Nature lover (me!) seeks recommendations of sweet towns I can get to by train & public transport.
Koblenz and Bacharach areas and surrounds all look lovely! I’d also like to take a scenic river cruise or train of the Mosel/Rhine rivers. Anyone fall in love with certain places whilst visiting? Restaurants? Lodgings?
Thank you!
With 5-6 days you'll of course want to focus on towns, castles and activities in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley (between Koblenz and Rüdesheim anyway) on both sides of the river. Braubach and Bacharach have some extra-nice old half-timbered buildings. Be sure to tour Marksburg Castle in Braubach. A good cruise begins either in Bingen or Rüdesheim, near the southern end of this area, and ends either in St. Goar/St. Goarshausen (which lie across the Rhine from each other) OR in Boppard (north of St Goar, cool chairlift ride there.)
Train lines run along both river banks through the UMRV. Because St Goar is centrally located there, because St. Goar has a ferry crossing which sets you up for catching a train along the east bank, and because it lies in the most scenic zone of the UMRV and offers hotel rooms with extra-nice views, it is a great place to book a room for perhaps 3 nights. From the St Goar train station, you're just 10 minutes from Bacharach, 5 minutes from Oberwesel, and 10 minutes from Boppard, all of which are fellow west bank towns that share the same railway with St Goar. I'd look into the Hotel Rheinfels and the Rheinhotel St Goar there - they are right next to each other facing the K-D cruise boat dock and the river, only a 2-minute walk from the St Goar train station.
I would consider also 2-3 nights on the MOSEL River, the little-sister tributary of the Rhine which terminates in Koblenz. It's a very pretty and interesting river valley as well, one with a somewhat different vibe from the Rhine. Cochem is a central and very attractive base town for train travel along this river; nearby destinations include Trier, Burg Eltz (tour this castle too) and Beilstein (a 1-hr boat cruise from Cochem.)
You don't say when this trip is. That matters a lot if you wish to hike/bike/cruise and take gondola/chairlift rides.
Koblenz may be worth visiting too, but it's not one of those small adorable villages - it's a mostly modern city with a few attractions. It will no doubt be a place where you change trains a few times, as both the west and east bank train lines on the Rhine meet up there - and the Mosel River train line does too.
Hello Russ in Paradise! The timing is July 3 - 8. Your ideas are excellent and I will explore them further!
The town I was most enchanted with in that area was Bacharach but also enjoyed St. Goar quite a bit. I chose to stay though in Koblenz because I was worried that come nightfall there wouldn't be many restaurants or shops open in the smaller towns. That may have been logical thinking, but in hindsight I think I would have preferred staying in Bacharach as Koblenz lacks charm for the most part and with all of the hiking and exploring I was doing during the day, I didn't really have much energy to go out at night anyway. That said, if you're not a huge fan of German cuisine, staying in Koblenz will offer you more of a variety of places to eat. I had really good Thai food at Bangkok Thai, and a good doner kebab from Damaskus.
There are a lot hiking and walking opportunities, including walking up to the top of the Loreley from St. Goarhausen, and also taking the train to Moselkern and hiking to Berg Eltz (Rick's favourite castle in Europe and mine too probably). The walk from Braubach to Marksburg castle is also fun but doesn't take long if you're fit and used to hiking.
I'm going to recommend....surprise, surprise...the Rick Steve's Germany book as a good starting point for learning more. He covers the river cruises pretty thoroughly and the various lodging and eating options in each town.
I got around by train and it was easy, if not as cheap as I anticipated, and the trains can get crowded sometimes. You can plan everything out on the Deutsche Bahn website but be mindful that there might be track work being done when you're there which means cancelled trains. If you really want to see something, it's always good to plan on having a plan B to get there and back.
This year I will be staying in Bacharach for the 7th time, sixth since 2011 at Irmgard Orth’s little b&b. The other time was years ago when I stayed in the youth hostel castle overlooking the village. Staying at the Orth zimmer would give you a real Germany experience. Check out my reviews on TripAdvisor.
