Rhine Area--Town to Stay In

I stayed in the Rhine area in 2022 and originally had booked a place in Bacharach. But I ultimately decided that it was too small and so I canceled my booking and booked at the Bellevue Rheinhotel in Boppard.

I really enjoyed my stay there. It’s a very convenient location, and the hotel was lovely and sat right on the river. The train station was a short walk away and you were very near the center of town. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again.

As for the cruise, you missed the best part on your last visit. The truly scenic segment is Bingen to St Goar:

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ca/e1/50/cae1500f42cf03c44bea2da512d659a0.jpg

Mainz is not where you should be if you are looking for nice scenery. It's a great place for most people to spend maybe a day and night if you are flying out of FRA - it's only 20-25 train minutes to FRA airport - but you aren't interested in its main attractions (churches and museums) so maybe just a night there.

Bacharach is a beautiful town. It has some nice hikes but there's not that much to do right in town. Riverfront accommodations aren't possible like they are in St Goar and certain other towns.

If you would like to do a cruise and just bop around to different old-world towns in the area, I think mardee's suggestion - Boppard - is a pretty good one. Bacharach and Oberwesel to the south are on the same train line and good for exploring on foot. Another Rhine town, across the river from Boppard and to the north, is also quite attractive for strolling around - Braubach:

https://delveintoeurope.com/braubach-germany/

Boppard has several waterfront hotels, some wine venues and a nice collection of restaurants as well. One establishment. Gedeonseck, is high on the clifftops above town. Take the Boppard chairlift up and back and enjoy the views.

Boppard chairlift: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198627-d3306006-Reviews-Sesselbahn_in_Boppard-Boppard_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

Heilig Grab wine garden, in town: https://www.deutschlandgourmet.info/bilder/gross/5710-Restaurant-Weinhaus-Heilig-Grab-Boppard.jpg

Gedeonseck: https://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/T9oxNMwLvt_-r5nCsce-jg/o.jpg

Boppard is a good springboard for outings. The ferry crossing connects you to the railway on the opposite bank with a short walk into Filsen. From Filsen, Braubach, mentioned above, is only a few minutes on the train. Or you can just take the train from Boppard station to Braubach (change trains in Koblenz.)

It sounds like you have NOT visited the Mosel Valley. That is also an option from Boppard. Old-world wine towns like Winningen and Cochem are accessible by train from a Boppard base (also with a change in Cochem) as are other Mosel villages:

https://www.mosel-inside.de/en/travel-guide/mosel-villages.html

Another reason to settle in Boppard: the VRM Guest Ticket, which comes with your room at no charge in Boppard and provides free transportation around the area:
https://www.boppard-tourismus.de/en/accommodation/

Any of the towns are fine to stay in. You will be using it as a base to explore the region. You can explore any of the towns in under a day. I would find a hotel that suits you and stay there. If you think using your Hyatt points is a good value, then I would strongly consider staying in Mainz. I personally would rather stay in a more local, traditional German accomodation (which I do inexpensively) and save the points for a ‘big city’ stay.

I think Mainz is a great place to stay as there is a lot to see and do there, the train station offers the possibility to easily visit other towns along the Rhein, both north and south, as well a visit to Frankfurt. The city has a lot of museums, and a very long history, (Roman, Jewish, Holy Roman Empire) that might be of interest.

In 2023 we stayed in Bacharach. It is small and doesn’t take long to see. Fortunately we had a rental car and didn’t need to depend on public transportation. On another trip we stayed in Wiesbaden and also had a rental car.

the day trip on the Rhine that we took from St. Goar actually ended in
Bingen.

If that was the cruise, then there's no need to fuss with the cruise during your stay.

I plan to look at places to stay in Boppard... Not sure how that changes things...

With 3 nights there... Your first day might best be spent just in Boppard. Walk the town, take the chairlift? The views up there from Gedeonseck are terrific, and there's a short trail you can take for more views as well.

• From FRA: look for one of the DIRECT RE trains to Boppard, which run every 2 hours and will make the logistics of getting there as simple as possible. In between those RE trains are other departures which require you to change trains, often in Mainz, along the way. You should not purchase advance tickets for this trip.

• Day 2: Suggest you visit some Rhine towns... Bacharach and Braubach would be at the top of my list.

• Day 3: Venture up the Mosel River to Cochem, take a river cruise to Beilstein and back? A stop in Winningen could be nice as well.

Transportation on days 2&3 will be covered by the free Guest Ticket you get for staying in Boppard, with one small exception; you will need a DB ticket for two (€7.40) for the Oberwesel > Bacharach track segment, which the Guest Ticket doesn't cover; and you need the same ticket for that same stretch of track again when you return back north to Boppard and Braubach.

