Please sign in to post.

Wine festival in Boppard next 2 weekends

We are in Boppard right now & wanted to give a heads-up to any travelers in Germany over the next 10 days. This weekend (Sept 26-29) and next (Oct 4-6) will be a big wine festival here in Boppard, with live bands, tasting booths & other festivities. They are busy constructing booths right now. There will be fireworks on both Saturday nights which you will be able to watch from the long promenade along the river or from a riverboat (even better).

Last weekend we saw what we think was the Rhein in Flames fireworks display & it was spectacular. It started with a huge parade of lighted riverboats (at least 2 dozen) & we wished we were on a boat instead of standing in drizzling rain! We actually watched them from St. Goar. We were on our way to Oberweisel & everyone on the train (including lots of young partiers in costumes & funny hats) started piling off the train in St. Goar. We asked someone why & they said fireworks were better here. So we got off too. We saw about 30 minutes of spectacular fireworks. Can't imagine anything topping this so I suspect it was the Rhein in Flames.

Anyway, at these wine festivals be sure to taste the "new wine" -- unfiltered, sweet & almost carbonated. Reminded us of Fresca! Interesting.

One more tip: if you're in this area & want to visit Marksburg Castle without a car, be aware that you have to reserve the shuttle from Braubach to the castle in advance. We (and others) had read that the shuttle meets the ferry. Not true (at least yesterday). We hustled up that steep path to get there for the 1 pm English tour! It's been drizzly all week but luckily the rain held off til after the tour & we had walked back down the hill.

Posted by
8934 posts

Thanks for the info about the wine fest. The new wine you are drinking is "Federweisser", traditionally served with onion tart. It goes down smooth and easy but it will take its' toll on you. Usually served in juice glasses rather than wine glasses. The past few years they are also serving red "rot" Federweisser.

Appreciate the correct info about the shuttle to the Marksburg. I too have never seen it go meet the ferry, so not sure why this gets posted on here that it does. It just sits out in front of its garage until people order it, then heads to the Marksburg.

Posted by
19052 posts

Interesting about the shuttle. I didn't take that one, only the shuttle to Rheinfels in St. Goar, but I did read the webpage (click on "Approach"). I had assumed, since the page said "regular intervals", that it would be like the one in St. Goar, which waits in the market square, next to the KD dock, and you just pay your money and hop on.

I can't understand why, if there are seats available when it goes, they wouldn't accept walk-ons and make more money. Maybe "regular intervals" doesn't translate well. (Hmm, the German side doesn't say anything about regular intervals, it just gives a number to request times.)

Posted by
2119 posts

Regarding the Marksburg shuttle -- when we arrived in Braubach on the ferry with 4 other tourists we saw no shuttle, so we walked into the town & asked at a cafe. The lady pointed to where it stops, we waited a couple of minutes and a little train drove up. The driver got out and walked up the hill while a lady was opening & closing the doors for guests getting off. We went over, verified that this is the shuttle and indicated we wanted a ride. She said no, we had no reservation so there is no driver! We asked if she could call him and she said no. So we high-tailed it up that mountain-- it was 12:40 & the English tour started at 1. We made it with maybe a minute to spare. When the tour starts, the guide locks the entrance gate. So had we been late, we would have had to take a German tour at 1:30 or wait for another English tour (at 4).

The other people with us also had read that the shuttle meets the ferry. They couldn't remember where they got that info but didn't think it was the RS site. It turned into an adventure for us but could have been a major disappointment & waste of time for someone unable to make that hike!

Posted by
6590 posts

It could well be that the "Marksburg Express" runs "routinely" only on weekends and holidays and/or at certain times of the year - and otherwise only on demand. Sadly, websites aren't always updated properly.

Does the shuttle meet the cruise boat?? No, not in my experience either. But maybe the RS poster making this claim was there on a day when the shuttle firm experimented with a dock run. Readers of these boards should keep in mind that much of the information they get here is anecdotal, and they should also remember that even courtroom eyewitnesses often disagree about what they saw. There's a guy on the Fodor's Germany board who has been to the area many times and is always telling readers about the (completely non-existent!) chairlift ride they can take up to Marksburg!! Even the most helpful posters (and the offending poster in this case tends to be a very helpful one 99% of the time) are going to have memory glitches.

Posted by
2119 posts

Good point, Russ. I didn't mean to be critical, but just to alert other travelers. I have gotten lots of great help from people on this site ... just finished a lovely day on the Moselle sitting in the sunshine with a wheat beer (I know, I'm in wine country but am not a fan of those sweet Reislings -- even the dry ones are too sweet for me. But I do enjoy the new wines with an onion tart. Thanks Ms. Jo!).

Tomorrow we go to Neef for a wine festival. Maybe I'll find a wine there I like!