Rhine river stops

You do realize that Mainz to Koblenz is down (as the river flows)? Important to know if you are using boats as the strong current adds about 50% to the time UP the river (Köln to Mainz). Braubach is on the right bank, and there are no bridges and few ferries across the Rhein, but if you are going by boat you can easily stop on either bank. I wouldn't start by boat in Mainz. I'd Take the train at least to Bingen Stadtbahnhof (maybe Bacharach) and start there. I definitely agree that the Marksburg in Braubach is worth a visit. Two other notable towns are Bacharach and St. Goar (Rheinfels ruins). Boppard has some sites of interest (an ancient Roman wall, a Cathedral, and a museum), but all-in-all, I don't think it is as interesting as Braubach, Bacharach and St. Goar. You need to plan your stops well. Boats on the Rhein are not like city buses that come by ever 10 minutes and you can just hop on/off at will. Between Bingen and Koblenz, there are only four boats a day (plus one from Bingen to Boppard). See www.k-d.de. It's an hour between each of the first three boats and two or three hours between each of the last three. If you start on the first boat in the morning and get off for an hour in Bacharach, when you get to St. Goar you'll have only an hour (not enough time to see the castle), or you'll be there for four hours and get to Braubach too late for the castle tour. Of course, there are hourly trains on each side of the river. If I were doing it, I would take the train from Mainz to Bacharach, see Bacharach, then take the boat to St. Goar. Bacharach to St. Goar, IMO, is the best part. You get a close-up look at Pfalzgrafenstein, the mid river toll castle and sail under the Lorelei. After seeing Rheinfels I would take the ferry across the river and the train to Braubach.

I don't disagree with Lee's suggestion. I'll add that there are boats you can ride other than KD. KD line boats are the largest and nicest of the group. We were somewhere in the area, purchased a ticket for a KD boat and waited in a parklike area near the dock. We watched as another company's boat came and went. Apparently one KD boat wasn't working so the next one along was full, they only let 18 people board at our stop (and there were probably 50 in line). We got a refund and dropped our plans for a boat ride that day. I've ridden at least a few times, that's the only time we had a problem getting on a KD boat.

St. Goar and Bacharach were really nice stops. I took the KD Line from Koblenz, and got off in St. Goar to see that pretty town and go up to Burg Rhinefells (Rhinefells Castle), the ruins of an ancient castle. Wandering around the ruins and surrounding land was great fun, and there are awesome views of the Rhine below. Got back on boat later (stored my back-pack in the St. Goar Tourist office right when I got off; very accomodating), traveled on the Rhine some more, then got off in Bacarach to spend the night at a hotel Rick's a fan of:
http://www.kranenturm.com/bacharach-germany/index.html Had a great time on the Rhine!

You've gotten good advice. The Mainz-to-Bingen cruise is dull. And I wouldn't cruise beyond Braubach for sure. St. Goar is a good place to visit for a short while and probably a good place to end the cruise for this reason. Now the question is where to start - Bingen or Bacharach? You should indeed see Bacharach - one of only two or three Rhine towns with a substantial collection of well-preserved half-timbered buildings. You could take the train there and then cruise to St. Goar - but that's a mere 40 minute cruise, and the scenery from Bingen to Bacharach is also outstanding. You'd have a cruise twice that long if you started in Bingen instead. I suggest that you get yourself to the Bingen docks early that day and catch the 9:30 boat north, then get off in Bacharach at 10:15, enjoy a 1-hour walk around town, and catch the 11:15 boat north to St. Goar. (When you get off the train from Mainz in Bingen, use the Bingen Rhein Stadt station, not the Bingen Hbf station, which involves a longer walk.) What about your bags while you're wandering around? Bingen has lockers if you can return there later by train. The other towns do not. In St. Goar and Braubach, you can leave bags with the TI office depending on the day of the week; both are closed Sunday. St. Goar's closes during 12:30 to 1:30 when open. On Sat Braubach is open 9:30-1:30; St. Goar is open only 10-12. The Hotel Hauser in St. Goar may still keep luggage for a short term for tourists if the TI is closed, but I can't be sure. I have no information on Bacharach - you might contact the TI there if interested: Rhein-Nahe Touristik e.V. Oberstraße 45 55422 Bacharach Tel.: 06743 - 919303 Fax: 06743 - 919304 E-Mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.rhein-nahe-touristik.de