Boppard > Heidelberg logistics:

The best journeys on the current DB schedule take 2hrs. 18 minutes and require ONE change of train in Mainz. These trains also run every 2 hours from Boppard (7:12, 9:16, 11:16 as of now) using the RE train as far as Mainz, where you switch to the IC train to Heidelberg Hbf. You will definitely want to pre-purchase this ticket at the DB site for savings since the journey includes a long-distance train (IC = Intercity.) The price may be around €40/2 adults if bought well in advance, around €110 if you were to buy on the day of travel.

Based on the helpful advice shared here, I think Boppard seems like the best option for us so I am now asking for recommendations for hotels in Boppard with these factors to assist in choosing a suitable property:

Preferences:
--easy access to and from train station--we always travel with only carry on luggage
--we are seniors but reasonably mobile. We don't mind walking shorter distances but a lot of steps can be challenging, especially with wheeled carryon bags
--Price range somewhat flexible but would like to spend between 100 EU and 200 EU--less expensive is always a plus!
--prefer an area where we can easily walk to restaurants for dinner and shops to browse in
--breakfast included--again not a deal breaker but we often love hotel breakfasts in Europe and Asia and struggle to find a restaurant outside of the hotel with the variety and selection that we like.. My husband is diabetic so protein in the morning is much better for him than just cappuccino and pastries (even though they are often amazing)
--views are a plus but not an essential. Cleanliness is essential but that has never been an issue in any of the hotels where we have stayed in Europe

Thank you for your help! Mary

one man's opinion - https://bsky.app/profile/ricksteves.bsky.social/post/3mtwfldv7bs2j

It's counterproductive to go from Heidelberg to the Rhine above Bingen if you are then going to Colmar. You'll waste half a day backtracking at a minimum. And for what? To see a section of the same places you've already seen?

You want the best white wines from the Rhine Valley you want the section below Mainz. The wine road runs down from there through Neustadt and Bad Durkheim to Landau, to Bad Berzabern and then across the border into the Alsace at Wissembourg. This is the German equivalent of Napa Valley for white wines. Yes, the upper Rhine and Mosel also have wine, but there's a reason the wine road follows the path I've mentioned.

Do yourself a favor, book lodging in Deidesheim or Freinsheim. Or Edesheim. This is where you want to be for really top notch German whites. This is where the Belgians and Neiderlander stay, and they know what they're doing.

Go to Grosskarlbach for lunch at Di Bello's, and then walk across the street to the Palentia Weinbar, which is actually an enclosed garden totally hidden away. (You won't find this on tourist guides, but the town is a famous location for destination weddings.)

Stop at the Wienstrasse Arch on the border between Bad Bergzabern and Wissembourg. Go to the co-op there and try some really good stuff. Buy what you like.

Visit the Villa Rustica Weilberg outside of Bad Durkheim, They've been making wine there for over 2000 years.

Go to Wachenheim and get your wurst at Metzgerei Hambel; world famous for it's smaugen wurst. Then walk over to Weingut Dr. Bürklin-Wolf for exceptional white wines in one of the very few vineyard tasting rooms.

This is, no BS, where you should go. I've spent the last 3 years touring this area, and I know something about wines. I've lived around vineyards most of my life, in Napa, the Columbia River Valley, the eastern Rhine, and others. It's in a direct line to the Alsace, it's massively overlooked by Americans (although Europeans vacation here), and the wines are first rate. (I have 120 bottles en route to my home as we speak.)

Rick comments from the linked video above: "For years as a tour guide, I had a love-hate relationship with sleeping on the Rhine—great towns...but hotels over-looking the train tracks with trains rampaging through all night."

2 thoughts on 1 man's opinion:

• It's very misleading for Rick to claim that a hotel room on the Rhine River necessarily involves looking out your window at train tracks. If you are headed to the Rhine, please don't believe it. No one needs to put up with crazy train noise - or to have to keep two doors of double-paned, anti-train-noise-glass closed at all times... unless they've chosen a town like BACHARACH, that is, where, as Rick demonstrates, the tracks run in between the town and the river and adjacent to the town center. The Rhine has plenty of nice small towns on the same riverbank with numerous riverfront hotels where there is no train noise at all - and where the views across the river are much nicer than the ones Rick shows us from his favorite hotel. St. Goar and Boppard are good choices, both sporting hotels with much quieter riverfront locations and much better views. And from either one, you can get to Bacharach easily by train in just a few minutes. (If a room with a river view isn't important, and you are determined to sleep in Bacharach for whatever reason, there are places in town which are distant from the tracks, some of them tucked away up a small side valley on Bluecherstrasse, near the north end of town.)

• Rick needs to make a token effort at pronouncing "Bacharach" authentically - and the name of the country where Bacharach is located as well. Learning to pronounce place names so that they might be understood by locals is a very minor but important part of becoming a "cultural chameleon."

