Rhine River Cruise or other day trip ideas for Cologne

Go by train to Bacharach. Take the boat (40 min) on the most interesting part of the Rhein, from Bacharach to St. Goar. Stop in St. Goar and see the Rheinfels ruins. Take the train back from St. Goar to Köln. Alternatively, take the train just to Boppard. Take the boat from Boppard to Braubach (30 min). Visit the Marksburg, the only castle on the Rhein never destroyed.

I think you have time to combine both Bacharach, the cruise from there, and Marksburg, which IMO is the main attraction on the Rhine and more interesting than Rheinfels in St. Goar. www.marksburg.de Bacharach is a very charming village with lots of half-timbered buildings that's worthy of some exploration. If you caught an early train (7:53) you'd arrive there at 9:30 for a look around and maybe a "zweites Frühstück" (second breakfast?) The 11:15 boat headed north will take you all the way to Braubach (1:20); After a 2:00 tour of Marksburg, you could get on the 3:53 train and be in Cologne by 5:00. Or linger in Braubach for an hour more and have a meal. Alternative outing without the cruise: Linz, north of Koblenz on the right/east bank of the Rhine, is a town just as charming as Bacharach but not nearly as far from Cologne. Remagen, also north of Koblenz but on the left/west bank of the Rhine, has a very good WW II museum with lots of displays in English: www.bruecke-remagen.de You could combine a stop in one or both towns with a tour of Marksburg and cut off quite a few train miles.

Thank you so much Lee and Russ, both trips sound great and both the castles are beautiful.

Have you thought about visiting Aachen, or Bonn, or Dusseldorf? All cities with interesting sights to see. Were you going to tour Cologne at all, or go to any of the museums there?

We are planning on touring the city itself and visiting the the Documentation Museum and maybe the Römisch-Germanisches Museum, I plan for a full day and half for this. I would love any suggestions as most guide books do not devote much to the city.

Jo mentioned the Aachen... the Kaiserdom here is probably my favorite church in Germany. It just has a certain ancient, mysterious feel about it. Aachen is also known for it's mineral baths, although it isn't as elegant as some of the other spa towns. I haven't really explored these areas, but I've driven by multiple times and they probably merit some further exploration. St. Augustin has an impressive abbey on a hilltop overlooking the town. A little further down the road is a low mountain, Drachonfels, which has a castle ruin on top that can be reached by a steam locomotive.

My husband & I spent a great day driving along the Rhein Koblentz to Bingen and then back on the opposite shore. There are incredibly many castles all along the route, as well as the Lorelei.

If your personal interests include flowers and gardening, note that there is a huge Federal Garden Show (i.e. outdoors, at three nearby sites.) in Koblenz this (2011) summer. I'm sure a great deal of walking is necessary, and sun protection. BUGA: http://www.buga2011.de/web/en/index.php

I really like Bonn, it's close to Cologne.

I took the K-D boat line on the Rhine, and loved it. You can get off at various places, and pick the boat back up later. I got off on St Goar (very pretty town); you take a very easy walk up to Rhinefells castle; shell of a former midevil castle (affords spectacular views of the Rhine below), and St. Goar's also a great place to have lunch. I then got back on boat and took it to Bacarach, where I spent the night. I also didn't want to just "sit on a boat" all day; was great to be able to get out and explore, but be on the boat to just take in some of the very pretty scenery.