Rhine or Mosel?

I’ve spent 12 days of my last two trips in Bacharach. I think it is a very nice place to stay. I stay at Irmgard Orth’s small ( 3 room ) b&b. I believe that it is also one of Rick’s recommendations. For a more elaborate place, Pension am Malerwinkel is in a very nice location. For dinner we eat at the Rusticana.

I preferred the Rhine, although they are very different. The Mosel is in a broader, more green valley, the river is smaller. The Rhine is a shipping channel, busier. We stayed in Bacharach and then in Cochem. In Bacharach we rented bikes and rode north to the ferry stop, locked the bikes, ferried to the other side where there us a train station, and caught the train to the Marksburg castle stop, and hiked up (stopping for sandwiches in the town below the castle). Returned in the same order. Then that afternoon we hiked up to the hostel in the hill above Bacharach for the view. On another day you could do a river cruise (we opted against this) and then walk around St. Goar. And then on another day you could hike up to Burg Elz, and see Cochem, which I found to be much more touristy than Bacharach (like, tour buses parked en masse with a lot of older tourists pouring into the town). The hike to Burg Elz from the train station is 90 minutes - a beautiful hike through a forest that ends at the base of the castle, and there is a nice cafe/restaurant there, and a stream for cooling feet after the hike. We stayed in Bacharach in a great B & B that I found on Booking.

Trier is an important destination, but not as important as the Middle Rhine, IMHO. As noted, the two locations are very different. For example, I suspect that bicycling on the Mosel is much nicer. I think wineries might be physically smaller on the Mosel, but in either case, I would reserve (ahead or with the concierge) before visiting. We didn't sleep in the Middle Rhine, because we had a flower show in Koblenz, but certainly Bachrach and Boppard are more attractive (and smaller) towns. On the Mosel, we found Traben-Trarbach very attractive, and wouldn't have been sorry to sleep there. I think there was a famous Art Nouveau hotel there that we visited for the architecture. Nice town rock park to climb up for the view. Public path through vineyards led to a no-appointment tasting mini-hotel and cafe in one vineyard.

Be very careful about scheduling your trip to the airport. Many people don't think enough about the three-hour checkin deadline, or rush-hour delays. Also, use the Search box top center for "Middle Rhine", because there are plenty of past recommendations for specific castles and hotels, and which towns are the most charming. (We didn't visit enough towns to answer you on that score.)

"...doing a river cruise, checking our some castles... I am thinking we'd stay in Bacharach, based on RS recommendation..."

Both rivers have cruises, but the single most worthwhile cruise is the Rhine Cruise between Bingen and St. Goar; Bingen > Boppard is good if you want to be on the river a bit longer. See map. This part of the river has a dense collection of castles, vineyards and attractive towns dotting the river banks.

Seems like most everyone on this forum follows the guidebook rec's and stays in Bacharach. As someone who has visited this part of the Rhine multiple times over the last 4 decades and stayed in 6 or 7 different towns, I find Rick Steves' preference for Bacharach peculiar. Bacharach is not a bad place - it's a lovely town and probably has the nicest old half-timbered buildings of all the local Rhine towns. But it has some issues as a travel base for 3 days. First, the cruise... if you board in Bacharach, you will see only half of the best part, since it sits right in the middle; so you need a train to Bingen, then a 2nd train back to Bacharach if you're just taking a cruise (staying in St. Goar or Bingen = only one train.) Then there's the train tracks, with trains running day and night through most of the town day and night and very close to the places where people tend to sleep, eat and hang out; if you book there, scan online reviews for noise issues and watch out for locations like this one in Rick's book. The Blücher Valley inns (behind the sloped hillside where the castle sits in this photo of Bacharach) have less train noise - so lots of folks book there - but they are the furthest from the train station (bottom left in photo. Bacharach does have a castle, but not one you can tour (it's a hostel.)