The place I stay in Bacharach is only a block or so from the train tracks and has never been a bother. The trains ‘swoosh’ by rather than ‘clickity clack’ like American trains. And the trains are very short compared to U.S. trains

I stayed in Bacharach for about a week several years ago and quite enjoyed my time there. I found it to be a good "home base" for exploring other towns and sights in that area, including Burg Elz on the Mosel (that was quite an adventure). I hiked up to Burg Stahleck (HI Hostel) one day for a beer and to enjoy the great views of the Rhine. That was also a World Cup year, and when I boarded the train one morning, it was filled with jubilant teenagers with lots of mini-kegs of beer. Of course I had to toast the German team!!!

I wasn't too concerned about things to do in the evening. I often got back from touring a bit late, had a relaxed supper and then went back to my room to take care of chores such as E-mail, laundry, and getting things sorted for the next day. I was usually too tired to do anything else.

Years ago when, Burg Eltz lacked daily service by public transport, the standard way to get there for train travelers was to take the train to the Mosel River town of Moselkern and make the 1-hour+ hike from there to the entrance. It's a nice hike. Maybe this is the "adventure" Ken is talking about? That's still an option today, but train travelers staying on the Rhine typically use the train as far as Hatzenport, Moselkern's neighbor, then catch the bus to the "Burg Eltz, Wierschem" bus stop by the castle.

A really good base town for visiting Burg Eltz is the Mosel River town of Cochem. The train + bus trip to Eltz takes less than 1 hour from Cochem. Trier, Beilstein, and Koblenz are also popular daytrip destinations from Cochem; Cochem > Trier and Cochem > Koblenz take less than 1 hour by direct train. Cochem > Beilstein is less than 30 minute by direct bus, 1 hour by sightseeing boat.

Those who stay in one of the small Rhine towns will have to set aside extra time to visit Burg Eltz and will need to make extra connections to get there - one in Koblenz and another in Hatzenport, with the same on the return trip. If Bacharach is your base town, you will need 2.5 hours in each direction, thus 5 hours on trains and buses on top of your time at the castle (which could also be called an "adventure." A more conveniently-located option like Boppard will save one hour of travel time. A far more accessible option - and one that is more representative of medieval times - is Marksburg, on the east bank of the Rhine just south of Koblenz in the village of Braubach. Unlike Burg Eltz, tours of Marksburg are available year-round. And no matter what Rhine town you stay in, you won't be using up 4-5 hours to get to Marksburg.

https://www.marksburg.de/en/circuit/
https://delveintoeurope.com/braubach-germany/

I hesitate to advise someone against visiting the Middle Rhine, because it is wonderful, but KGC has a point here. If you are set on beginning your trip in Heidelberg, I see no reason to backtrack based on the information that you have provided.

There are many adorable wine villages on or near the route mentioned, Speyer is also a worthy stop just outside of Heidelberg. You can continue towards Colmar with the potential to include the Black Forest or Strasbourg.

While the Middle Rhine is more than just castles, it is a significant part of the appeal, and as you have stated, you have already been there and have little interest in more castles. Villages like Bacharach are charming, but again, you have other options on your route to Colmar.

What are the things that are pulling you towards Bacharach and Boppard?

Hi Mary, I mentioned before that I stayed in Boppard, and I saw that you're looking for hotels. I stayed at the Bellevue Rhine hotel for four nights when I was there in 2022, and really liked it a lot. It's nice because it sits right on the water, so you can walk out the door and walk right down to the KD Cruise dock, which is pretty much right there.

There are cafes that line the river that you can sit at and enjoy the view, and the hotel itself was very nice. The room was lovely and comfortable, and the staff was very professional. They also had a nice restaurant. I had dinner there one night, and I really enjoyed my meal. I would definitely stay there again. https://www.bellevue-boppard.de/en

Flying from US to Frankfurt, then train to Heidelberg for 3 nights.
From there we would like to stay in the Rhine Valley for 3 nights
before moving on to Colmar, France for 3 nights

KGC's point about backtracking here is well taken. For someone like you, Mary, with both Heidelberg and the Rhine in their sights, it would be wiser to head from FRA to Boppard first and Heidelberg.

As for the Weinstrasse region south of Mainz, which KGC has detailed, yes, it's quite nice. Speyer is a nice city as well (and one that I prefer to Heidelberg, actually.) I'm not a wine pro at all, but I'm sure the wines in this region are as nice as KGC describes them. That said, it does not sound to me like your goal is to ferret out Germany's best wines, since you described your interest in them as "casual." And in light of the unique beauty of the Middle Rhine Valley, one of Germany's UNESCO World Heritage sites, it's entirely understandable that you might want to explore it further, even if it's only to take in some of the scenery. Here are a few ways you might do just that.

