Is Koblenz worth spending an overnight visit? Arrival and departure mid-day. It would be a mid-way stop between Stuttgart and the Frankfurt Hahn airport, towards the end of a 4 week Oktoberfest / biking / visiting friends trip. We were there for a very brief time in 2017, saw the Deutsches Eck and rode the cable car. We've spent a lot of time in Germany, mostly Munich & Bavaria but also Black Forest and Eastern section (Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig), so wondering if there are some unique sights or just more of the same. Our final destination is Barcelona, trying to decide if it's worth the extra day of traveling (train + bus) to get to Hahn vs. flying direct out of Stuttgart - flight choices are limited due to routes from Ryanair vs. Vueling.
Posted by
San Antonio TX, United States
2393 posts
Have you been to Mainz? I would pick it over Koblenz. There are Roman ruins, a church with beautiful stained glass by Chagall, a Cathedral, Gutenberg museum...dare I go on?
Posted by
New York, NY
1582 posts
I agree with Christi, Mainz is a must see destination. It's a unique German city with plenty of interesting sights.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
I spent a pleasant Sunday morning in Koblenz in 2004. From the main train station, I walked to the confluence of the two rivers (Rhein and Mosel) and saw the Deutsches Eck Memorrial, then walked back through numerous plazas with people sitting out enjoying a lunch in the sun.
There is also a cable car from Koblenz, I'm not sure exactly where, across the river to the fortress, Ehrenbreitstein, which was, as I understand, built from rocks quarried from the ruins of Rheinfels, in St Goar.
Posted by
Paradise
6641 posts
We were there for a very brief time in 2017, saw the Deutsches Eck and rode the cable car.
There's a little more to see/do in Koblenz, but not that much.
We've spent a lot of time in Germany, mostly Munich & Bavaria but also Black Forest and Eastern section (Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig), so wondering if there are some unique sights or just more of the same.
Have you taken a Rhine River cruise? Toured an intact medieval castle? If not, that sounds like a smart plan. Suggest the following...
7:36 - 10:01 train from Stuttgart to Bingen Rhein Stadt (1 change of train in Mainz.) Walk to K-D cruise dock for tickets. Take in the views from the Bingen waterfront, then line up for the 11:15 am cruise to St. Goar (12:55.) This is the most scenic cruise segment. Have lunch there.
14:00 - 15:05 train to Braubach for tour of Marksburg Castle. (You'll have 1 change of train in Koblenz with 25 minutes there to drop your bags in a station locker.) Once in Braubach, walk to the castle entrance for a tour of roughly 50 minutes through this never-destroyed medieval Rhine Castle. Definitely NOT "more of the same" if you compare it with Bavaria's Neuschwanstein (a frivolous 19th-century palace mocked-up with a fake castle exterior.)
Walk down after your tour, have a meal if you're ready, and head back to Koblenz (a 10-minute train ride) to get your bags and find your hotel.
Next day, morning in Koblenz, then bus to Hahn.
Posted by
Greeley, co, usa
2406 posts
If you have previously taken the cable car to the fortress, I would skip Koblenz.
and fly from Stuttgart to Barcelona.