Bingen train station to ferry to Rudesheim

Bingen is on the left side of the Rhine and Rüdesheim is on the other side, or the right side of the Rhine. You can take a ferry across the river from Bingen to Rüdesheim as they are directly across the river from each other. I would go from Frankfurt to Bacharach first, by train, drop off your bags at your hotel and then come back down to Bingen by train and ride the ferry over to Rüdesheim. Then take the boat up to Bacharach when you are done. By the way, Rüdesheim is going to be absolutely jam packed with tourists, as it is the weekend and the weather right now is perfect. The monument at the top is also undergoing renovations, so is covered with scaffolding. Are you sure you really want to go there? There are so many lovely, beautiful towns along the Rhine. Towns with castles to explore, vineyards, and fests.

The ferry boats run all day. It's 4 euros for a round-trip ticket. Schedule ("ab" means from): http://www.bingen-ruedesheimer.de/download/Sommerfahrplan_Faehre.pdf Your plan sounds feasible. You'll want to use the Bingen(Rhein) Stadt station as it's a shorter walk to the docks from there than from the Bingen (Rhein) Hbf station, which lies north of town. It shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes for you to reach the K-D docks from the Stadt station.

Careful. There are two train stations in Bingen, Bingen Hbf and Bingen Stadtbhf. The Bingen Stadtbhf is practically next to the KD docks, but, according to the Bahn website, it does not have luggage check possibilities. The Hbf does, but it is a distance from the Stadtbhf, across the Nahe river. The local, RB trains run between them about once an hour. There are also buses between the Bahnhofs (Bahnhöfe), but you would need to know the schedules and where to catch them. So you would take the train to Bingen Hbf, the train or bus back to Bingen Stadt, walk to the ferry and take it to Rüdesheim. After Rüdesheim, you would have to take the ferry back to to the Bingen side, walk to the Stadtbhf, take an RB train or a bus to the Hbf, retrieve you bags, then by bus or train back to Bingen Stadt. The Bingen KD dock is close to the Stadtbhf. Instead, take the S-Bahn to Wiesbaden. Stow your luggage in a locker there, then take the train from Wiesbaden Hbf to Rüdesheim (remember, there are trains on both sides of the Rhein). When you're through at Rüdesheim, go back (33 min) to Wiesbaden and either take the train to Bingen Stadt or Rüdesheim and the boat from there to Bacharach or the boat from Mainz to Bacharach (the last boat from Mainz leaves at 11:30!). See the K-D schedule at www.k-d.de. There is a tourist information office in Rüdesheim at Geisenheimer Strasse 22. TI offices will often let you leave your bags in a secure place in the office. Possibly you could go directly to Rüdesheim, leave you bag at the TI, then take the KD boat to Bacharach. The tourist info office email is [email protected]

Thank you to everyone for your very detailed answers. This will be a big help. After thinking it over I may just go to Bacharach and skip Rudesheim altogether. I was going to Rudesheim in honor of a friend who was traveling with me but she had a last-minute change of plans so I am alone for now and think I might prefer just going to Bacharach and renting a bike and getting some exercise. Whatever I do, though, I know I can count on my RS friends for great advice! I appreciate you very much. And yes, you are right, it is beautiful here, just had dinner outside in Frankfurt which many people were enjoying. Janet from Scottsdale, AY

The luggage issue slipped my mind - Lee's correct, there are indeed no lockers at the Bingen Stadt station. But visitors wishing to use the K-D boats of the ferry in Bingen should have no worries about getting off at the Bingen Hbf station, stowing bags, and walking to the docks, as long as they have time between train and boat. It couldn't take longer than 15-20 minutes, and it's an easy walk. I've done it several times.