Boppard chairlift to Gedeonseck Terrace and the Vierseenblick lookout over the valley:
https://www.rheinburgenweg.com/en/a-sesselbahn-boppard
https://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/T9oxNMwLvt_-r5nCsce-jg/o.jpg

Hike or take a local bus to the Günderodehaus, on the cliffside between St Goar and Oberwesel:

https://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/T9oxNMwLvt_-r5nCsce-jg/o.jpg

https://www.komoot.com/highlight/257124

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198501-d12125686-Reviews-Gunderodehaus_Filmhaus_HEIMAT_3-Oberwesel_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

From St Goar or from Bacharach, Bus 681 or 682 gets you there:
https://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data/pdf/fahrplanbuecher/2026/681.pdf
https://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data/pdf/fahrplanbuecher/2026/682.pdf

There's also the Gondola trip between Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, as well as the chairlift in Rüdesheim, should you end up in these places. For scenic views, I'd also mention the two dining establishments at Schloss Rheinfels Hotel in St Goar:

https://www.schloss-rheinfels.de/restaurant/

Follow Up. I obviously need more help! Original advice (not here) was to go directly to Heidelberg b/c it would be a soft landing after an international flight. I know that RS ignores Heidelberg but I have wanted to go on other trips but for various reasons, it didn't work out. I am interested in it as the birth of the Protestant Reformation and b/c of several other things to do that I've seen on videos. I was advised that the "crescendo" of the trip made sense: Heidelberg to Boppard (or similar) to Colmar to Annecy to Evian to Geneva for a 3+ week trip. Having explained my interest in Heidelberg for a few nights, the Rhine part of the trip does not actually have to be on the Rhine per se although again, that was the advice I was given. To explain what I am looking for--picturesque town but big enough to have a few decent hotel options, choice of restaurants, unique little shops, a few options for wineries (white). Not necessarily the best wines that Germany has to offer but acceptable. Unlikely that we will tour any castles or do any extensive hiking but we do prefer a town alongside a nice river. We liked St. Goar, Rothenburg, and Nuremberg. Not bc; we went to any amazing tourist destinations. St. Goar was quaint and we did the boat tour that RS recommends, Rothenburg was amazing with beautiful shops, interesting food (the ice cream shop!!), Nuremberg b/c we stayed near the city center which was very nice and we just enjoying hanging out with the locals. My apologies if we sound boring but we've been to most of the "must-see" cities in Europe and done touristy things. Just not our intent for this trip. So--I am open to changing the order of our itinerary and modifying our stay from Rhine to Mosel. Some of the small towns mentioned are completely unfamiliar to me, not mentioned in the RS Germany book, and hard to find on a map. Simplicity of train connections and the economy of getting from place to place do carry some weight. Re: Boppard--it has been recommended as a fairy tale town with enough to be interesting but it is not written in stone. For additional reference I currently have these hotels booked in Germany: Heidelberg Hotel Panorama. Boppard
Baudobriga Rheinhotel. Both properties are refundable.

My apologies for the fact that this will be somewhat redundant but hopefully clarify what we are looking for:

--Heidelberg--want to keep this stop but the orider of the itinerary can be flexible

--no car--mostly train but travel by boat when appropriate---the easier the logistics, the better

--We don't dislike them per se but in general we are not looking for these options on this trip: hiking, castles, museums (other than a few that might draw us in)

--smaller towns that are quaint, have hotel options are affordable & waterfront, selection of casual but interesting restaurants, unique shops

--a couple of day trips that are interesting and easy to do

--small local wineries that are memorable but do not need to be upscale or be famous for premium wines--Reisling??

So--I am open to changing the order of our itinerary and modifying
our stay from Rhine to Mosel

Order: It's a "YES" IMO to FRA > Boppard > Heidelberg. Boppard is a solid base town worth keeping... not the sort of Disney-made fairytale town for tourists that Rothenburg is, but a very nice, "real" town where both visitors and real German folks from all walks of life cross paths. Ice cream? Try the Eiscafe de Lorenzi in Boppard's old town zone.

Mosel: Let me apologize here if I misdirected your attention to the Mosel as a place to STAY. That was not my intention. (Another poster had mentioned visiting Burg Eltz from a Bacharach base and I was responding to that idea.) Basing yourselves on the Mosel would only mean more logistics... more connections and longer trips between base towns with your bags - which you do not want. However, from a Boppard base, you might enjoy...

a day trip by train, without your baggage, up the Mosel River to Cochem.

Cochem is a definite fairytale town - and perhaps a short cruise on the Mosel from Cochem to Beilstein and back. This would be easily done in one day, and the train trip would be entirely free of charge with the guest card you receive for staying in Boppard.

.

