City of Koblenz Germany

Koblenz as a hub for those cities you listed is completely wrong. It might be ok for Cologne or Trier or Mainz, but it is way too far away from Wuerzburg and Heidelberg. You might want to consider 2 hubs, or on the other hand, what is wrong with just moving from city to city? Why a hub with such far-flung cities? This is wasted time plus wasted money going back and forth. Have you checked on the Deutsche Bahn page how long it will take you to get to each of these cities from Koblenz? Koblenz has a whole lot more than what people think, it is just that too few people here on this forum have ever taken the time to explore it. Cities are only a drudge if you are the type of person who wants sight seeing places to come up and smack them in the face and then quickly move on. All cities are interesting if you explore them or learn a bit about them. http://www.koblenz.de/stadtleben_kultur/koblenz_allgemeine_infos_e.html

I only spent a few hours in Koblenz, and after reading all the Rickniks repeat the mantra of their master, I wasn't expecting much. Dead wrong, its a beautiful little city. I couldn't imagine spending more than a day or two to explore the city itself, but it would make a very pleasant home base to see Köln, the Rhine gorge, and perhaps Mainz and Trier. Definitely too far away from Wurzbrug or Heidelberg, though.

I spent an evening in Koblenz and also found it a nice little city to stroll around

We spent a month in Koblenz at it was our base for a home exchange recently. We found plenty to do in Koblenz and it worked well as a hub for the Rhein and Mosel area. We did use Koblenz as a base to see all of those cities that you are hoping to see. However, I don't recommend it as a hub if you are on a short trip. I think the Trier and Aachen are would be a good starting point for 2-3 days, then catch Koln on your way to Heidelberg or Wurzburg for a few more days. You don't say how long you are in this area or if this small area is the sole focus of your trip so it is a little hard to give you more helpful information. If you told us the overall scope of your trip that would help.

I've been to Koblenz many times and explored it quite a bit on foot. It's alright as German cities go, but I found it unexceptional. Aside from the small old town area not far from the Deutches Eck, where there's some old-world charm, it is filled with lots of mostly modern buildings and shopping malls. The main train station is unfortunately a lengthy walk from the nice part of town. It's a good base town for train travel to Cologne, Trier, Mainz, and the many smaller villages of the Rhine and Mosel valleys that lie in between (as long as you don't mind staying in a blah area near the station, or a long walk or bus ride to the station.) And in winter, when the smaller, more charming villages in the region are lifeless, Koblenz is preferable for anyone who wants something to do in the evenings. But generally, I'd prefer to stay in nearby Boppard or Braubach, which are each about 15 minutes from Koblenz by train. If Boppard is too sleepy for you, you can always hop a train into Koblenz for an evening as long as you're back at the Koblenz station by around midnight for the last train to Boppard.

I chase 1100-1300Cathedrals That's a lot of cathedrals!!!. Even with all the cathedrals here in the UK it would take me ages to get that many.... BTW - do they run away when you chase them? ;-)

IMO Koblenz is just okay. It's not horrible but doesn't stand out as particularly special on any front. It's not a drudge but there are a LOT of better places in Germany.

Note that there is special reason people are going to Koblenz in Summer, 2011. That is the Federal Garden Show (BUGA - Budesgartenschau). Just ahead of season, May 23-27 I could not find a room in Koblenz to meet my approval (I mean, a month in advance), so we stayed nearby. Whether you want to see BUGA, Deutsches Eck, or the churches and museums of Koblenz is entirely up to you. I would be prepared for crowds and traffic in Koblenz, which I found to be hotter than our suburban hotel town (on the train line.) But it is an attractive city. Note that both Rhine and Mosel cruise companies are running special boats that let you spend a few hours at BUGA before returning to the boat stop where you got on. Although we were not bowled over by BUGA, we are serious garden-show attendees, and three hours would not have been enough for us at BUGA. Even if you're not a gardening nut, they have installed a huge (temporary, according to UNESCO World Heritage rules, it is said ...) cablecar across the Rhine. BUGA has three discontiguous sites. The largest by far is up on the hill across from the city, at the Festung Ehrenbreitstein, a tourist site of its own. That's what the cablecar is for. I'm sure there are no rooms left, but I see that there are massive fireworks on August 13: http://www.rhein-in-flammen.com/de/koblenz.html