Train/KD Line combination

Posted by Holly (Houston, TX, USA) on 07/07/09 12:03 AM

I have one day free for exploring some of the Rhein before work begins on an overseas assignment for me this coming week. So I decided this Sunday to take the KD lines from either Bingen/Ruedesheim to Koblenz or from Oberwesel to Braubach - basically a Mittelrhein mini-cruise. I plan to hop off a couple times and catch the next ship that comes by.

The kicker is I'm staying in Koeln/Dueren, so I'll need to get myself out there and back on a train.

I'm trying to minimize costs. I know dBahn has the Schoenes Wochenende tickets which can be used on local transport between states (which would get me from Koeln to either of the start points listed above, and back) or there are Laenders Tickets that include non-local transportation within a state. I think that's correct.

I also know that a rail pass will get me on board the KD ships.

What I'm wondering is what is meant by "rail pass" -- would either the Schoenes Wochenende or Laendersticket count for free access? I don't need a "minimum 4-day, 180 EUR German Railpass" while I'm in Germany, so it seems like overkill to get that just for the free KD access. However, looking at dbahn.de's website, getting from Koeln to Bingen is 29 EUR one way, 2nd class. With a 20EUR boat tickt, that's going to start to add up quickly!

Am I missing something? Is there a way of doing this less expensively than what I seem to have run into?

Thanks!

Posted by Lee

Lakewood, Colorado

07/07/09 12:44 AM

19274 posts

Schönes-Wochenende- and Länder-Tickets are not railpasses and do not get you free passage on the K-D boats. With a full fare rail ticket you get a 20% discount on the boat, but I don't think S-W-T or Länder tickets qualify. It might say on the K-D website, www.k-d.de.

The boats are expensive and, more importantly, excruciatingly slow. You don't want to spend all of your time on boats. Just getting downstream from Bacharach to St. Goar take 40 min (and it take 70 min upstream, against the current). There are only about four boats all day between Bacharach and Koblenz. The idea that these boats are like buses that run every 15 minutes and you can just hop on/hop off anytime is a fantasy.

If you were to go from Bacharach to Braubach by boat, the first boat leaves Bacharach at 10:15. I don't think you have time to get there that soon. The next boat leaves at 11:15 and gets to Braubach at 13:20. The 12:15 boat only goes part way, to Boppard. The 15:15 boat gets to Braubach at 17:20, after the Marksburg closes, so about the only boat you can take downstream is the 11:15 from Bacharach.

What are you thinking of to see from, for example, Oberwesel to Koblenz. To my way of thinking, Rheinfels (St. Goar) and the Marksburg (Braubach) are the most important places to stop.

Let me suggest this. Use the S-W-T to go up the left bank to St. Goar, see Rheinfels, then go on to Bacharach and see it. Take the boat from Bacharach to St. Goarshausen (across the river from St. Goar). From there take the train to Braubach and see the Marksburg. If you have any time left over, stop in Koblenz and see Deutsches Eck.

Posted by Holly OP

Houston, TX, USA

07/07/09 12:57 AM

5 posts

Hi Lee!

I don't mind the slower pace of the boats, so that's not so much of an issue for me (loved the Inner Passage cruise to Alaska years ago). I've looked at KD's timetable and am aware that they aren't like a metro bus off-and-on. There were a couple places I wanted to get out and explore. Marksburg is indeed one of them, and I hadn't figured out which other one yet, though Rheinfels is on the short list.

I do like your suggestion, though, and will look into that for sure! This will be my first time traveling around in Germany for anything more than a pass through on a Eurail ticket, so I'm still trying to get a handle on the different types of tickets/passes, etc.

The K-D website isn't very clear on which rail passes qualify, unfortunately, so I figured folks here would probably be able to clear that up (though I have also emailed K-D).

Thanks for the feedback and suggestion!

Posted by Lee

Lakewood, Colorado

07/07/09 01:03 PM

19274 posts

If you take the slower route up the river, take the train to Braubach. The castle tours start at 10:00 and takes 50 min, so the first boat you could take up the river leaves at 12:05. It gets to St. Goar at 14:20. The next boat after that leaves at 15:20, but an hour at St. Goar is not enough. After that, the 17:20 boat is the last boat of the day to Bacharach.