@ Russ--Thank you for your patience with the things that I misunderstand. I appreciate your taking the time to share your expertise. I will look at the train connections from FRA to Boppard to Heidelberg in that order. Then look at changing the dates of our hotel reservations in Boppard and Heidelberg.

I totally understand the issue of not knowing where towns I mentioned are. They're not in RS books, or most other travel guides for Americans. They are all easy to reach via the regional trains from Heidelberg. They are old, historic, never got bombed out, have old city walls, castles on the hilltops and streams running through them (mostly). If you look them up on youtube you'll find dozens of videos. Here are some of my photos:

Neustadt
[img]https://i.imgur.com/dn25ed0.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/NUqbsZK.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/I2NkWp7.jpg[/img]

Bad Durkheim
[img]https://i.imgur.com/BAYsufk.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/QoqIvfw.jpg[/img]

Landau
[img]https://i.imgur.com/RKxv9xs.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/zmGOe6i.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/KIrbuoh.jpg[/img]

Bad Berzabern
[img]https://i.imgur.com/4mjNnVo.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/TdaQ3cY.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/cZLGk4d.jpg[/img]

Wissembourg
[img]https://i.imgur.com/GgqpLHd.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/RqhpbSM.jpg[/img]

Deidesheim
[img]https://i.imgur.com/lyBOeXV.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/o9FrhNv.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/wa7xVNV.jpg[/img]

Freinsheim
[img]https://i.imgur.com/VCO8sj1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/waqGpTN.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/e48Ywh7.jpg[/img]

All of these towns have upscale tourist accommodations. Many of them have multiple Michelin star restaurants. If you want to see Rhine Valley towns that aren't overrun with American tourists you should consider them.

KGC writes, "If you want to see Rhine Valley towns that aren't overrun with American tourists you should consider them."

The Pfalz / Weinstraße regions which KGC refers to are indeed unknown to the larger American public. I first visited Bad Dürkheim, Neustadt and some of the other towns in this area in the 1970's - I wanted to check out the Bad Dürkheim Wine and Sausage festival, which was its name back then before it was shortened to the "Wurstmarkt" (Sausage Market.) It was a small event back then, and I'm pretty sure my girlfriend and I were the only Americans there. It has grown enormously over the decades, but miraculously, this festival and this region have escaped the focus of American tourists, and if you were to go there, there would be many wine options and you probably wouldn't meet any Americans there.

https://www.tourenplaner-rheinland-pfalz.de/en/tour/scenic-route/german-wine-route-tourism-route/1505878/

However... the towns KGC has enumerated are not riverfront towns and are tucked many miles away from the Rhine River... and the section of Rhine River that they are nearest to is completely lacking in scenic value. There are no steep river-carved cliffsides clad with vineyards and castles this far south. You need to be well downstream (north) of Mainz, in the Middle Rhine Valley (MRV), to find scenes like the ones below:

https://schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/dsc_06581.jpg
https://www.weinhaus-weiler.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/DSC_2434_1920.jpg

As for the Rhine towns being overrun by Americans... hardly! I was curious what the actual numbers are, so I looked up the state government's official numbers.

When the towns do get overrun, it's by Germans, who truly love this area in part because so much of their cultural heritage comes from the MRV. 83% of all MRV visitors are German.

The 17% of visitors from other countries are mostly from Europe; 37% of the foreigners are from the NETHERLANDS. After them come the BRITS (9%) with the BELGIANS (8%) behind them. AMERICANS are tied with the Belgians at 8%. Then come the SWISS (6%) and the FRENCH (4%) after that and some other miscellaneous Europeans after that.

So if you add up the percentages from just those 5 European countries... 37+9+8+6+4= 64%, these 5 countries account for 11% of all visitors (.64x17=11.) Add that to the Germans, and the math says that 94% of all visitors to the area are European.

Americans - since they constitute only 8% of the foreigners (17%)... .08x17... constitute a very tiny 1.36% of all Middle Rhine Valley visitors. I'd say you have no worries about getting trampled!

Rick Steves, however, has surely had a strong influence on American travel to the Rhine, specifically to the town of BACHARACH, which he has recommended strongly for decades. Anyone looking to run into Americans probably has their best shot of doing so in Bacharach, I think.

Source of Middle Rhine tourism statistics: https://www.statistik.rlp.de/themen/tourismus/daten (select "Mittelrheintal")

There are obviously a great many Americans touring the Muddle Rhine. Probably more in the summer but since I visit in September I rarely come across any. Last trip - a week in Bacharach - we talked to a couple in a restaurant that were on a Rick Steves tour and an 82 year old couple making what they figured would be their last European trip. Their trips usually involved staying two weeks in a country. The tour company provided an appartment and instructions on various activites they might do. The couple had never been to the Netherlands or Germany so this trip was a week in each.

