Germany transportation advice requested - train or car for specific towns

Marla, in my opinion it would be a lot more fun to have a car when you're in Cochem. Unless you're busy in Cochem itself the entire four days, it would be a lot more fun to travel up and down the Mosel valley by car and visit the other beautiful small towns and sample their wines (with several very distinctive names, like Zeller Schwarze Katz (Black Cat of Zell) or Bernkasteler Doktor and then there is the one from Kroeb - the picture on the bottle is the bare bottom of a little boy and that's what the wine is called. Have fun either way, via car or train!

Taking the train is the easiest.

One - you do not have to worry about driving after a long trans-atlantic flight.

Two - if you are driving, then only one person gets to taste the wine, if you do the train, both people get to enjoy themselves.

Three - is Cochum really that big that you need to drive around in it? I walk all over Frankfurt all the time and it is quite a large city, so cannot imagine that you really need to drive in a small town on the Rhine.

Four - Even small towns have public transportation that is easy to use.

Five - It will probably be cheaper to take the train with all the great deals they have now with the Laender tickets, the Happy Weekend Tickets and the Quer Durch Deutschland Tickets. 2 people can pretty much travel anywhere in the country for less than 40€ total per day.

How about a hybrid solution? Take a day and rent a car; do the rest by public trans. Jo makes some great points, especially about wine tasting:) But, driving in the Mosel area is a blast and does give you an opportunity to get into the 'nooks & crannies'. If you do drive a day, remember to familiarize yourself with German traffic laws...especially right-of-way. Gute fahrt. Cheers.

Hi all - thanks for these great suggestions. The only issue I see with renting a car for the day is that Cochem does not have a car rental place, so we would have to find another town that does, which may or may not be a problem and take time away from sightseeing...If you have any information about renting a car in this area, please pass along. Thank you!

You could pick up the car in Wittlich, which is about 1 hour from Cochem, and between Cochem & Trier. The one rental agency I know of there is Europcar.com. I've never personally rented from them, but I've read several posts on this site from satisfied Europcar customers. The train station is about a 5 minute walk from the rental agency.

http://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=Wittlich+Hbf+%4049.972822,6.942440&geocode=&dirflg=&saddr=JUSTUS-VON-LIEBIG-STR.+2,+54516+WITTLICH&f=d&sll=49.987656,6.954517&sspn=0.058717,0.107632&ie=UTF8&z=14

Cochem, Rhotenburg and Munich are all easy enough to reach by train.

If you don't have another reason to get a car, you won't need one.

Hi Marla,

We did a VERY similar trip in October 2007...

www.fodors.com/community/europe/moselrothenburgbavaria-report-with-photos.cfm

Hope this helps.

Paul

I would not use the car for those destinations unless you are planning to stay somewhere outside the town centers or you are physically disabled and can't manage steps or carrying your luggage. If you travel roughly as Rick suggests, trains are your simplest and most economical way of getting around.

From Cochem, daytrips by train to Trier, Traben-Trarbach, the Rhine villages, and most of the better-known Mosel towns are easy. For Beilstein, a 1-hour boat ride is best. Bernkastel is reached via train to Wittlich, where you catch a connecting bus. If you're seeing Burg Eltz, use the Moselkern train station and walk from there:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/burgeltzfrommoselkern.html

Thanks, everyone!! I leave in a few days, so I'm happy to get this great information! Much appreciated!