Staying in Rhine vs Mosel Valley

We did a 2 week Rhine & Moselle cruise a few years ago and the Moselle portion was the prettiest part of the cruise. Trier and Cochem were both very pleasant. On the Rhine, ad stops in Boppard and Rudesheim that we enjoyed.

We’d like to do a short stretch of a boat ride on the Rhine River and
we’d also like to see Burg Eltz. Aside from that, just exploring some
small towns and relaxing would be a high priority at this point in our
trip.

As you probably know already, it's about 5 hours by train from Paris to Koblenz (where you'd be on both the Rhine AND the Mosel) which usurps much of your Day 1. You would do better to stay in a smaller town than Koblenz if it's relaxation and a quiet time that you are after. So I suggest that you buy your train tickets to Boppard instead of Koblenz (or Trier.) Boppard is small but still has a nice variety of hotel, apartment, and restaurant choices; step off the train there and the town is right at your feet.

Boppard is great for lightweight sightseeing. After checking in, you might catch the exciting chairlift ride to the Vierseenblick lookout and some refreshments or a meal at Gedeonseck. After that have a walk through the old town and along the riverfront.

Boppard is ideal if you are doing a cruise on your 2nd day. You don't board the boat there - you take the train first to Bingen and cruise from there back north through the best part of the Rhine to Boppard (cruise part takes 2.3 hours.) A car would not be helpful for this since you'd have to back track to pick it up. On the cruise back north to Boppard, step off the boat for 2-3 hours in the town of Bacharach, which has some of the most attractive old-world buildings on the Rhine. Another cruise stop option is St. Goar (and Rheinfels Castle) just a little bit further north. Your boat will probably get back to Boppard in the early evening if you manage to fit in both. Boppard has some nice spots for wine and a nice meal.

On your 3rd day, you could take your outing to Burg Eltz and Cochem. This day is possible by train as well, but it may or may not involve a lengthy hike from Moselkern to the castle depending on the day of the week you're there. So in the interests of convenience and relaxation, this might be a good day to pick up your car and DRIVE to Burg Eltz. You can take the train into Koblenz first (which is on the way) for that. This train ride is free of charge for the whole family since you're staying in Boppard and you received a Gästekarte (guest card) for free train transport from your hosts there. Then drive on to Burg Eltz and Cochem. Cochem is very nice for just strolling around but you may want to visit the Bundesbank Bunker there, or possibly Reichsburg Castle as well, if you find the time.

There's more to see and do in this area (Marksburg Castle for example, actually my personal favorite of all the area's castles - it's across the Rhine and north in the town of Braubach) if you end up with more time in the area.

I'm a big fan of staying in Cochem, on the Mosel, from which you can access Burg Eltz and also my favorite German village, which is Beilstein. Beilstein has castle ruins, which are completely different from Burg Eltz. The Mosel is very pretty and if you cruise there from Cochem to Beilstein you will go through locks, which are interesting. I love renting a bike from the KD kiosk in Cochem to ride on the great path along the Mosel, where you cross over into Beilstein by way of the small ferry. You cannot get to Beilstein by train, but since you will have a car that will not be a problem. Cochem has quite a few hotels/B & Bs and restaurants.

For the Rhine I like to stay in Bacharach. You can hike up to the castle there, which is now a youth hostel. You can cruise the most interesting part of the Rhine past many, many castles and castle ruins. I usually go only as far as St. Goar, where I get off and walk around a bit. Your kids would enjoy getting "spaghetti ice" which is vanilla ice cream that is pushed through sort of a "sieve or colander" to make the "spaghetti strands". It is then topped with crushed strawberries, and finished off with grated white chocolate to serve as the "parmesan cheese." I think there is real whipped cream in there somewhere too. It is delicious and fun. I know I have had it at a place in Cochem.

Bacharach and Cochem (suggested by Joy) can be pleasant towns to stay in as well; a two-base-town strategy for the Rhine/Mosel could work satisfactorily for someone spending more time in the area, but since you requested a single place for 3 nights - a wise decision that minimizes the luggage juggling - I think Boppard may better serve your needs. With a Cochem base, the Rhine cruise becomes unnecessarily cumbersome. And it's the same story if you were to attempt a day trip to Burg Eltz and Cochem from a Bacharach base. Boppard splits the mileage difference.

(Also, Boppard has a nice waterfront with cafes and restaurants and several lodging options with nice views, something you won't find in Bacharach, which was built far from the river's edge.)

Thank you all so much for the wonderful suggestions! I’m definitely going to do a bit of research now into Boppard and like the idea of the train arriving right in the town - and picking up a rental car a day or two later.

I love the great ideas from this forum!

I'm a Mosel man myself, going back in September, but Russ has some good suggestions for your limited time. If you can extend your time, add what Joy suggests plus Bernkastel.

As an FYI, you can get Spaghetti Eis pretty much anywhere in Germany. Most of the Eis Salons are owned by Italians, so lots of gelato too. Some of the fancier places will offer their Spaghetti Eis with WW noodles or with a Pesto Sauce or Carbanero Sauce. Have seen Lasagna offered as well as Schnitzel with Pommes. Everything made with ice cream, fruits, or nuts.

I definitely did not mean to imply that St. Goar was the only place one could get spaghetti ice. I found the one I had in Oberamergau to be more delicious than others I have eaten.