The only other Americans I remember were a group of 4 at a restaurant. They had come from Berlin where one of the group had run the Berlin Marathon, and of couse, several many years ago when I stayed in the hostel castle.

Hi Mary,

I think Russ has given you a wonderful way to include Boppard. If you have been persuaded to evaluate a shorter travel path to Colmar through the wine route, a sample itinerary might look something like the following:

Heidelberg - 2 nights
Speyer (where the term Protestant originated) - 2 nights
Landau or Neustadt - 2 nights

Your train path to Colmar will likely take you through Karlsruhe, which is quite easy to reach from either Landau or Neustadt.

These towns are good hubs to explore a variety of very accessible and low-cost wine experiences. There are also wine focused accommodations walkable from the train station or just a short taxi ride away.

Russ is correct that there is no large waterway here, but Heidelberg certainly provides this on the Nekar.

Speyer is on the Rhine, however most of the town is off the river.

What the region around Landau and Neustadt lacks in water views, it makes up for with a backdrop of forested hills topped with castle runis and vineyards as far as the eye can see.

As mentioned, great, affordable dining is also abundant. I can highly recommend trying regional specialties like Saumagen.

Lots of great advice has been given. I’ll just chime in to say we all (5 adults) enjoyed Boppard as well as the Bellevue Rhine hotel. I would get a room with a balcony.

Despite initial advice to the contrary (not here), I see the wisdom of FRA to Boppard to Heidelberg and plan to work on changing hotel dates this week. However, I am still inclined to stick with the number of nights I am allocating to each town. I am not a fan of short stays or too many hotel transfers. Previous experiences has shown us that we prefer a minimum of 3 nights per stay, sometimes more but rarely less. Moving too often feels counterproductive to me. I would rather choose a few good base stays rather than wasting time checking in and out of too many hotels. Also since we use award bookings for flights, availability can vary significantly from one day to others. The way I currently have our itinerary laid out works for our flights. That could change but If we are “spending” our miles, I do not want to feel rushed.

Based on this plan and due to my lack of knowledge about this part of Europe, I would love to hear recommendations for which day trips make sense from each of these 2 towns. I do hope to include the Mosel area from Boppard but am still a bit confused about prioritizing excursions from all the suggested options. It seems there are many great places to explore.

Riding back through all the helpful advice and trying to consolidate information. This plan from Russ seems to make sense for our initial stop (FRA to Boppard:

From Russ: With 3 nights there... Your first day might best be spent just in Boppard. Walk the town, take the chairlift? The views up there from Gedeonseck are terrific, and there's a short trail you can take for more views as well.
From FRA: look for one of the DIRECT RE trains to Boppard, which run every 2 hours and will make the logistics of getting there as simple as possible. In between those RE trains are other departures which require you to change trains, often in Mainz, along the way. You should not purchase advance tickets for this trip.
Day 2: Suggest you visit some Rhine towns... Bacharach and Braubach would be at the top of my list.
Day 3: Venture up the Mosel River to Cochem, take a river cruise to Beilstein and back? A stop in Winningen could be nice as well.
Transportation on days 2&3 will be covered by the free Guest Ticket you get for staying in Boppard, with one small exception; you will need a DB ticket for two (€7.40) for the Oberwesel > Bacharach track segment, which the Guest Ticket doesn't cover; and you need the same ticket for that same stretch of track again when you return back north to Boppard and Braubach.
Boppard > Heidelberg logistics:
The best journeys on the current DB schedule take 2hrs. 18 minutes and require ONE change of train in Mainz. These trains also run every 2 hours from Boppard (7:12, 9:16, 11:16 as of now) using the RE train as far as Mainz, where you switch to the IC train to Heidelberg Hbf. You will definitely want to pre-purchase this ticket at the DB site for savings since the journey includes a long-distance train (IC = Intercity.) The price may be around €40/2 adults if bought well in advance, around €110 if you were to buy on the day of travel.

from Mary OP:

Then if I am understanding correctly and want to make our next move Boppard to Heidelberg, these is a list of he towns that are suggested as possible day trips from Heidelberg. I think that with 3 nights in Heidelberg, we would only allocate 1 day for venturing out to explore other towns. I have looked at some of the photos and will take the time to research via YouTube but which town(s) offer the best bang for our buck. Obviously we cannot visit all of them.

One side note: Since this thread is on the forum for Germany, I haven't shared the rest of our trip itinerary as it may not be relevant; however, it is not hidden information. Current plan:
fly to Frankfurt
Boppard --3 nights
Heidelberg — 3 nights
Colmar--4 nights
Annecy--5 nights
Evian--5 nights
Genes--3 nights
fly from Geneva

Rhine towns
Boppard. take the chairlift. My favorite Rhine view is the view on the way down
St. Goar if you visit Burg Rheinfels
Oberwesel - walk the wall. The big red church near the train station has a couple of unique features
Bacharach - walk the area known as the Malerwnkel

Day trips from Heidelberg:

You have roughly 9 months to make some choices. No pressure.

