Train from Dusseldorf to St Goar, river cruise to Bacharach

I'm trying to piece together your plans for the rest of the day. I will assume you are overnighting in Bacharach since you discuss no further travel plans that day.

The St. Goar - Bacharach cruise that you have in mind takes 1:10 and you see just 13 km of the river. But if you cruise from Bingen (south of Bacharach) to St. Goar - you'll see 28 km on a cruise of 1:25. The scenery between Bingen and Bacharach is spectacular as well.

Scene near Bingen with the Mouse Tower and Ehrenfels Castle
Rheinstein, just north of Bingen.

If you travel as you have planned, you'll leave on the 8:27 from D'dorf and arrive at 10:19 in St. Goar, so you aren't going to catch the 10:20 boat to Bacharach. Next boat option is 12:20 (arrive 13:30 in Bacharach.) So rather than get off in St. Goar, I suggest you stay on the train to Bingen (10:57) and catch the northbound boat at 11:30. Arrive St. Goar 12:55. Then it's an 11-minute train ride at 13:19 back to Bacharach, arriving at 13:30, the same time you'd get there with your plan, but you will have seen much more of the river.

Excellent information! Thank you. Yes, we are spending the night in Bacharach. Your plan will get us there right i time to check into our hotel! Thanks again!

The only part of the Rhein gorge that I would call a must see is between St. Goar and Bacharach, with the Loreley and the Pfalzgrafenstein mid-river castle, and the trip from Bacharach to St. Goar, with the current, is far faster than the other, boring way. If I were you, I would go to Bacharach, check into your hotel, take the boat to St. Goar, and come back on the train to Bacharach.

Use the Bahn Query webpage to find schedules and book tickets. The least expensive fare from Düsseldorf to Bacharach would be a Sparpreis fare. The fares for this train specific, limited refundability ticket start at 19€, 29€ for two. The normal way of booking this ticket gives you an express train from Düsseldorf to Köln, an IC from Köln to Koblenz, and a regional train from Koblenz to Bacharach. But then you would be committed to a specific train from Köln to Koblenz. You could not change the time in Köln. However, if you put in Düsseldorf to Bacharach with a "stopover" in Köln for some length of time (2 hrs worked for me, you might have to try other times), you'll get a routing that includes a regional train from Köln to Koblenz. Regional trains are not specific on Sparpreis fares. You can stay longer in Köln, as long as you take one of the regional trains that day to Koblenz.

Don't know when you're traveling but, one July, the river cruise you're contemplating was one of the most excruciatingly hot, humid uncomfortable experiences i've ever had.

Again-very valuable info. I thank you!
Unfortunately, this trip will be the first week in July. It's the only time we can make it. I am used to hot, humid weather in July. I'm from the Midwest, and other than the lovely Northern Michigan trip we usually take at this time of year, this is what we run into everywhere!

This is strictly anecdotal so take if for what it's worth, may be helpful may not. Last July I took the train from Cologne to Bacharach, did my sightseeing there and spent the night. The next morning I took the first boat downstream to Boppard and then the train back to St Goar and then back to Bacharach. Taking that first morning boat was nice as the day hadn't heated up yet and was very comfortable and also not so crowded as I've heard they can be. I don't know what your plans are for the next day in Bacharach or wherever you're going from there so don't know if that's an option or not. May also may make your time in Cologne not too rushed.

Maybe you already know that the Cathedral is literally beside the HBF in Cologne. But you can't also do the underground Roman ruins (Praetorium) in a single hour. And in fact Cologne is a lovely destination, with several other fine museums, with world-famous objects, from Roman Mosaics to 20th Century Art. You can encounter Roman scraps at street level as you walk around. Don't even think of taking the boat in any direction other than downstream. I also vote for starting the trip in Bingen. (Like you, we had to skip the trail of Hildegarde of Bingen to get started on the boat ride.)

Plenty of people here like Dusseldorf, but I suggest you consider sleeping in Cologne. After all, (referring to the Dusseldorf Academy of Art) Gerhard Richter's cathedral windows are in Cologne, and the Cologne museums have plenty of work from the Dusseldorf School. I have no intention of ever visiting the Cholcolate or Cologne (the retail product ... ) Museums. But visiting a few Kölsch beer halls appeals. And the glasses are only .2 liters, so you can taste many of them! Only in Cologne, the Käthe Kollwitz museum.

The only plan we have for the next day is taking a train to Wurzburg to rent a car for the next few days of the trip, so doing an early morning trip sounds like a good plan, too. Thanks again!