We're wanting more information as to how best to do the Rhine blitz tour. Do we do it by boat or car? If by boat - how or where to we start and with what company do you recommend? We will be coming from Bingen and ending in Koblenz (or places close to that)
thanks!
If you don't get off your boat, train or whatever in Braubach (a bit south of Koblenz) for a tour of Marksburg Castle, you're missing one of the essential reasons for visiting the Rhine Gorge:
I've toured the Rhine by car and by boat. I personally like by car better, especially if you have kids with you. There are SO many castles and fortresses up and down the Rhine; it's fun to follow the brown marker signs that say 'Schloss' of 'Burg' with an arrow. We often times had no clue where we were going, and that was part of the fun.
Five years ago I spent 3 days on the Rhein (Boppard). I toured St. Goar (Rheinfels), Bacharach, Braubach (Marksburg), and Koblenz (Deutsches Eck). Except for the boat from St. Goar to Bacharach, I did it entirely by train, and it worked fine. There are rail lines, with frequent trains, up both sides of the river, and ferries across at several locations.
My total rail fare for the first three days was $26 (at the exchange rate then). For the last (fourth) day I wanted to rent a car. The only quote I could get for a one day rental, picking up a car in Koblenz, was about $100.
Something to think about, if you go from Bingen to Koblenz without getting off, the first KD boat leaves Bingen at 9:30 and gets to Koblenz at 13:10. The last boat back to Bingen leaves at 14:00, which only gives you 50 min in Koblenz, and gets back to Bingen at 20:00 (8 PM).
We did the reverse trip in August. We started in Koblenz taking a train to St. Goar. We stopped to visit Reinfels castle, which was fabulous. I thought we wouldn't want to spend more than 90 minutes there, but we really needed at least 2 hours.
We continued by train to Bacharach, After spending a few hours walking around Bacharach we took the last KD Boat trip back to Koblenz. I preferred the boat trip to the train, because travel by train was too quick and often sight of the castles was limited. If you plan to visit a lot of the castles I would go by car. Train travel is very fast;however, if that is what you're after. Also. Depending on how much time you have you may want to consider taking a train to Moselkern from Koblenz and walking through the forest to Burg Elz, which is the best castles in the Rhine area. We did all of this on a Sunday, beginning at 7 a.m. and finishing in Koblenz by evening.
