Rhine Valley

The town websites list virtually every place to stay in their towns. If the place has no email and you have a recommendation, the tourist office can make the reservation for you. The Bacharach tourist office recently made reservations for me. Bavaria Ben's site (www.bensbauernhof.com) has some recommendations from his followers.

St. Goar doesn't have the number of half-timbered buildings that Bacharach has but Bacharach is easy to visit from St. Goar on a 10-minute train ride, and St. Goar does have a more scenic setting overall and is logistically a little more advantageous - as Brad says, Rheinfels Castle is right there - and the St. Goar-St. Goarshausen ferry is right there too so that you can more easily reach Marksburg Castle in Braubach (on the opposite river bank and to the north, the only never-destroyed castle you can tour, and a fine tour it is.) THIS PAGE provides a complete set of accommodations offerings in St. Goar - hotels, private B&Bs, pensions, and apartments. Apartments (holiday flats) tend to be a really good value in St. Goar. We found the Loreley apartments a great place to stay. For your river cruise, you'll probably want to start in Bingen to see the most - so you have to first take a southbound train whether you stay in Bacharach or St. Goar. You can get from Bingen back to St. Goar by boat in about 1.5 hours, but if you have the time, I suggest you stay on the boat to Boppard since the scenery between there and St. Goar is also very good. I'd cruise no further north than Boppard; it's a bit so-so from Boppard to Koblenz, and you'll have a long walk to the station from the Koblenz KD dock.

Do you stay in hostels? I've stayed at the St. Goar hostel (okay though you may be turned off by co-ed bathrooms) and Burg Stahleck above Bacharach. Burg Stahleck is one of the best run hostels I've ever stayed in and has a great view of the Rhine (but it's a little walk up from the River). It's generally packed (primarily with vacationing Germans) so reserve if you want to stay there. I've also stayed in a nice Pension in Bacharach - can't recall the name now. Any of the Pensions will be plenty clean and comfortable, and usually very reasonable compared to hotels. I think the town of Bacharach is a tad nicer. There are some towers and remains of walls as well as vineyards you can walk through. St. Goar would be better if you want to beat the crowd to Rheinfels. A local train runs between the two every hour for most of the day - be careful not to miss the last train of the evening. Guidebooks like Rough Guide, Let's Go, or Lonely Planet usually have more recommendations than Rick's books. You can also try tripadvisor.com, try their B&B listings.

The pensione Malerwinkel in Bacharach was recommended in Ricks Books. That is where I am staying in September. Seemed reasonable with good ratings.

Thanks for the suggestions staying in St.Goar just wondering if I can only see 1 castle Rheinfel or Marksburg?

Cheryl, My suggestion would be to stay in Bacharach, as it's a beautiful smaller town with some nice restaurants and less crowded that St. Goar (in my experience). For accommodations, you could consider: > Hotel Kranenturm (next to the tracks, but I didn't have a problem with train noise - owners are wonderful and they serve a nice breakfast and great dinners) > Pension Lettie (not far from Kranenturm, and Lettie is also a wonderful host - she serves either a German-style breakfast or fantastic waffles, and you won't leave the table hungry!) > Pension Im Malerwinkel > Burg Stahleck (Hostel) - if you want to stay in Castle above town with awesome views, this is a good choice (but usually booked up well in advance). It's an HI Hostel and they offer cafeteria-style service for meals. Even if you don't stay there, it's worth a hike up the mountain trail to have a "cool one" and enjoy the views. The station in Bacharach is unattended, but ticket Kiosks are provided. Happy travels!