In Bacharach I enjoy eating at Cafe Noy Bistro and for Pizza/doner, the little place across the street from it.
July... a month I avoid... the weather can be OK then or it can be brutal, with temps in the 90's and humidity around 70%, and sometimes only a small drop in nighttime temperatures. So in your case I'd place air conditioning as priority #1 when it comes to picking a place to stay if a reasonably good sleep matters. Most of the small-town Rhine/Mosel accommodations, like the ones bigtyke and I suggested previously, do not offer it, so I would set a/c as a primary filter when you do your search. Of course you will have other priorities as well - price, location in town near the rail station, etc., which will further limit your choices in the small towns... and your dates include a weekend... so book ASAP.
BOPPARD - just north of St Goar - is a great pick for a small town (it's the largest small town on the shared west-bank railway) and for many reasons, including rooms with river views and proximity to Koblenz and the Mosel; perhaps some of its a/c rooms will still be available. I'd look there first. Boppard has all sorts of restaurant options, btw. DW & I love the outdoor patio at the Italian place on the waterfront called La Corona (at the Hotel Krone.) And if you're into Doener, you can find that easily in Boppard (and in every other tiny little hamlet these days.) Boppard also has some good German food too. The Severus Stube there is legendary.
More than likely, most a/c options WILL be found in Koblenz, where staying either near the Koblenz Hbf station or the Koblenz Stadtmitte station will make it possible for you to hop on a train to almost anywhere in the area. Places like the Ibis or the B&B hotel should appear in your searches. Sure, I'd rather sleep in a cozy town with natural scenery out my window like St Goar or Boppard, but mostly, after hiking the Rhine Castle Trail or just hoofing it around the small towns on a hot day, what I want most is to SLEEP.
Personally I like Oberwesel on the Rhein, and Bullay on the Mosel. You can stay in the castle in Oberwesel, and the food is excellent. Bullay is often overlooked, but I like to just sit along the river and watch the boats. I always see swans there. And the monastery ruin is a good venue for music. If you go down to Rudesheim take the gondola up to the Neiderwalddenkmal. On the Mosel another really good view can be had in the castle ruin above Bleifeld.
Personally I like Oberwesel on the Rhein
Me too, not necessarily as a base town, but as a place to wander around, and the walk which follows the old town fortifications is a fine place to start. The images in this video will give you a good glimpse at what it's like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9n1eCrN_BA
The Castle (presumably Auf Schoenburg) KGC mentions is situated high above Oberwesel, a high-end, lovely place with a dramatic location and great views, one that you should only consider if you have a car or are willing to taxi - or possibly to make use of the skimpy bus schedule for your coming and going. As a train traveler, I would find it a massively inconvenient place for taking outings over a few days.
My personal favorite town on the Rhein is Eltville. Great promenade along the river, lots of good restaurants with wine from the Rheingau. Short bus ride from Eberbach Monastery, which should be a must see for anyone in this area.
https://kloster-eberbach.de/de
Russ has a point about AC. We've been to the area twice and have stayed in Boppard, Trier and Lorch. The first trip was in June. We stayed in Boppard on the river for 5 days (at Russ' recommendation!). We hit days of warm, but not hot weather. We didn't have AC and it was warm, but doable. Boppard was a perfect location for exploring both the Rhein and Mosel and we enjoyed the town very much -- going up the chair lift to the beer garden, hiking along the river to Burg Eltz, exploring Cochem, taking the ferry up the Rhein, etc. For a longer stay, Boppard has more to offer than St. Goar or Bacharach. Yet, there are very few places to stay there that have AC. Our next trip was at the end of July. We were in Trier on the Mosel. We had AC. It was so hot. We melted during the day exploring the Roman ruins and the Archeology Museum. We wouldn't have made it without AC back at the hotel. At the end of our time in Trier, we had planned to spend the night in Bacharach at a place without AC. There was no way that was happening. It was going to be in the high 90s that day. We pivoted to Lorch on the other side of the river. We stayed at the Hotel Im Schulhaus (https://www.hotel-im-schulhaus.com/en/). Wonderful hotel (with great AC). We enjoyed taking the car ferry across the river and exploring the towns on other side of the river, including Rudesheim and Eltville. That side of the Rhein is definitely worth exploring too.
