Rhine Valley - NO IDEA!

The scenic Rhein gorge starts in Koblenz and goes UP (against the current) to the SE to approx. Bingen, but the best part (IMO) is the stretch from St Goar to Bacharach. Both those towns are worth a visit, although I would prefer St Goar because of the Rheinfels castle ruins. Also worth a visit is the town of Braubach, because of the Marksburg above it, the only castle on the Rhein that is original (ie, not destroyed and rebuilt). A good town to stay in (because of its central location) is Boppard, with its riverfront with big hotels, although there isn't much right there to see. There are hourly trains along both banks. There are also K-D boats running between towns on the river. The most scenic part of the K-D route is between St Goar and Bacharach, with its closeup look at the Lorelei and the mid-river toll castle, Pfalzgrafenstein. Unless you just like spending time on boats, try to go with the current, from Bacharach to St Goar.

Good advice from Lee. I'd only say that a Bacharach - St. Goar cruise might be too short - you'll cover only 28 km and it's only 40 minutes long. The scenery south of Bacharach from Bingen north is also very good - you'll see the Mäuseturm in the river near Bingen and numerous other castles and ruins as well, and the trip will take 1 hr. 25 minutes if you start in Bingen instead.

Jael, Lee provided an excellent overview of the area, so you should be able to plan your trip based on that. As you've noted, it would be a better idea to visit the Rhine Valley after Paris. My favourite town in that area is Bacharach. It's a smaller town but very convenient for exploring that area. The KD cruise from Bacharach to St. Goar (if you want to see Rheinfells) is very easy, and you can take the train back. It's great that you're getting such an early start on the planning. Happy travels!

Okay now I am getting a better understanding of the towns. From North to South:
1. Koblez 2.Boppard 3.St Goar 4. Baccharch 5.Bingen I looked at the time on the boat going north and going south. It seems that if I just do the portion from Baccharach to Boppard there is not much of a time difference with the length of the trip. WHat I am struggling with is the connection from Brussels to the closest town, and then how to get from the town in Rhine Valley to Paris. We don't want to rent a car. I know there are trains to Cologne and also Koblez from Brussels. Suggestions? *** Also what about exploring the option of going from London-Paris, the Paris-Rhine, then take a train to Frankfurt and fly to Venice from there? Thank you again.

Bacharach, St Goar, Boppard, and Koblenz are all on the left bank (left side going down the river, ie NW). There is also Braubach, not to be confused with Bacharach. Braubach is on the right bank between Boppard and Koblenz. The trip from Boppard to Bacharach, up river, against the currenct takes 2½ hours vs 1h35m going down. If coming from Brussels, take the train to Cologne (Köln), then another train to Koblenz. There are regional trains running from Koblenz to Bingen, stopping at every station on the way. From Bingen you can go on to Frankfurt airport, if that's what you want to do. There are train connections south from Bingen or Koblenz to Paris.

"Also what about exploring the option of going from London-Paris, the Paris-Rhine, then take a train to Frankfurt and fly to Venice from there?" You might not need to travel to Frankfurt for this flight. Ryanair offers cheap flights from Frankfurt Hahn airport to Venice Treviso airport. Frankfurt Hahn is a tiny airport far from Frankfurt; direct buses run there from Mainz and Koblenz on the Rhine, or from Bullay on the Mosel River. http://www.hahn-airport.de/default.aspx?menu=by_bus&cc=de#