Rhine River Castles

getting from Paris to Bacharach is a quite a haul but you can do it, that's a lot if you really want to be in Bacharach on Thursday -

Late Feb is a tough time to go you may find limited hotels and restaurants in some of the smaller towns, I've done similar trips in Feb and March and have often struggled to find accommodation in the some of the smaller valley towns.

You didn't mention how long the total trip is, when do you return and from what airport? Out of CDG?

I am hoping to get to Bacharach early enough on Friday (2-24) to take
a boat to Braubach

The normal off-season schedule for the K-D boats (www.k-d.com) starts in late March. I don't think there will be boats running on Feb. 24, but there will be trains. In the winter, the Marksburg closes at 4 pm; I think that is the last guided tour.

You can probably take the ferry to transit to the other side of the river for Braubach, but I'm not sure if there's a rail stop nearby the ferry dock (Lee, can you verify that?). The ferries run all year, barring the rare occassions when river conditions are unsafe. Otherwise, purely by rail, you likely would need to go to Koblenz to cross the river. As noted, the tour boats that make stops at the various towns don't run in the winter.

I have around 13 days before flying back out of CDG.

I read in one of Rick's guide books that there is usually 1 boat running during the off-season for groups but if you call they usually will allow you to join...not sure if this will work, if not then just do the train which isn't a bad thing.

I think you can do the train from paris to bacharach in 5 hrs now but not sure what the schedule will look like in Feb.

Thanks for the comments.

Burg Rheinfels is closed in Feb. Bacharach is dead then.

You can train from Paris to Frankfurt in 4 hours and then train up to the Rhine. All of the towns will be really empty, quiet and dead in Feb. Rüdesheim may be the only town with a little bit of something going on. Restaurants will be closed in many of the other towns. There is usually one ship per day going down the Rhine, but you would have to call to make sure. If not, simply take the train up one side and back down the other.

Plan, train from Paris to Frankfurt. Take the train that leaves once an hour up to Braubach, tour the Marksburg. Only one tour per day and you will have to walk up the hill. The small express "train" does not run in the winter. Then either train to Koblenz and switch trains to come back down the other side of the Rhine or train to St. Goarshausen and take the ferry across to St. Goar. Burg Rheinfels is closed in the winter. You can train down this side of the Rhine and get off in Bacharach if you like. It will be very quiet.

All of this can be done in one day since so little is open. Perhaps stay overnight in Mainz or Frankfurt before continuing on to Baden-Baden the next day.

Please take to heart what Jo and some of these other posters have said about traveling this area in February. The Rhineland can be so beautiful from late spring through October, but February is most likely to be cold, grey, and CLOSED! I lived in that area and loved it, but don't want you to have a disappointing trip.

I stayed in St. Goar a few years ago at that time of year and traveled into Mainz for Fasnacht and the Rose Monday parade, which takes place next year on Monday Feb 27 - something you might want to include. I was surprised to find out that tiny St. Goar had its own parade a day or two before hand. It was an incredible show for such a small town in the dead months of winter.

Mainz and Trier are generally much better places to stay in and to visit than Bacharach and the other small towns during that time of year.

I don´t know why everyone in this forum wants to visit Bacharach. There are so many other towns aswell. Just saying.
Also Ms. Jo is abolutley right with what she wrote, its off season in Feb. But I can recommend staying in Frankfurt... : )))))

For some reason I just love Bacharach and always make it my first stop after I fly into Frankfurt. It is the perfect size and I know it "like the back of my hand"! Ha! I also love Beilstein, but without a car it is harder to get to. And it is maybe a little too small for 2 nights.

For some reason I just love Bacharach and always make it my first stop after I fly into Frankfurt. It is the perfect size and I know it "like the back of my hand"! Ha! I also love Beilstein, but without a car it is harder to get to. And it is maybe a little too small for 2 nights.