Rhineland area help needed

We will be arriving in Boppard tomorrow, which was recommended here on the Forum because of its transit options . Will be reporting soon.

We stayed in Bacharach at the Altkohnischer Hof Hotel for one night. It was very reasonable and we reserved a room with a balcony. Bacharach is quaint and picturesque. We walked up to Burg Stahleck and got dessert there with a lovely view of the Rhine River. The next day we got tickets at the KD Rhine ferry stop and enjoyed a Rhine River cruise north to Boppard. It is the romantic part of the Rhine river and passes several castles. You could get off at St Goar if you wish. We had luggage with us so we did not get off. From Boppard we took a train to Koblenz and then a train to Cologne. We stayed across the river in Cologne at the Hyatt Regency. The views of the cathedral from across the river at night are breathtaking! We have not been to the other areas that you mentioned. It may also depend on what your Rhine river cruise already covers.

Would recommend going to the Mosel Valley, since you will be covering a lot of the sights you mentioned during your Rhine cruise. September is grape harvest time and that means weekend "Strassenweinfesten". Research one you can attend for a good time. They take place various weekends at villages all along the Mosel. That covers Burg Eltz as well.

I take it you have plane tickets bought. Not a whole lot of point going as far as Cologne, then backtracking to FRA when you are already half way to Amsterdam by train.

I, like Sam, don't get the fly to Amsterdam bit.

You will just be a short train trip from Amsterdam, faster overall than flying, much easier, probably cheaper, much more comfortable, and as Sam say, you're half way there.

In 5 nights you could base centrally and see all the places on your list.

Cruise: I don't think I'd be incorrect to say that most of the Germany forum regulars would advise that you begin the cruise in BINGEN and cruise north to St Goar or Boppard. Starting in Bacharach cuts out half of the most scenic part. You'll of course be cruising this part in the other direction later, but it's worth cruising twice. It's roughly 1.5 hours from Bingen to St. Goar, and this could be done on the way to your base town the same day you arrive in this area from Frankfurt, or from Mainz, if you spend time there. Both Boppard and St Goar serve are good base towns for train outings.

Are any of the places you mention excursion stops on the cruise (like possibly Cologne, Burg Eltz, HeidelbErg)? The parts of the Rhine that are most scenic are between Mainz and Koblenz, so you'd be pre-empting a lot. I'd do the Mosel as was mentioned, or Frankfurt and parts east of there.

Take the train from Koblenz to Amsterdam

Rereading the OP's previous posts, I am piecing together a picture of this trip. Central is a Rhine Cruise from Amsterdam to Basel. Since a cruise is involved, I posit that they are not packing light. As such, it seems like a car rental is involved with this pre-cruise trip. Also, for personal reasons, they are flying round trip from North America, perhaps using air miles. From previous posts, they originally planned to drive from Frankfurt to Amsterdam. Thought better of that plan and will now drive back to FRA and fly to Amsterdam. So it would seem that suggestions about trains are falling on deaf ears.

Having said that, the Mosel Valley is still a good choice. Burg Eltz is there. It is also a great biking location (also mentioned in a previous post) with a disused railroad bed along the river for a superb bike trail. Bike hire locations are many, and even some hotels and Ferienwohnung have bikes for guest use.

Another post mentioned an after-cruise trip from Basel using trains. Heavy luggage can be stored at Basel SBB station for several days. In that case, head to the Berner Oberland in the spectacular Alps. Suggest Muerren as a very special place to stay. After a couple of days, take a train back to Basel SBB, retrieve luggage and take the next train to Frankfurt.

Thanks so much for all of the replies. Incredible useful information. We will not be doing a post cruise trip. We will be flying back to North America from Basel (end stop on cruise). So we will have 6 days and 5 nights to explore pre-cruise. We will be flying from Frankfurt to Amsterdam. Considered taking the train, but it seemed long from Frankfurt, didn't know or think about taking the train from Koblenz. The suggestion of the Mosel River is a great one. That maybe the area that we concentrate on. We will stop at Cologne (on the cruise) and it seems pretty far from Mainz and Bacharach, so I think we will eliminate Cologne from our pre-cruise trip. Again thanks for all of the responses.

"Considered taking the train, but it seemed long from Frankfurt, didn't know or think about taking the train from Koblenz."

Right - From FRA airport it's around 5 hours at most times of the day on 3+ different trains. I think there's only one direct morning train around noon.

Koblenz is a rail hub for the Middle Rhine Valley. A trip to the Mosel River towns from a Rhine Valley town (or vice versa) will mean a change of train in Koblenz.

For future reference: This map shows the Rhine towns between Koblenz and Bingen (all with rail stations) as well as the car/pedestrian ferry crossings, the cruise boat docks, and some trail options. Whether you're driving or using the trains, it should be helpful. Train service here is frequent and dependable as a rule. Click on for more information on each.

From FRA, Mainz is very close (25 minutes) and the other towns of interest that you might stay in or visit on the Rhine are one hour away, give or take 20 minutes or so.

Here's a map of the railway, with station names, that serves the Mosel River Valley between Trier and Koblenz. Like the Rhine, the Mosel is one of Germany's most scenic train rides. If Burg Eltz will be on your agenda, there's no train there; instead, there's a bus + train connection that takes you to the castle. Use the DB Railways site to find an itinerary for this journey, just like you would a train trip. Or you can hike the trail from Moselkern station. Cochem makes for a good base town on the Mosel, and it's an easy place to catch a river cruise boat upstream to Beilstein or other towns, but there are other nice towns you might base in as well.

Your best Rhine Castle tour has to be Marksburg in Braubach - there's a genuine medieval feel there. Braubach is just 10 minutes from Koblenz on the east bank of the Rhine.

With 5 nights you might wish to break up your stay with 3 nights on the Rhine and 2 on the Mosel to get a small feel for the different regions. Mosel white wines are traditionally sweet, Rhine wines more on the dry side. The Rhine is bigger, bolder, louder, the Mosel quieter, more sedate, and prettier, some say. It's not too surprising that Germans refer to them as "Vater" Rhein and "Mutter" Mosel.

Hi, all,
in Boppard and having trouble figuring out how to get to Marksburg Castle.
Seems there's a #670 bus and a .5 walk???
Can't find a train. I know I'm missing something here.
Maybe I'm just too tired tonight to think .
Thx for any help!

Tomorrow, by train: Lv. Boppard Hbf 8:23 > ar. 9:05 Braubach. You change trains in Koblenz over 14 minutes; as scheduled, you walk from track 8 over to track 2 for the Koblenz > Braubach train. Just go down the steps from track 8 into the underground hallway iin Koblenz station that connects the platform staircases and look for track/Gleis #2.

If you're having trouble getting train schedules at DB with your personal device, you can check and print schedules tomorrow morning for other departure times using the ticket machines on the Boppard station platforms. (No ticket purchase is needed just to get a schedule.)