Rhine river

"Has anyone done this?" Hundreds of thousands over the years. Stay in St. Goar (Rheinfels castle in town, the most scenic and convenient setting, and a ferry runs all day there, allowing you to access the trains on the east side of the river easily.) Trains run north and south hourly all day on both sides. Cruise: Take a train south to Bingen and cruise north (with the current, much faster) from there to St. Goar (about 1.5 hours, the most scenic part) or beyond for more good scenery to Boppard (west bank, 2.3 hours) or Braubach (east bank, 2.8 hrs, home of Marksburg Castle, the best castle tour on the Rhine.) Return by train from Boppard is direct. Return from Braubach by train to St. Goarshausen, then ferry to St. Goar. You can also use the trains to visit east bank towns like Kaub and Rüdesheim further south, then return to St. Goarshausen and ferry to St. Goar. Be sure to visit Bacharach too, the most attractive village in this part. The KD cruise line stops there between Bingen and St. Goar, so you can get off in Bacharach and catch a later boat if the wait time is right for you. Otherwise, just take a train from St. Goar south to Bacharach (10 min.) and come back whenever. Boppard and Oberwesel are also worth visiting. Here is a good travel guide to the area.

Alex, just to cover what the first reply didn't, your inquiry understates the visual and historical value of the view from the BOAT. Although both train lines are near the river, as is the highway, the view is not even as good as, say, the Pacific Coast Highway in CA - where it is also dangerous to stop and look. Not to be too pious about it, much of the history of the Rhine is based on water travel. You're not seeing what others saw, when you peer out from the car or the train. Perhaps the only bad thing about the boat is that it's not as useful as you'd hope to use as a hop-on, hop-off tour bus. There just aren't enough boats. And it's pretty slow when going upstream. Please look at a library copy of Rick's Germany book if you don't want to buy one. This chapter never goes out of date. You'll be glad you looked.

Ok, thank you! We were just trying to avoid the 7 day cruises down the Rhine as they are so expensive. Did not know there were shorter/daily cruises. Will do some more research.

Somewhere I heard where someone was amazed that they made notations along the Rhine with numbers that matched the same ones used in Rick Steves tour book. How did Rick Steves get them to do that? These numbers along the river show kilometers starting in Rotterdam. Rick Steves can not get credit for these markers. Train and boat along the Rhine is a great trip. Forget a car.
You may want to consider the Danube also.

Just in case someone uses this thread as a reference for maritime navigation ;-):
the Kilometer references on the Rhine begin at the old Rhine bridge in Constance (km 0). Rotterdam is km 1000.

Why not have the best of both worlds. Go by car and take a KD Rhine boat for a day cruise. You can park the car by the boat dock, take the boat trip and return on one of the frequent trains that go up and down the Rhine. The only trick is to make sure you are getting off the boat on the same side of the river that your car is on as there are not that many places to cross the river. We did that many years ago from Koblentz to Bingen although parking is a it of a challenge in Koblentz.

"Ok, thank you! We were just trying to avoid the 7 day cruises down the Rhine as they are so expensive. Did not know there were shorter/daily cruises. Will do some more research." The 7-day cruises cover much more than just the scenic Middle Rhine, I'm sure. Here's the KD cruises website. Make sure you are looking at the right boat schedule for your travel dates. You might not need a train daypass if you're just using the train to reach the cruise docks or return to your base post-cruise - travel distances are short and fares low. But for more extensive trips, the RHEINLAND-PFALZ TICKET is invaluable. Another area train pass issued by the local travel authority (VRM) focuses on a smaller area and is cheaper. A 1-day mini-group pass for 2-5 people is 21.20€, a 3-day version 42.40€. Find details HERE. Note that you can travel only as far south as Oberwesel or Kaub with this pass, as the MAP indicates. The passes cover area bus connections and some ferries (like the St. Goar ferry) too, and you also get 20% off your KD river cruise fare with a valid pass in your hand. All of which responds well to Irv's question above - "Why not drive?"