Thanks again everyone! Can’t wait for this leg of our trip! Along with looking into Boppard, I’m also going to check out Cochem and Beilstein, as the Mosel seems like a great area to stay as well.

And the spaghetti ice sounds great - something my kids would love. I’m sure we will have quite a bit of it! The food highlight for my kids in England was an ice cream cone with the chocolate flake!

I just wanted to follow up and thank everyone for great suggestions both for towns to stay and things to see and do. After a lot of research, we've decided to spend our 3 nights in Boppard. We loved the idea of not having to rent a car for a couple of days (saving some extra money and less hassle trying to park is always good!). We'll take the train from Paris to Boppard - after some looking on the bahn website, it appears that they have many trains available everyday with 1 or 2 transfers, so not too bad.

Thanks again - this forum is so great for ideas. I never would have thought or known to consider some of the things people mentioned in their posts.

Now I just have to wait for next summer! And plan for lodging in our other Germany/Austrian destinations... :)

Too add some detail to the above: we just returned from a 6-day stay in Boppard, where we managed both Rhine and Mosel castle tours. We were expecting to use our rental car but because of the Gastekartes provided by our AirBNB host (€1.50 per adult per day of our stay = €18 total), the trains and buses in the area are free, so we parked our car upon arrival and didn’t get in it again until departure. Your host can provide a map of the transit lines that are covered under the Gastekartes.

The train runs twice per hour from Boppard to Koblenz, then Koblenz to Moselkern or Cochem. Train takes a little under an hour to Moselkern, a little more than an hour to Cochem. We walked the path from Moselkern to Burg Eltz, which took about an hour (we are avid hikers and don’t usually take many breaks; allow more time depending on your pace). Very easy excursions from Boppard.

One of the days we took the train from Boppard to St Goar, toured Rheinfels, then St Goar to Oberwesel, did the walk along the medieval town walls, then Oberwesel to Bacharach for lunch. In Bacharach we boarded a KD river boat back up to Boppard. The boat was more expensive than we thought it would be, but worth the experience to be viewing the beautiful castles from the water. This trip took the entire day, 8:40 am to about 6 pm.

Have a wonderful trip!

mgmbiz: Nice explanation of how you used the VRM Guest Ticket for outings. I would only add that the fee/tax that you mention is collected whether you use your free ticket or not.

One of the days we took the train from Boppard to St Goar, toured
Rheinfels, then St Goar to Oberwesel, did the walk along the medieval
town walls, then Oberwesel to Bacharach for lunch.

St. Goar and Oberwesel lie within the VRM zone and are legitmate destinations for the Guest Ticket. Bacharach, however is a few miles outside the VRM zone - so if you went there with only your Guest Ticket, you were actually traveling between Oberwesel and Bacharach as a "Schwarzfahrer" (anyone traveling without a valid ticket) and if caught, you'd have paid a hefty fine. To make things right, you would have needed a standard one-way ticket for Oberwesel > Bacharach (only a few Euros,) which you could have purchased at Boppard station prior to boarding.

Here's a map of the VRM zone destinations. All are inside the light-green VRM area.

In Bacharach we boarded a KD river boat back up to Boppard. The boat
was more expensive than we thought it would be, but worth the
experience to be viewing the beautiful castles from the water.

It is possible to cruise any specific segment you wish to cruise with KD - and prices vary by distance. But given a choice, I'd recommend to others reading this post that you start the cruise further south in Bingen. It's fairly common wisdom among those forum members who are familiar with the Rhine cruises that Bingen > St. Goar is the most intensely scenic part. If you only cruise north from Bacharach, you will miss HALF of this most scenic part. Here's a photo of some castle/vineyard scenery just north of Bingen that mgmbiz skipped:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Maeuseturm_Burg_Ehrenfels_Bingen_Rhein.jpg

Bacharach > Boppard is a "G" fare (€20,80.) For the same fare you can do the top-drawer part, Bingen > St. Goar. If you are staying in Boppard, you might want to pay a little more to cruise all the way to Boppard after that... Bingen > Boppard is an "H" fare (€29.80.) That said, the Guest Card allows free train travel from St. Goar to Boppard - so you might just switch to the train after a Bingen > St. Goar cruise instead and pocket the extra €9.

(One other way to save on the cruise... take the TRAIN to Bingen or other starting point and show your train ticket at the KD kiosk for a 20% discount on the fares I named above. Not sure whether mgmbiz did this at the dock in Bacharach or not. But that simple task saves you about €4 off the Bingen > St. Goar cruise.)

The castles on the Rhine cruise is a classic, but if you go to the Mosel, skip the cruise and get on bikes. You have kids that need to burn off energy, and those boats go slow. There are wonderful bike paths all along the river. I biked from Cochem to Beilstein, and even stopping all the time to take pictures I still kept pace with the boats.

You can also work off that youthful energy in Cochem with the short train ride and hike to Burg Eltz, and Chochem's castle up on the hill. "Doing" on a trip is always so much better than just looking at sights.

Russ...yes, we did buy tickets from Oberwesel to Bacharach, but no, we didn’t know showing our train tickets would give us a discount on KD boats. As for the length of trip, after spending time in the towns we described, there wasn’t enough time to go as far as Bingen and return in time for dinner. Maybe if you didn’t want to spend time in each town along the way, you’d have time for going all the way to Bingen before the last boat leaves.