Munich to St. Goar or Bacharach

First thing to understand is that Bacharach is only down from St. Goar if your map is hanging on the wall. The Rhein flows down to the NW, from Bacharach to St. Goar. Why is this important to know? The current on that part of the Rhein is swift, meaning that a boat going from St. Goar has to fight the current going up to Bacharach. Thus the trip takes 70 min vs 40 min down the river from Bacharach to St. Goar. K-D charges the same (€12,50) for the trip either way, so if you want to get your money's worth, take the boat from St. Goar to Bacharach; you'll get to spend an extra 30 min on the boat for no extra cost. On the other hand, you'll probably be bored out of your skull. If you want to see the same things and have more time off the boat, go from Bacharach to St. Goar.

Is this in summer? I think you'd be wise to take an afternoon cruise on your first day. Take the train not to Bacharach but to Bingen, where the good scenery begins, and cruise north from there on the 14:30 or 16:30 boat. You'll see more of the scenic area by boat and you'll pull into St. Goar 1.5 hours later. Then take a train to Bacharach that evening if you want. It's about 10 minutes each way. On Day 2, see Rheinfels Castle in the morning. It opens at 9:00. Then start your trip to Paris.

Take a look at Rheinfels. That's what Stahleck (Bacharach) and Schönburg (Oberwesel) looked like after Napoleon got through with them. Then the piles of rock were made into a hotel and a hostel on the sites of the original castles, authentic looking on the outside, but nothing like a real castle on the inside. For Bacharach, I would stay in Pension im Malerwinkel. For St. Goar, there are a lot of nice places on their website, www.st-goar.de.

Yes, the trip is this summer near the end of June. I like the ideas and suggestions. Thank you!

Is it a little bit slower going from North to South on the Rhein? Yes, but it certainly isn't boring. I feel kind of sorry for people who are bored so easily with such beautiful scenery to look at. As far as reconstructed castles, so what? Does it really make that much of a difference? The atomosphere, the view, the decor, all of those things can be important and not whether or not they installed running water, electricity, re-painted and put lots of the stones back in place. For towns along the Rhein, I think I prefer Ober-Wesel to St. Goar. Look at their respective websites and pick which ever one has the most sites you want to see.

We have stayed in both St Goar (Hotel am Markt) and Bacharach (Pension Malerwinkel). Both were great stops. Malerwinkel was the best room bargain of our trip and you could hear the stream that passes under it all night. From the dining room of the Hotel am Markt, you could watch the passing of boats and barges along the Rhine, as well as the crossing of the Rhine by ferry. In my senility, I was hypnotized by this simple dance. Rheinfels Castle ruins above St. Goar was my favorite sight on the Rhine. Boat rides do not appeal as much as walking to and through sights. I would try to minimize time spent on the boat. We are all different. Regards, Gary

By "this simple dance", Gary is referring to the route the ferry takes across the river between St. Goar and St. Goarshausen. Because of the swift current, the ferry has to head up at about 45°, then at the last minute turn and head into the dock. Fascinating to watch.

First time I stayed in Bacharach, we stayed with Kurt & Fatima at their castle, Hotel Kranenturn. I kept hitting my head on the doors, as people in 1588 were not very tall. The train below can also get loud at night. Their restaurant is very good, however. Second time, we stayed on Main Street in a bed and breakfast on a Sunday night, owned by the local baker. It was very nice, comfortable and especially quiet. Bacharach is a good place to slow down and enjoy the river. It's just a short distance from Koblenz, the large city in the region.