I've found St. Goar and Boppard better. Rheinfels Castle is right in St. Goar - walk up whenever it's convenient. You can end a cruise in St. Goar (or Boppard) and be "home." Both are closer to the Mosel River for outings. Both have train stations, but the town is situated such that train noise is less problematic (still a good idea to scan reviews though.) Unlike Bacharach, St. Goar and Boppard both have several hotels and restaurants with river views, and both have a river ferry right in town; Boppard's riverfront is especially nice. Boppard is also blessed with a chairlift - a short walk from the top takes you to a stunning overlook at Gedeonseck.

Boppard has the nicest selection of hotels and restaurants on this part of the river - but St. Goar's selection isn't bad.

Do be sure to pay Bacharach a visit - it's a very cool place for a walk around and a meal.

Jessica gave an excellent description! We've stayed on both (Bacharach 3 nights and Cochem 3 nights). I would agree with other posters that the Mosel is quieter and more laid back and that Cochem is more touristy than Bacharach, although I think St.Goar is probably just as touristy. The Rhein is great for visiting Castles and for a cruise. We really enjoyed Cochem and will be spending 2 nights there this summer as part of our 8 day bike tour of the Mosel. Beilstein is quite small and very quiet:) IMHO if you want to relax, cruise the river and bike then the Mosel is better for that. You can easily see the castle in Cochem and Burg Eltz from Cochem.

The Rhein and the Mosel are, as Jessica noted, entirely different rivers.

Except for a few loops, the Rhein is essentially a straight shot from Bingen to Koblenz, with major towns on both sides of the river, connected by hourly trains. Cars here are at best superfluous, at worst a hindrance.

My only problem with Bacharach is that it is just outside the VRM (Verkehrverbund Rhein-Mosel) which is the transit district from Oberwesel down the Rhein to Remagen and up the Mosel to Bullay. The VRM has great all day tickets for travel in it's district, but if you stay in Bacharach, to take advantage of the deals, you have to buy a separate ticket to Oberwesel every day, get off, and buy your VRM ticket.

The Mosel, in contrast, has wide loops with the train tracks and the main road running basically on one side. There are buses to the other sides of the loops (Bernkastel-Kues, Zell, and Beilstein), but travel to those towns is more cumbersome. Beilstein is a nice day trip from Cochem, but it is so isolated, I would not want to base there. A car might be more convenient here, but definitely not necessary. If you want to go to Burg Eltz, but don't want to walk through the woods to the castle, a car would be convenient, but there are taxis from Hatzenport.

Cochem to Trier is probably faster with the train and not much more expensive with a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket than RT gas for a rental car.

The boat trip from Bingen to St. Goar is definitely the most interesting, but just between St. Goar and Bacharach is nearly as good, so if time is an issue ... .

The boat trip from Bingen to St. Goar is definitely the most
interesting, but just between St. Goar and Bacharach is nearly as
good, so if time is an issue ...

The cruise actually requires very little time. Bacharach to St. Goar (€14.80) would take just 40 minutes. Bingen to St. Goar (€20.20) would be 85 minutes.

The "extra-long" cruise (€28.20) from Bingen to Boppard takes 2 hrs., 20 min.

The train ticket costs for getting to Bingen from St. Goar (€7 each) will vary slightly depending on where you start from. But that cost is partially refunded to you at the KD dock in the form of a 20% discount on the cruise. Just show your train ticket at the KD kiosk.

We stayed in Bacharach in the Burg Stahleck, a Youth Hostel (Hostelling Internation or H.I.). We met travelers from all over the world, stayed in the Turm Zimmer (tower room) and enjoyed the view from the terrace.
After experiencing the mighty Rhein river, the Mosel (to Cochem) felt like a disappointment: a small winding river - no comparison.
https://www.hihostels.com/hostels/bacharach?linkid=988000&linksubid=dyn-en&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqM3VBRCwARIsAKcekb2zQfzjwNAb1JcT8P_WqCCmtHSmV3_jzoZx6nqbiszbh6nDRsvlJqwaAuE_EALw_wcB

Thank you for all the suggestions. We opted to book in Bacharach, but will likely drive over to Cochem one day while visiting Burg Eltz.