As Elizabeth points out, the east bank of the Rhine, where Lorch is located, is often neglected and definitely worth some time. The most popular hiking trail in the area, the Rheinsteig, is on this side. Braubach (a little south of Koblenz) is stunning. Osterspai (south of Braubach) is adorable. South of that is Kamp-Bornhofen, with some unique sleeping options including Liebenstein Castle-hotel and the Hotel Anker's "sleep-in-a-riverfront-wine-barrel" offering (probably not the best choice on a hot summer night.) Train travelers will be happy to learn that a car is not needed to visit this side of the river... All the east bank towns are connected by train as well. See east-bank railway map with town names below:
https://rheingaulinie.de/files/rheingaulinie/files/Fahrplan/fahrplan.pngue
The many wine towns south of Ruedesheim such as Eltville and Geisenheim can also be worthwhile, but this area lies outside the Rhine Gorge on relatively flat land which lacks the more dramatic scenery found in towns to Ruedesheim's north.
Trier and farther south Strasbourg, France.
www.frames-hotel.de/
This hotel is located near Koblenz.
I’d been looking for somewhere to have coffee and cake in the afternoon with a lovely view of the River Rhine. A lovely hotel with a very nice terrace overlooking the Rhine. The staff were very friendly. I had a lovely afternoon. I think it’s lovely, but I also think you should go there by car/ you need a car.
Something different
About 50km north of Koblenz
The Ahr River Valley Wine region with Towns Bad Neuenahr and Ahrweiler and Altemahr
Take train from Koblenz to Remagen (30min) change to Altenahr (40min)
or
See Monestery Maria Laach on the way from Koblenz when having a car
I’d also like to take a scenic river cruise or train of the Mosel/Rhine rivers.
Hope I'm not being redundant. I didn't see anyone else mentioning this.
The Rhein winds a little bit, but for the most part it's pretty straight. Trains run along both banks and follow the river. You can see most of the river from a train on either bank.
The Mosel, on the other hand, is very windy, with long loops. The main train line just touches the edges of the loops, and often you have to take buses to get to the rest of the towns, particularly up river from Cochem.
Lee, no train on the right side of the Rhein from Wiesbaden to Neuweid until sometime in Dec. Track construction. They have buses instead.
CRUISING:
The "windy/curvy" nature of the MOSEL does mean that some parts of the river between Koblenz and Trier will not be visible by train, as Lee has said. But between Koblenz and Cochem - the first 50 km or so - the tracks hug the river and provide uninterrupted and very scenic views. See this map of the railway and the river:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Moselbahn.jpg
In Cochem, the river (and everything else) disappears entirely as the train plunges into a 4 km tunnel on the way to Trier. It then returns to the river valley towns of Ediger-Eller, Neef, and Bullay for a short distance - then departs from the river entirely. This map shows the stations that are served all along the railway:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Karte_der_Bahnstrecke_Koblenz%E2%80%93Trier.png
That part of the Mosel between Cochem and Ediger-Eller, where there are no trains, is a popular place for river cruising with 5 departures per day (on most days) serving the most popular destination, BEILSTEIN, just one hour on the boat from Cochem. See the cruise schedule on this page in the bottom left-hand corner:
https://www.moselrundfahrten.de/cams/clients/kolb/media/downloads/file_44_de.pdf?1772880869
Beilstein is an adorable place to visit and is covered by Rick Steves.
On the RHINE, your best cruise segment is Ruedesheim or Bingen to St Goar or St Goarshausen, where most cruise boats terminate. You can extend this cruise to Boppard by transferring to a second boat if you wish... and on most days there is one late afternoon K-D boat that travels all the way from Ruedesheim/Bingen to Boppard.
K-D and Bingen-Ruedesheimer are competing day cruise companies which cover this part of the river.
