Car Rental at the end of a Rhine River Cruise

Check online with AutoEurope and Kemwel. They are rental car brokers who book cars with companies such as Hertz, Avis, and Europcar. When on their online site, you can check for the city and the locations. I would google map the downtown locations to see how far it is from the river cruise dock. Where do you plan on starting the cruise? We have picked up a car in Mainz, however, it was way out of town. Took a taxi to get there.

Well, you had probably better figure out the end point of your cruise regardless of whether or not you rent a car. And if it happens to be Mainz, then a quick internet search will return results for Enterprise, Hertz, Sixt, and others there. Try kayak.com, or just go to hertz.com. I've only rented at FRA, but that would be quite a stretch from Mainz just to get a car. Do you absolutely have to have a car, or could rail be an option for you?

Mainz has rental outlets but is not a good place to start or end a cruise - the scenery between there and Bingen isn't that impressive. It's generally a good idea to cruise from Bingen in the south to Boppard (about 2.5 hours) or Braubach (about 3 hours) in the north. If you reverse the direction, it will take much longer (upstream vs. downstream.) Getting off in Braubach means you can tour the best castle on the Rhine - Marksburg: http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm Luggage can be left at the Braubach tourist office (1 block from the station) during open hours since there are no station lockers. Koblenz is the nearest place to Braubach to rent a car - Autoeurope uses agents there. I have in the past picked up an Autoeurope car there myself at an auto dealership/rental outlet just behind the main train station in Koblenz (Mercedes, I believe, on Beatusstrasse.) If you can arrange to pick up there too, it would then makes sense to catch a train from Braubach to Koblenz (takes 10 minutes, hourly service) after your castle tour. If you don't visit the castle (a mistake, IMHO) you can continue on the cruise to Koblenz. You'll need to taxi or bus from the docks there to whatever rental outlet you choose.

We are taking a day cruise from Koblenz to Weisbaden, which is the cruise stop just before Mainz. We are renting a car from Europcar, Kasteler Strasse 42 65203 WIESBADEN-BIEBRICH. It is a 6 minute cab ride or a 22 minute walk from where the KD cruise will drop us off..

"Mainz has rental outlets but is not a good place to start or end a cruise - the scenery between there and Bingen isn't that impressive." This is a common statement that I actually disagree with completely. No, this stretch of the river isn't as stunning as the Mittelrhein, but it's quite scenic in it's own manner. You don't see the steep valley walls and high density of castles, but you do see gently rolling hills covered in vineyards, some scenic monasteries and some very posh river towns (hint, this is the one of the wealthiest areas of Germany. Rich people don't tend to live in ugly areas). I wouldn' miss the Mittelrhein for Rheinhessen, but I wouldn't dismiss Rheinhessen altogether either. South of Mainz, and north of Bonn, however... yes, the Rhine could be any river anywhere in the wolrd.

I don't disagree with Tom's description of the Mainz-Bingen segment. Much of it is pleasant enough. The rich don't live in Uglyville. But I didn't label the area ugly, just less impressive, possibly not worth the additional 1.75 hours and 24€ it would add to an already time-consuming one-way cruise. The fact that in high season there's only one or two northbound cruises per day out of Mainz, and 5 out of Bingen, is an indication that the area is relatively less interesting to most visitors. But if, unlike most visitors, you have lots of time in the area, it's of course an option. Be advised that if using Mainz's train station before or after the cruise, it's a LONG walk to the KD docks. Plan on using a bus or a taxi if you have bags.

Hello. We will begin the Cruise at Koblenz and get off at St. Goar to look at the castle. We would probably continue on after that. Possibly staying overnight somewhere along there.
Where is the easiest place to get a car rental from either the KD or Train stations?

Shelley, we need some more info on your trip. Where are you going after you pick up the car? Where will you turn in the car? What is your final trip destination?

Shelley: Your cruise plan will eat up a lot of time. The first segment (Koblenz-to-St. Goar) takes nearly 3.5 hours from north to south (and I would say that only the 1.5 hours from Boppard to St. Goar is especially scenic.) If you continue on the boat south from St. Goar through the scenic part to Bingen, you'll spend nearly 3 more hours on the boat. Altogether, you're stuck on the boat for 6 hours. If instead you begin your cruise Bingen and cruise NORTH, you can cruise WITH the current to Boppard and see the entire scenic section and spend only 2 hours and 20 minutes on the boat. You would have more time to see a village or two on foot, have a meal, and do some wine tasting. St. Goar is a good choice for a stop. Bacharach and Boppard are also terrific towns. If you are approaching the Middle Rhine from the south, Bingen will be closer than Koblenz. If your day must begin in Koblenz for some reason, or if approaching from the north, trains to Bingen from Koblenz are direct and run hourly or better (about 30 minutes on the IC trains or 50 minutes on the "milk-run" train.) The 9:02 RE train from Koblenz would get you to Bingen in time for the 10:30 cruise. You can take your bags with you on the cruise. Since you're going to St. Goar, I suggest you make it your first stop (11:55), drop bags at your hotel, see the castle and have lunch. The 15:55 northbound boat will take you to Boppard (16:50.) Return by train to St. Goar that evening. A train daypass called the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (26€ for two) covers all the train travel and gets you a 20% discount on the cruise fare: R_P TICKET INFO Cars can be rented in Koblenz, Mainz, Bonn and others; use the R-P ticket to reach whatever town that offers car pick up at a RAILWAY STATION.

We will be coming from Paris first. We are taking the train that goes through
Saarbrucken and then on the train down the Mosel. We have some stops along there. Koblenz( not really planning much here) and then down on the KD cruise and stopping at St. Goar and then continue down the Rhine. The Car Rental is because after this we want to explore a the Romantic Road and and some of Germany on our own. We will be heading toward's Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau Castles but will be doing some exploring on our own. Last stop Munich. That's where we will drop our car. So with all this info...any advice. I knew it would be the slow route and that didn't matter to us but perhaps we could take the train and then do the cruise for shorter time. St. Goar to ? Thanks