Speyer (45 minutes from Heidelberg Hbf by direct train) is a good option for most people, but because it's a sightseeing sort of place (museums, churches, etc.) it may not appeal to you based on the very limited interest you have expressed in visiting such places.

What about the old-world wine towns on the Bergstrasse Holiday Route in between Heidelberg and Darmstadt**?

https://diebergstrasse.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Holiday-Route-2024.pdf

Ladenburg (15 minutes from H'berg Hbf), Weinheim (25 minutes), Heppenheim (35 minutes) etc... can be visited by direct regional train from Heidelberg Hbf. At the DB site you will find RB train departures every hour to these places.

Bad Wimpfen, on the Neckar River, is about 40 minutes by direct train from H'berg. Direct RE trains leave every 2 hours; in between those journeys are trips by other regional trains which require a transfer at the Sinsheim Musem station. It's a beautiful town, one of the "German Castle Road" towns like Heidelberg:

https://www.burgenstrasse.de/uk/Castles-and-Palaces/Tour-2/Bad-Wimpfen.html

Returning to Heidleberg from Bad Wimpfen using the scenic but longer Neckar River route is a real pleasure.

https://www.bahnbilder.de/bilder/eine-schoensten-fotostelen-entlang-neckartalbahn-1044385.jpg

It will take twice as long but you'll enjoy the scenery. You can find this route and the transfers you will make on the way at the DB site by specifying a STOPOVER with zero stopover time in the town of Mosbach-Neckarelz.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neckar_Valley_Railway

Note: if you are not staying near Heidelberg Hbf but in Heidelberg's old town zone, your nearest train station is Heidelberg-Altstadt. Using this station will yield different travel times and sometimes require an additional transfer.

Rick Steves, who emphasizes destinations that have name recognition in the USA and thus ignores many nice places in Germany, is no help to you when it comes to learning about these specific places. But you can inform yourself in between now and next May using online resources and your local library. Tripadvisor is a good start. Also have a look at the local tourist office websites for these towns.

Day Trips from Boppard:

I previously mentioned a trip up the Mosel to some combination of Cochem + Winningen and/or Beilstein. Do Beilstein if you'd like to include the short cruise from Cochem there and back.

Bacharach and Braubach were the RHINE towns I singled out for their visual appeal. You can do both in one day if you wish. I will detail how to do this below...

Braubach lies just across the river and north of Boppard. There are (usually) 3 ways to reach Braubach from Boppard: 1) Ferry + 15-min. walk + train, 2) train only via Koblenz, 3) K-D Cruise boat.

1) The ferry crossing in Boppard was damaged recently and not in service now, but it should be working 9 months from now.
2) Use DB to find train schedules from Boppard to Braubach. Transfer in Koblenz. Trip is covered by the Guest Ticket.
3) K-D Cruise leaves Boppard at 10:15 for a 30-minute cruise direct to Braubach (no cruise possible on Mondays.) You have not cruised this part of the river before so this might be interesting for you.

So... I would start with the visit to Braubach in the morning and plan on lunch there. Rick Steves is silent on Braubach. Braubach information:

https://delveintoeurope.com/braubach-germany/

3 pages of Braubach photos: https://stadtbild-deutschland.org/forum/index.php?thread/7322-braubach-am-rhein-und-marksburg-galerie/

Good German food at this place in the old-town on the Marktplatz; they are open Fri - Tue.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g642094-d8452318-Reviews-Zum_Goldenen_Schluessel-Braubach_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

If you finish up in Braubach by around 14:00, you can take the train to Bacharach (w/ a transfer in Koblenz) and arrive in Bacharach by 15:00. Rick Steves does a thorough job on Bacharach. Return to Boppard at whatever hour you find convenient by train. The Guest ticket covers ALMOST all this train travel... Remember that you will need an extra ticket for Oberwesel > Bacharach and Bacharach > Oberwesel in addition, as I explained previously.

Russ--All of the information you provided is exactly what I needed. Thank you so much!

Mary - Please read about The Deutschland-Ticket here:
https://www.seat61.com/websites/deutschland-ticket.htm

Your planned journeys within Germany...

1) FRA airport to Boppard
2) Outings from Boppard
3) Boppard to Heidelberg...
4) Outings from Heidelberg
5) Heidelberg to colmar

The D-Ticket has the potential to cover ALL these journeys as long as...
...your trips takes place during a calendar month (only May dates, for example.)
...you use only the REGIONAL trains from the time you arrive at FRA airport.

