Start the Rhine boat tour in Rudesheim, Bingen or Bacharach?

Bingen is where the great scenery begins. If your luggage isn't too heavy to carry a few blocks, you can take the train to Bingen(Rhein) Stadt station and walk to the KD dock to begin your cruise from there to Boppard that same day. There's a 14:30 boat from Bingen that arrives in Boppard at 16:50. (Traveling in this direction is much more time-efficient; cruising north to south instead would require 4 full hours.) Because you will have luggage and because the boat schedule is somewhat irregular for hopping off and back on, I suggest you stay on the boat all the way to Boppard and do your sightseeing in the towns betwen Boppard and Bingen (St. Goar, Oberwesel, Bacharach) the following day - by train these places are only minutes from each other, and with trains running hourly or better throughout the day, it will be much easier to get from town to town than by cruise boat.

KD boat time table

Thanks, Russ. We have our room booked in Boppard and our train ticket purchased for departure day. I appreciate all of your help and can't wait to visit the area!

The boat is for getting a relaxing view of all the castles. Explore any individual ones by train. Burg Rheinfels above St. Goar is one of my favorites ( I prefer ruined castles ).

Russ has provided good information on the best train fares in the area on this and other forums.

I partially agree with Russ, don't bother with the Rhein boat upriver (south) of Bingen, but, IMO, the better part of the Rhein is between Bacharach and St. Goar. You get to see the Loreley, which actually is only a big cliff, but historical, the shoals where so many boats wrecked, and the Pfalzgrafenstein, the mid-river toll castle, up close. Other than Bacharach to St. Goar, the boat is too slow. Use the train to make the best use of your time.

The trip down (with the flow) the Rhein from Bacharach to St. Goar takes 40 min. The other way (against the flow) take 70 min. I made the mistake of taking the boat from St. Goar to Bacharach. I found the boat excruciatingly slow. We looked at the same part of the river forever. Forty minutes, IMO, is plenty of time on the boat.

Go with you luggage directly to Boppard. The next day, take the train to Bacharach, with maybe a short stop in Oberwesel. Tour Bacharach, then use your train ticket at the boat ticket kiosk for a 20% discount. Take the boat to St. Goar. Visit the Rheinfels castle ruin. If you have time, take the ferry across the river to St. Goarshausen and the train from there to Braubach and visit the Marksburg, the only Rhein castle never destroyed.

Or take the train back to Boppard and do the Marksburg the next day. I might do Boppard to Braubach on the boat. It only takes 30 min whereas the train through Koblenz take 45 - 60 minutes. And, the trolley that takes you up the hill to the Marksburg meets the boat at the dock. Coming back, you can take the train via Koblenz, or, as I did, take the train 7 minutes to Filsen, then walk about a km to the ferry that goes across the Rhein to Boppard. The walk from Filsen to the ferry is an easy one, albeit alongside the highway.

"IMO, the better part of the Rhein is between Bacharach and St. Goar."

I don't disagree that this is a very nice part - but do understand, Dana, that the Bingen-Boppard segment I suggested INCLUDES this stretch of river, and the stuff north and south of it is very nice as well. Bacharach-St. Goar is 13 km of river. Bingen - Bacharach - St. Goar - Boppard is 43 km of river. The river just north of Bingen includes views of Rheinstein castle and the Mäuseturm - also very sweet.
View near Bingen
Rheinstein

If you are severely pressed for time, do the 40-min. version as Lee suggests. If not, or if you are the kind that just really likes cruising, well, the extra cruise mileage I suggested will cost you €10 more each w/ the discount, but I think it's €10 well spent. Also, if you do the cruise AFTER you have reached Boppard by train, you will already have seen the river from your train window - which will to some extent defile your status as Rhine-cruise virgins and "taint" your cruise experience just a little.

Thanks, guys! All valid points and I will definitely take all of this great information into account. We have nothing but time for 2.5 days on the Rhine with no real agenda other than seeing what we can see. I have been down that stretch but my two kids haven't so I want them to see some great sites. Appreciate all of your help. This forum has been extremely helpful in alleviating the stress about what to do, how to get there, and great suggestions. Lee - thanks for all of your train assistance too! I've already purchased 3 out of 5 of my train tickets and gotten a GREAT rate b/c I got the saver fare (well, one of them is a bus from Prague to Munich but others are trains). Have a a great week, everyone!

Rudesheim is barely a mile south of Bingen, therefore it really doesn't matter except for one minor detail. Bacharach and Bingen are on the West bank of the Rhine while Rudesheim is on the East bank of the Rhine and Rothenburg is East of the Rhine. Since there are nearly no rail (or vehicle) bridges across the Rhine, you will probably find it much easier to get rail connections to Rudesheim. Granted there are quaint little ferries that cross the river there,, they will not necessarily get you where you wnat to go without a long walk and in the event you misjudge the timing by a couple minutes you will be waiting for the next Rhine steamer. Have a great trip, it is really beautiful country.

The trains cross the Rhine on the bridge between Wiesbaden and Mainz, so it doesn't matter which side of the Rhine they start on. Both are just as easily reached by trains coming north from Rothenburg. The ferries run every 20 min. and are far from being quaint. They carry cars, students going to school and commuters all day long.

Glad to see you're on the right track.