Rhine and Mosel with a car

The traffic in Koblenz can be difficult, particularly around the junction of the two rivers.

The roads along the Mosel are slow and scenic but, for me, after the first 300 bends in the river and road they started to all look the same.

I like all of St. Goar, Boppard and Bacharach. There's the ferry at St Goar.

Have to agree with previous poster. I prefer Bacharach--small, quaint and easily walkable with the ability to go wine tasting and not drive afterwards. Since you have a car, look into staying at Pension Im Malerwinkel which is away from the train tracks and has lots of free parking. I have stayed there and enjoyed a short walk into town dining and drinking. You can catch a Rhein River cruise from Bacharach's boat docks. Enjoy!

With a car now available to you, along with other modes of transport, you really don't need to stay in Koblenz for "convenience." Roads from further south on the Rhine looks like "shortcuts" around the afore-mentioned Koblenz traffic.

Koblenz is a busy, mostly modern city. The Rhine towns have much better, old-world atmosphere. Which one?

You can visit the Mosel more easily from Boppard than from Bacharach. Also, there's more to see and do and more wining, dining, and accommodations options in Boppard.

Boppard's town center
Boppard tea house
Boppard's riverfront
Boppard chair lift
Roman Ruins in Boppard
Boppard eatery
Ferry in Boppard (ferry across to take drive or take train to Braubach for Marksburg Castle, which offers the best Rhine castle tour.)
View from Gedeonseck terrace, a short walk from the top of the chair lift

Both Boppard and St. Goar are good towns for ending a river cruise. Staying in one or the other simplifies things. Take one train to Bingen to start the cruise, then the boat north to either town. That covers the most scenic part of the river. If you stay in Bacharach, you need to take a train both before and after that same cruise in order to return "home."

Bingen isn't very interesting except for its river promenade and its location across the river from Rüdesheim (if you plan to visit R'heim, it's a short ferry ride away.) It's also further from the Mosel.

I stayed at the Hotel Malerwinkel in Bacharach in September and liked the hotel and town,the hotel has lots of parking and is a short walk down to the town.You can easily access the towns along the Rhine and you dont need to drive to Koblenz to get to the Mosel.
Get a Michelin Map or GPS to get around.
Mike

Thanks- yes Koblenz looked a bit busy/far to me. Not finding much in way of accommodations in Boppard for our dates. May need to rethink this idea and save Rhine/Mosel for another trip.
Just having a hard time settling on the 12 day Germany portion of our trip!

"Not finding much in way of accommodations in Boppard for our dates."

You're there mid-May, right? It's the Pfingsten holiday, right, which includes Monday the 16th? I checked Friday and Saturday assuming you have a Sunday departure and found the Hotel Sonnenhof (good IME) is available at booking.com with free cancel. There seem to be some others too. Of course I may have your dates wrong. I didn't look into Hotel Hubertus at all, another place I've stayed, which I enjoyed just fine - central, clean, nice breakfast buffet - except for the church bells in the morning (which I actually enjoy) I'd suggest a look there:
[email protected]

You can check the most complete listings source too - Boppard's TI office pages:

Accommodations lists (not all places are bookable online so this will include places where you can inquire via email or phone.)
Online booking hotels
Online booking private B&B's and Guest Houses
Boppard includes a few small settlements nearby. Since you'll have a car you can check the neighboring areas - Bad Salzig and Weiler, for example - when you use the online booking pages.

St. Goar is just upstream and may be an option if you can't find what you need in Boppard:
http://www.st-goar.de/612-1-host-directory.html

If you think you might cancel, don't book unless you clarify the cancellation policy. German law says no refund in the absence of a clear cancellation policy.

Thanks Russ for taking the time to research accomodations- we need a Mon departure and Sun night seems to be the issue.
Right now I am working with AutoEurope on possibly getting a car Mon am in Heidelberg- we would much much rather not have to drive from the airport after our overnight flight- so I am making a few adjustments to itinerary (which seems to be a habit with me).

The NH Bingen is available for Sunday night (and likely before that) if you don't find anything to the north. The NH has an outstanding view of the river from riverside rooms and from the dining room. The river promenade is great for walks. It was my wife's favorite place on our recent stay there. Stay there and you're that much closer to Heidelbeg. Spend most of your sightseeing time in the other towns though.

NH Bingen breakfast
NH and river
Rhine Promenade in Bingen near the NH, cafes

I actually do have the NH Bingen booked for Sat and Sun- just in case. I've stayed another NH hotels and find them just fine plus get a member discount.

Considering 1 night there and just do Rhine cruise - then head to Heidelberg Sun- have to see where/how I can adjust later in trip.
Husband really wants to see Heidelberg and Bamberg (as do I). I may end up dropping our night in Halstatt later in trip and reworking the Germany portion. Can't decide 1 or 2 nights Heidelberg 1 or 2 nights Bamberg?

You would think with 24 nights on the ground we'd be able to get this itinerary put together but it is still giving me a headache!

Thanks again for all the helpful advice- our problem has been solved- now able to pick up car on the Monday holiday (thank you AutoEurope!) so will proceed to Heidelberg directly from FRA as original planned.

Although we would love to fit a visit to Rhine and/or Mosel it is just making things too complicated and will have to be saved for another trip.