Rhine River tours

While I would agree that a cruise "down" the Rhein is something to check into, it's not going to get you to the Black Forest/Freiburg area. You see, the Rhein flows DOWN to the northwest, from Frankfurt to Köln, and that portion, the Rhein gorge, with it's steep, vineyard covered walls, and castles, is the most scenic portion. That's the stretch with St. Goar and Bacharach. . . . . . . ¶ I think the portion south of Frankfurt, past the Black Forest and up to Freiburg is rather flat and uninteresting. So you have to bone up on geography and decide where you really want to go.

When you said "cruise down the Rhine", did you mean figuratively for a short trip, or literally to get to the Black Forest? As Lee mentioned, most of the tourist traffic is confined to the stretch between Bingen and Koblenz. South of Bingen, most of the river traffic is limited to industrial barges, although some tourist boats operate out of Mannheim.... To be continued later...

There are also overnight "cruise ship" type tours to Freiburg (usually, I think) from Köln, but these strike me as being for the cruise ship experience, not for the sights.

"You see, the Rhein flows DOWN to the northwest, from Frankfurt to Köln". Frankfurt is on the Main river, not the Rhine. The official German name of the city is Frankfurt am Main, not Frankfurt am Rhine. The Main links up with the Rhine near the city of Mainz, on the opposite bank.

OK, more. There is a company that offer "hop-on, hop-off" boat excusions through the Rhine gorge, but I forget the name off the top of my head. I haven't explored the various towns in depth, but I've driven the length of the gorge on the west bank. The most interesting towns from this limited perspective to me appeared to be Boppard, St. Goar and Oberwesel. From Boppard, you can ride a chair lift to the top of the gorge and see the famous vista where the Rhine takes a 180 degree turn. St. Goar seems to have a castles in view everywhere you look, and Oberwesel has lots of really old buildings and walls.

Lee, When i said 'down the Rhine' I meant figratively, not (geographically) literally, so the "bone up" comment seemed a tad harsh...I know it actually wont get me to Freiburg (and my friend wants to go to the Black Forest area, so we will be going there. Just like i want to go to Prague, and even though she has been, we're going there, too.) We also know Frankfurt isnt on the Rhine[INVALID] that we will have to travel to there. Tom, thanks for info, and if the name of that HO/HO boat type trip comes to you, i would greatly appreciate the info. I really just was curious to know the best way we could see the best of the Rhine area (castles, wine tasting possibly) in a few days. Trains seemed a bit limiting and rushed, and driving is out of the picture (i always leave the driving to the locals!) cheers.

Ashley, it sounds like what you're looking for is the K-D Boats; here's their winter schedule: http://www.k-d.com/images-allg/KD_Winter_2010_engl.pdf.........In my opinion, cruising the Rhine in March sounds awful, unless you get some unusually sunny and warm weather. It wasn't great in September or October when I've been on the boats (if you've been in a near-hurricane, the winds and general weather were similar - dark, dreary, cold, and very windy); my July cruise was great. Also, the trains that travel up and down the Rhine are very nice and run often enough for your needs, probably. You can cheaply go from one town to the next sampling wine and buying beer steins to your heart's content. It sounds like you haven't got a guidebook yet; of course, I'm going to recommend Rick Steves' books, in particular "Europe Through the Back Door" and "Germany 2011". Also, this website has lots of info for the traveler - videos of all of his shows (also has a YouTube channel), and many other resources. Just snoop around...

I think you'll find that the K-D line starts operation the first weekend in April. I arrived in Boppard on the last day of March and went down to the K-D dock the next morning, Fri Apr 1, and was told they didn't start until Saturday. This year, 2010, they started on April 2 (a Friday?).

"I think you'll find that the K-D line starts operation the first weekend in April." "You might ask at one of the K-D kiosks about when the 2011 Nebensaison and Hauptsaison start. Usually there is a reduced schedule until Hauptsaison starts in late April.".........I think you'll find that I included that information in my previous post.........In 2010, the 'first' low season was 4/02 - 4/23, high season was 4/24 - 10/03, the 'second' low season was 10/04 - - 10/24. Next, the very limited winter season (3/day) will be 10/25 - 12/29 and 1/03 - 4/01 (2011). Then the 'first' low season of 2011 will start up again.........Read carefully - individuals must make advance bookings for these winter cruises...but for you, Ashley, the trains will probably be warmer, drier, and cozier......In general, if 'copy and paste' doesn't work for you, try deleting the last few characters until something 'catches'; in this case, just Google 'kd boats'. As far as the weather goes, my (and others) experience is that the Rhine gorge is a bit more cool and windy/breezy than the nearby areas, so do bring a jacket, etc. Oh, and the Rhine River in this area IS a "tourist trap" LOL but that's OK - it's gorgeous and not absolutely packed with tourists like some places.

3 days is more than enough time to explore the Rhine gorge (I´m assuming that´s where you want to focus your time...), unless your goal is to explore every town and castle. Almost every town appears to have at least one castle, and there´s wine everywhere you look. For March, because you don´t want to drive, rail is probably your best option. A regional commuter train serves the area that may or may not be affiliated with Deutsche Bahn (Perhaps Lee or Tim knows?). From what I saw, it looks like the trains run rather frequently.

Thanks for the info, everyone. I actually do have a guidebook (RS, Germany 2010 to be precise) but I would always rather hear directly from those who have actually done the tours to see if they truly were the best way to see the Rhine region. Just looking to spend a couple of days soaking up the sights and sampling the wines/beers, & seeing some storybook castles, without falling into any tourist traps! I know the weather in Germany then wont be like the March/April weather in Charleston (we're already wearing shorts & flip flops by then!) but if it is too frigid or windy, then I was wanting an suitable alternative to the boat tour. Sounds like the train would be our next option. Appreciate all comments! Feel free to keep them coming if you left out something! thanks!

I will actually be driving through the Rhine gorge tomorrow on the west bank (Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Oberwesel side). If there´s any specific but simple questions you have, perhaps I could find the answer?

You might ask at one of the K-D kiosks about when the 2011 Nebensaison and Hauptsaison start. Usually there is a reduced schedule until Hauptsaison starts in late April.