Suggestions for extra days In the Rhine River Valley before our tour begins in Trier.

Take the boat all the way to at least to Boppard and train back to Bacharach. A lot to see from a boat ride past Bacharach.

"Any thoughts about taking a train from Heidelberg to Bingen and then taking a boat to Bacharach so we can see the castles."

Hi again. I provided some specifics for cruising and sightseeing on the Rhine back in March, but let me respond to this new idea you have.

A Bingen > Bacharach cruise is not a big problem, just a very short (45 minutes) ride. Although it will take you past several cliffside castles, getting off in Bacharach shortchanges your cruise experience by about 50%. It is very much worth your while to stay on the boat for another 40 minutes until you reach St. Goar if you want to see the best part of the river and some additional castles. You won't pay more than €5 more for the additional time on the cruise.

(In your March post, you suggested cruising north from Bacharach, which cheated you out of the Bingen > Bacharach part. So my advice is to be nicer to yourselves as you plan this time!)

Whether you cruise to Bacharach or to St. Goar, you will need to be able to schlepp your bags for maybe 10 minutes to the KD dock in Bingen from the Bingen Rhein Stadt train station (the right station to get off at for your cruise.) If your 2-3 nights are in a Bacharach hotel, the full cruise suggested will require an additional train ride from St. Goar back to Bacharach, of course - about 10 minutes.

Now, Bacharach is a nice town, but St. Goar is nice as well and advantageous on several levels. I will suggest that you book a place in St. Goar instead. That will eliminate the additional train ride back to Bacharach. But it will also put you at a more convenient location for additional outings. From St. Goar, you can visit Bacharach in just 10 minutes by train - and Oberwesel as well, which is in between. Take a train north from St. Goar and you will be in Boppard (also 10 minutes.)

St. Goar also has a ferry that shuttles across to St. Goarshausen all day long (Bacharach has no ferry) and from there you can catch a train to Braubach for Marksburg Castle (must-see) or to the wine town of Rüdesheim.

The other good thing about St. Goar is the river view from town - very awesome - and the riverfront hotels there. Bacharach has no such places because the town sits far back from the river behind the railroad tracks. The Rheinhotel St. Goar and the Hotel Rheinfels are two riverfront establishments that get very good marks.

"We also would like to take a day trip to Cologne to see the Cathedral and try Kolsch beer."

Those things alone will not take much time but they will require a fairly long train journey. I would look into a few more things that might interest you there and make a full day of it. Alternatively, there is MUCH to see and do right on the Rhine and Mosel. DOES YOUR TOUR TAKE YOU TO COCHEM? I sort of doubt that it does, but Cochem is great and would be a simple day trip from St. Goar.

If you go to Cologne, take the fastest train. The regular train is very slow with lots of stops along the way.

Another reason to stay in St. Goar is proximity to Rheinfels Castle. There’s a pleasant trail up to the castle from St. Goar.

Oberwesel is a short train ride from either Bacharach or St. Goar and has a cool medieval wall that you can walk with a few of the towers accessible as well.

Cologne cathedral is magnificent and literally just outside the train station. I second Stephen’s suggestion to look for a fast train that makes just a few stops rather than the train that makes numerous stops. You may have to switch trains in Koblenz but worth the change for the time it saves.

Thanks to all. Russ I appreciate your insights, yes we planned to go from Heidelberg to Amsterdam last Spring before our 21 day in Europe tour but unfortunately Covid interfered with those plans. We then gave a thought to planning to do a trip on our own later in the summer, then planned again to try in September. During all that planning we decided we wanted to spend a little more time in a few countries rather than a little time in several countries, hence the new plan of combining 2 tours. I however, still wanted to see some of the Rhine Castles, so have convinced my husband to allow a few days along the Rhine before we head to Trier. No, Cochem is not on our tour and is one place we had considered during one of our “dream” planning sessions. I guess we were going with Rick Steve’s recommendation of Bacharach but we may look a little closer at St. Goar. Still not sure about taking the bags on the boat. With one year taken out of our travel time I am hoping to squeeze as much into this trip as possible and hoping we will be able to go this time.
Once again thanks for your insights.

you can take luggage on the boat but you won't want too much of it

We stayed in Bacharach on our way to Trier to start GAS. I've been there three times, so I like it, but its such a small town - you can walk end-to-end in a leisurely 15 minutes. So there's not a lot to see or do there. Good if you just want to relax, but there are better options from which to day trip around. I agree St Goar or Boppard would be better for that purpose.

