with heights, then I would indeed skip the Boppard sessellift ( especially if it is windy ). Too bad because the views of the River and town have on the way back down are spectacular.

Stephen, yes, it is a hindrance to me. But hopefully I'll find some scenery to view where I don't have to go high. :)

Russ, I have a question - you said the VRM guest pass has a time restriction in that I cannot use it until 9 am during the week. But when I pulled up this info page, it does not say that. It does say that you cannot transport bikes on board until 9 am but nothing about people. Am I missing something? Thanks!

I think you are right, Mardee. There's no stated 9 am passenger restriction in either the English or German text for the VRM guest ticket. It's a better come-on than I thought. I may have confused this guest ticket with the standard day pass or with some other guest ticket in a different region. So yes, your journey to Trier (or anywhere else) CAN begin prior to 9 am on weekdays, as far as I can tell. You only need too make sure that the Koblenz > Trier train departs Bullay AFTER 9 am so that the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket is valid for the remainder of your trip.