Will be traveling from Brussels to Maastricht- -spend most of the day sight-seeing, spend the night, leaving for the Koblenz area hopefully in early afternoon. Question- we're not sure how (prefer train) and which way (Aachen/ Cologne or Lux city/Mosel river). We want to be in Koblenz area (St Goar?) by evening (6-7 PM). Is this do-able as posted above?! As an aside question- are the train schedules only 3 months out?
thanks
Katie
Posted by
Green Bay
20087 posts
Train schedules are up at least until early December at www.bahn.com.
If you want to go via Luxembourg, specify a stopover with 0 time in the "Further options" tab. Put in St Goar as final destination.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7299 posts
I will only add that St. Goar is only in the Koblenz neighborhood by train. It is not so close by upstream (!) day boat. Presumably you have already downloaded the KD schedule for your vacation month.
See our host's train maps (example:)
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/netherlands-rail-passes
which reveals that Maastricht probably requires a change. I find your itinerary ambitious, because of all the train time. I have visited Koblenz, and it can be quickly visited, but you might not have time for the cablecar or the fortress. Train schedules don't change that much from month to month, and you're likely to be using unreserved trains. Try to get a fleeting look at Calatrava's Liege station, even if you don't change there.
Posted by
NL
143 posts
Easiest (and fastest) would probably be: bus 350 from Maastricht to Aachen (departs every 15 minutes, takes about an hour) and from Aachen by train to Koblenz (with a change in Köln/Cologne, takes 2 to 2.5 hours)
Bus to Aachen cost 6.50 euros. On part of the train journey you can use an IC. If you book in advance this can be as low as 20 euros. If you prefer to buy at the station prices will be around 40 euros. If you plan to travel by regional train only (RE, no IC) you could also buy a Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket which costs 44 euros for the first person and 8 euros for each additional passenger (max 5 passengers).
check bahn.com for planning and prices
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks to everyone for the replies. I rather like the bus to Aachen, then train from there. Then do the Mosel river to Metz and on across to Paris when leaving (or some variation of that). I will check the various suggestions for schedules- this seems to be where I get overwhelmed. I will keep checking this post as any suggestions are appreciated!
K
Posted by
Green Bay
20087 posts
www.bahn.com will show you the train schedules. You aren't thinking about doing the Mosel by boat are you? It is rather slow as there are a lot of locks to traverse, but you could do a section by boat. Kolb Brothers is the biggest operator on the Mosel.
https://www.moselrundfahrten.de/en/trier/home
Posted by
OP
4 posts
No, Sam, we wouldn't be doing the Mosel by boat. We know that either way we go, there will be a few train transfers and we probably won't have time to sight-see much, if at all. The destination (on this leg) is the RS 'Romantic Rhine' area- the places we are looking to stay are actually in the St Goar/Oberwesel area. We're leaning towards the Cologne/Koblenz route because we think it would be the most expeditious. Then leaving via the Mosel river (train) and into France, thinking this might be a nice (long) train ride to Paris area. We probably miss Lux city this way but....
K
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7299 posts
It seems like you have firm plans, but I found Cologne to be much more rewarding than Luxembourg City. I also thought that the (Middle) Rhine was more visually scenic (I mean from the KD boats) than the Mosel is from water or shore. The Mosel is pastoral and lovely, but just as nice from a bicycle. We used a car to get to Trier, so I can't say if the Mosel train is as scenic as the Rhine train. (Opinions.)
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks Tim. We are considering a small tweak for our departure from Brussels to Maastricht so that we will get out of Maastricht early in the day of our departure instead of the afternoon. That should make the trip (and schedule) to Koblenz/St Goar area a little more do-able. There had been the talk of some time in Cologne but still not sure this would accommodate it. RE: the car to Trier- did you do this so you could stop or was this a cost decision? Then we would take the train from there to Paris area? We are obviously trying to do too much in too little time but we assume (!) we'll be back....
K
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7299 posts
We drove to Trier as a daytrip from a luxury hotel in Mulheim, the Weinromantik Hotel Richtershof, where we stayed about three nights in 2011. We then saw some of eastern Belgium, like Tongeren, Bokrijk, Diest, Bokrijk, and returned the car at BRU where we flew home. We had been to a big flower show in Koblenz, but stayed in Andernach because we couldn't find a hotel we liked in Koblenz.