St Goar early morning

I found this information but cannot translate it. I think it says opens at 0600 but want to be sure on Sunday.

Der Verkauf von Backwaren beginnt um 6.00 Uhr. Ab dann können Sie ebenfalls bereits ein Frühstück bestellen. Der Außenbereich wird ab 10:00 Uhr bewirtet. Wir haben täglich bis 18:00 Uhr für Sie geöffnet.

It says they are open daily, with sales of baked goods beginning at 06:00. The outside seating opens at 10:00. If you provide the link, I can take a look at it and tell you for sure. Most bakeries in Germany open at 06:00, though on Sun. sometimes it is at 08:00.

That says you can purchase baked goods daily after 6 am. Outdoor service begins at 10:00. It's not clear about whether seating indoors is possible that early. The main reason for being open at 6 am is so that the townfolk can pick up freshly baked breakfast rolls, and some shops at that hour have only over-the-counter sales.

Sounds like you will have been on an overnight train - meaning that you will have taken a connecting train from Koblenz or Mainz, maybe, to reach St. Goar. So... you might do better to delay your departure from one of those stations instead, where there's a larger infrastructure for travelers right in the station. Coffee Fellows, McDonalds, Starbucks, and several bakeries are housed at the Mainz station. If you have either a railpass or a valid advance-sale ticket, you are permitted to use any local/regional connecting train you wish during the period of validity.

I'm coming from Cologne...just at a stupid early hour! I didn't see any other train possibility which would get me there before 0900. I need to take the KD boat from St Goar to Braubach at 1055 so wanted to be there by 9 to have enough time to see the castle and not be rushed.

And thank-you!

If you are getting on the train at 5:53 in Cologne, then I'd recommend instead that you take the train to Bingen and continue as I outlined on another thread (which you maybe haven't seen?) Otherwise you're cheating yourself out of the best part of the river scenery.

That same train that takes you to St. Goar arrives in Bingen at 7:43. Before your cruise north from Bingen, you could walk to the NH Bingen hotel and have yourself the most amazing buffet breakfast in an outstanding setting overlooking the Rhine.

Breakfast with a view

Then walk down to the KD dock and board the 9:30 boat.

This was my note to you:

Hi, lydia49a. You are focused on the wrong part of the river for cruising. If you are going to spend more than 2 hours on the KD boats then see the more spectacular part SOUTH of St. Goar (which takes only 1.5 hours.) The part from St. Goar north to Koblenz is somewhat less impressive - and then you have those logistics issues in Koblenz.
Try this. Get yourself to Bingen in time for the 10:30 boat north and cruise to St. Goar (11:55.) Spend (about) 2 hours there.
Take the ferry over to St. Goarshausen at 13:50, walk north to the station, and catch the 14:31 train north to Braubach (arr. 14:52.)
(Take your Marksburg Castle tour?) Then return to Cologne via Koblenz by train from Braubach whenever you're ready (trains run all the time, unlike the boats.)

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/river-rhine-1-day

Russ - that sounds like a good option as well. Is the ferry to St Goarhausen easy to find? How long does it take and how frequently does it run? I'm doing this tomorrow, so rather last minute I know.

Also, how far is the train from the KD dock in Bingen? I was just looking and could take a later train which arrives at 0943.

Disregard - boat leaves at 0930. Looking on Google maps it appears the train station is right next to the dock...correct?

The ferry dock in St. Goar is not hard to find. The little ferry does it's "dance" (against the strong current) across the river every few minutes. Hard to miss it. Just note where it docks on the St. Goar side. As I remember, it's just a little ways "up" the river (south) from the KD dock.

Looks like it is about a quarter mile from the Bingen Stadt Bahnhof to the KD kiosk. BTW, be sure to go to Bingen Stadt Bahnhof, not the Bingen Hauptbahnhof. It's a lot farther from the Hbf to the dock.

Thanks again! You have all been a great help!

The St. Goar ferry on Sunday runs as needed during those Sunday hours.

picture

The Bingen Stadt station is closest to the KD dock - DB estimates 10 minutes but it is probably 7-8 min. But it is NOT far from the Bingen Hbf station if you want to walk from there either - 15 minutes maximum, I'd say. If you're arriving on the MRB train at 8:43 (Bingen Hbf), that train WAITS there for 11 minutes, then travels to Bingen Stadt, arriving there at 8:56 - so you'll probably arrive earlier at the KD dock by getting off at Hbf station and walking from there. Keep to the right over the Nahe bridge - then down through the underground passage to the river side of the main drag and past the NH Bingen hotel to the waterfront.