We will do the Steves 7 day paris tour. Approx 8 or 9 days before, we'll fly into London (3 days), go to Amsterdam (2 days), would like to go to Bacharach (2 days) and then to Beaune for one day before the paris tour on 4/21. Do you recommend 3 days in Amsterdam? Are we taking on too much travel time for short stays towards the end? Is train travel usually better than car rental? Is Bacharach the most recommended Rhine River Vally destination? So far, we can't find a train from Bacharach to Beaune and so may have to train to Metz and rent a car to Beaune and on to Paris. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Fred
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
There is a train connection between Bacharach and Beaune. It takes between 9 and half and 12 hours depending on trains and connections you choose. 3 to 7 train changes. Details are on Deutsche Bahn website.
Posted by
Green Bay
21160 posts
It isn't quite that bad. Leave at 9:30, 11:30, or 12:30 and it is 7 to 7 1/2 hours with 3 or 4 changes.
DO NOT USE RAILEUROPE for any reason. The schedules are easily accessed at www.bahn.com.
edit- Save London for the end of the trip, fly into Amsterdam and home from London. Either that or fly from London to Amsterdam. the London-Amsterdam rail link is long and expensive. I have heard that London air taxes add a lot to flights leaving London to NA. You might check discount air from one of the other London airports, Stanstead, Gatwick, or Luton.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
I tried RailEurope for Bacharach and Beaune and found nothing. Don't use RailEurope. They only show connections for which they want to sell tickets.
From the Bahn website, between 9:30 and 12:30, I see four connections from Bacharach and Beaune, between 7h02m and 7h22m, depending on how many changes (3 or 4) you are willing to make. That's about the same amount of time as to drive (ViaMichelin), assuming you don't have to stop for anything (meals, potty, gas) while driving.
"Is Bacharach the most recommended Rhine River Vally destination? "
Not by be. Bacharach is a nice town, particularly "Im Mahlerwinkel", but I would prefer other places. In 2004, I stayed in Boppard, because it was more central to Bacharch, St. Goar, Koblenz, and Braubach, all of which I wanted to see, and I found a very reasonably priced privat Zimmer in Boppard.
Between Bacharach and St. Goar, I believe I would rather stay in St. Goar.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks for your responses. Since my post, it looks like we could take a local train from Bacharach to Mainz and then a Rail Europe train to Beaune ... only 51/2 hours! Is there a problem with using Rail Europe?
Posted by
Green Bay
21160 posts
Rail Europe is not a railway co. It is a travel agent that sells train tickets at a 10 to 20% markup that you could buy direct online from the actual operating rail companies.
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7161 posts
Well, when I looked on Rail Europe website they do show a trip from Bacharach to Mainz and then to Beaune (with change at Mannheim) taking a total of 6-1/2 hours. Bahn website shows the same trip taking closer to 7-1/2 hours. Personally, in my experience, the Bahn website tends to be more accurate with times (they just don't always show rates for trips outside Germany) and I don't trust Rail Europe to show all possible routes, but in this case I'm a little confused about such a big time difference showing. Maybe the rail experts here will chime in.
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5511 posts
I have seen 400% RailEurope mark ups. Yes, there is a problem with using them. Oh yeah, and don't trust their schedules either.
Posted by
Germany, Germany
813 posts
My suggestion is to skip Beaune. It's a lovely town if you're in the area, but there's loads of others equally as cute there aren't completely out of your way. You could even go to Strasbourg or one of the other really great Alsatian wine route towns, then take the quick, non-stop train from Strasbourg to Paris. Beaune is so far out of your way and there's better options.