Most of these trips are only possible by regional train/bus anyway, so the D-Ticket at 63 Euros each is almost a no-brainer.

For journey 3) above, there is a choice of regional or regional + long-distance IC/ICE trains... but the IC/ICE trains are only usable if you BUY additional tickets for those. The trip to H'berg by regional train only takes 3 hours. You will have a choice of either 1 transfer or 2. The same trip can be done more quickly if you include the long-distance IC/ICE trains in your search - you'll save maybe 30-40 minutes - but you will still have transfers, 1-3 of them, as there are no direct trains on this trip. And half of your trip will still have to be accomplished by regional trip anyway. So my take is to just let the D-Ticket cover your entire journey and ride the regional trains the whole way, targeting only those regional train journeys which involve ONE train transfer.

For journey 5) above, Heidelberg > Colmar, the D-Ticket might be partially helpful.

The efficient journeys to Colmar route through Strasbourg FR and require the long-distance trains - and two changes of train. The first travel leg of some H'berg > Colmar journey starts with the regional train from H'berg (9:05) to Karlsruhe (9:44), where you change to the long-distance train to Strasbourg. This trip takes 2.25 hours altogether. With the D-Ticket, you could travel to Karlsruhe for free, and the ticket you will have to buy - Karlsruhe > Colmar - is all you'd need to pre-purchase.

Other journeys to Colmar are by long-distance train only, starting with the ICE right out of Heidelberg - again with two changes of train - but these trains do not save you any actual travel time. The 10:38 ICE departure from Heidelberg takes 20 minutes longer alogether than the 9:05, which uses the regional train out of Heidelberg. You would need to pre-purchase a normal Heidelberg > Colmar ticket for any long-distance-train-only trip since the D-Ticket doesn't work on that first long-distance Heidelberg > Karlsruhe train.

In theory, using the D-Ticket with the regional train for H'berg > Karlsruhe should make your ticket to Colmar less expensive than if you buy a ticket for the whole journey from Heidelberg to Colmar.

With the D-Ticket, the Guest Ticket becomes irrelevant, except for the local discounts around the area for other goods/services//entry fees which the Guest Ticket offers.

We also stayed in Boppard, and loved the Bellevue hotel. The breakfast room had great views of the Rhine. They also have outdoor seating right on the river, if you get great weather. The Rhine is fascinating, and a very busy working river, assuming the water levels are back to normal.
We also enjoyed the Boppard chairlift.
Have a great trip.

Ross--Unfortunately our train travel does not all fall within one calendar month.

FRA-Boppard. April 26

Sleep in Boppard April 26, 27, 28

Boppard to Heidelberg April 29

Sleep in Heidelberg April 29,30, May 1

Heidelberg to Colma May 2

etc, etc.

So in that case... The D-Ticket would cover everything but #5 on my list. That would be my choice over individual tickets.

Below in Bold are the costs for two for the trips not covered by the Guest ticket (using regional day passes) if you did not also have the D-Ticket.

FRA > Boppard (€63 )

Boppard > Cochem > Boppard (Guest Ticket)

Boppard > Bacharach > Braubach > Boppard (mostly Guest Ticket, but with no need to purchase the separate Oberwesel > Bacharach > Oberwesel tickets) (€15 )

Boppard > Heidelberg (€63)

On April 30, you would use the D-Ticket to do the one day outing from Heidelberg (€36) that you had in mind - whichever one sounds best. This would be the final day of your D-Ticket. Not sure what the cost for two would be. My guess would be €36 for a regional day pass.

On May 1, you would do the things in Heidelberg that you went there to do. No travel.

On May 2, you would depart for Colmar on pre-purchased Heidelberg > Colmar ticket. The D-Ticket would not cover you.

So if you just pay as you go - and the Guest Ticket you use from Boppard covers the outings from there, mostly, it will cost you €177 out of pocket to get around through April 30. Two D-Tickets will cost €126 for those same journeys. Besides saving you €51, the D-Ticket will also spare you the hassle of buying individual tickets as you go and will NOT constrain your choice of travel times at all (like the €63 and €36 trips I detailed would do.) You can travel at any hour of the day with the D-Ticket.

**

We just returned from our Deutschland trip and stayed in Bacharach for 3 nights. I find it to be an enchanting medieval town. As others I’ve mentioned it is a small town, but also a well positioned location to begin your trip.

We took the time to explore the area and additionally the day trips from this location, including to visit Burg Eltz. You mentioned that your focus is not castles and cathedrals, however, if you haven’t visited Burg Eltz yet I highly recommend.

If you’re interested in natural beauty mountains, and art, consider including Austria and Hallstadt specifically into your itinerary.
Our trip was mostly about visiting our German family and exploring the areas around where they live, but Austria was one of my favorite additions to our trip my second time there.