"Still not sure about taking the bags on the boat."

It's a little inconvenient, but people do it, as you see in this photo. And it's a nice way to see the river valley for the first time. If it doesn't feel right, you don't have to. Just take your train to St. Goar (or wherever you stay) and check in or drop bags at the front desk. Then backtrack by train, on that same day (or a later day) to Bingen for your cruise. A St. Goar > Bingen train ride takes 30 minutes; the cruise to St. Goar takes 1.5 hours. In normal years, there are afternoon cruises at 14:30 and 16:30 from Bingen. So that should leave you plenty of time for the move from H'berg and the other moves involved, and your cruise will deposit you back in St. Goar by 18:00 at the latest.

"I guess we were going with Rick Steve’s recommendation of Bacharach but we may look a little closer at St. Goar."

Rick does promote Bacharach heavily and has done so for decades. I suspect his affection for the town has much to do with its beautiful half-timbered buildings, which together make up for the best collection in the immediate area. But travelers with individual plans and interests have other considerations as well, things that Rick may not have factored into his recommendations. As min points out, someone interested in touring a castle will find that St. Goar more convenient since Rheinfels Castle is right there - just stop in whenever it suits you - and since Marksburg Castle in Braubach is a bit easier to reach (Bacharach's castle is not open for tours - it was converted into a youth hostel.) And as you learned, cruising is a little trickier from Bacharach as well. Light sleepers may find some of Rick's hotel recommendations problematic... this place in Rick's book may have triple-paned windows, but it and some other Bacharach hotels are located just way too close to the tracks; scan the Bacharach hotel reviews carefully for noise complaints before booking. Bacharach is otherwise very quiet - small and sedate. But some travelers enjoy a livelier atmosphere with a few more activities, and they would do better in a place like Boppard, or perhaps Rüdesheim. Room with a view? St. Goar is hard to beat, Boppard also very good. Want to stay in a castle? Oberwesel's Schönburg castle-hotel is outstanding. But it's not a convenient place to stay if you are getting around by train. One size simply does not fit all.

My favorite town is at the other end of the Rhein - Eltville. It is close to Eberbach Monastery and the whole Rheingau. The town is gorgeous, not full of tourists, has lots of great restaurants and the vineyards at Eberbach produce some great wines. It is also close to St. Hildegard Abbey and Johannesburg. Staying here, you have easy access to Mainz, which has one of the more impressive cathedrals. Hourly trains go up and down the Rhein from here, so you can visit the Marksburg or Burg Rheinfels. In Rüdesheim, you can ride the chairlift up to see Germania overlooking the Rhein, or visit Siegfrieds Musical Cabinet, one of the more unique museums I have visited.
You might want to visit Frankfurt too. It is one of Germany's oldest cities and one of historic importance. Lots to see here, much more than Ricks guidebook or film let on.

There’s a lot more to Cologne than the Dom, and I don’t mean the Chocolate Museum, which I’ve never been to. Although the rebuilt city is not exceptional, the many fine museums, and the Roman monuments are. Much of the city is walkable from the train station. But Cologne is not that close to the scenic Middle Rhine. Do not extend your boat ride north of St. Goar, it becomes industrial and not worth a much slower trip than the speedy train.

I can attest to Russ' recommendations as I went to Germany two years ago and had a great time using many of his recommendations (and others on this forum). I chose to stay in St Goar rather than Bacharach and was so glad I did. I loved the castle there and riding the regional train to Bacharach to visit and wander worked out great along with other adventures I did with St Goar as my base. I also liked St Goar as my hotel was right across from the water and not by the trains. I stayed at the Rheinhotel and had a view of the water. The owner of the hotel was so nice and gave me lots of great sightseeing tips too! It might get a bit noisy outside with windows open if lots of tourists, but I was there in mid-October and it was not as busy of a tourist time - so noise was minimal. And yes, definitely take the boat up from Bingen if possible. I didn't because the water was low in October and the KD was not running - but it would have worked fine with luggage (unless you have a lot - I just bring one small suitcase and a daypack). I was able to ride a different boat though, from St Goar up to Boppard and it was lovely. I really enjoyed my time in this area and met many nice people. I highly recommend taking the extra time to visit St Goar, Boppard and Bacharach.