Travel in Rhine Valley, Germany

Hi Wanda,

Are you traveling by train or car?

I guess jet lag doesn't bother us too much, as we landed in Frankfurt at 6:30am (from NJ) and drove to Marksburg Castle on our way to our base for 4 nights, Valwig (5 min. from Cochem) on the Mosel. Burg Eltz was our favorite (we didn't go to Rhinefels). Sorry, I don't know about staying in Weisbaden and can't really advise on seeing the castles from here.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply. We are renting a car for the week. I would like to stay closer to the castles, but not sure where to stay. Were you happy with your hotel? We don't have to see all three castles, but I definately want to see the Burg Eltz.

Hi Wanda,

Yes, we really liked where we stayed. The Rebenhof is a very nice place run by a very nice woman, Cecilia Diederichs. Very good buffet breakfast also.

www.hotel-rebenhof.com

It's across the river from Cochem. We found it to be central to all the places we wanted to see along the Mosel... Beistein, Bernkastel, Zell, Trier, etc.
Burg Eltz is about 30 minutes (or a bit less) away. As I recall, the drive from marksburg to our hotel wasn't too long. We took the ferry across the Rhine in Boppard.

If interested, we have photo's from our 2007 trip at:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

We also have a "trip report" that you may find helpful (at least the first 4 days):

www.fodors.com/community/europe/moselrothenburgbavaria-report-with-photos.cfm

Paul

There are car ferries in Boppard (nice town, many places to stay, chairlift ride to the Vierseenblick lookout - called that since the river looks like 4 distinct lakes from up there) and in St. Goar (more scenic, Rheinfels in town) which will help you get across the river to Braubach. Both places make for good bases, though Boppard is a little closer to Burg Eltz, I think.

Be sure to check out the falconry show at Cochem's Reichsburg Castle (not far from Burg Eltz, also worth touring) or at Burg Maus Castle, just north of St. Goar on the opposite side of the river (no tour possible.) Cochem is a lovely town if you have the time!

First, I would not stay in Wiesbaden. Sure, it is a known name place, but if you do your research you can find a lot of towns (Bacharach, St. Goar, Boppard, Braubach) right in the area you want to see.

Secondly, don't assume, just because you have to have a car to go anywhere in the U.S., that you also need one in Europe. Rail transportation in that area is very good. I've spend nine nights in that area, and never needed a car.

If I were doing this, I would base myself in Boppard. It is a lovely town, with most of the big hotels right on a walkway along the river. You can get to the Markburg, in Braubach, on the K-D boat. You could also drive or train from there to Rheinfels. If you don't want to hike from Moselkern, you could drive directly to Burg Eltz.

Depending on your flight time out of FRA, you could spend the night on the Rhein. I spent the night in Boppard and came in the next morning for an early afternoon flight out of Frankfurt. I have also spent a night in Mainz, at Hotel Königshof and took the S-Bahn from Mianz into the airport in the morning.

I think you will find cheaper places to stay in one of the many small towns along the Rhein, then what the hotel on base costs. They will have a lot more charm too.

How old are your kids? That can make a difference in what kind of activities we can tell you about.

Hessen Park is a great outdoor museum.
http://www.hessenpark.de/english/frame_find.html

The Saalburg is a wonderfully restored Roman fort not that far away from Wiesbaden. It's the only one that has ever been rebuilt. They have a lot of activities for kids there too.
http://www.saalburgmuseum.de/english/home_engl.htm

Here is a website with more castles in the Hessen area and with gardens thrown in too.
http://www.schloesser-hessen.de/schloesser/schloss.htm

You might want to check with the USO in Wiesbaden to see what kind of trips they have planned for April. They are usually pretty interesting and a good price too. Perhaps stay your last night in Wiesbaden, since it is not that far from the airport. You might want to spend a day in Frankfurt too, since we do have a lot of interesting and historic things to see here as well.

My family liked Rhinefels the best because you can let your imagination wander as you roam the ruins.

Even if you are driving, hike to Burg Eltz. It's a great walk through a light forrest along a stream and only slightly uphill (at least most of it). The kids would probably really like the walk.

For six nights I would probably do 2 nights in the Cochem area, 2 nights in Bacharach/St. Goar area and 2 nights that give you access to the Romantic Road.

In addition to Burg Eltz, Trier has extensive Roman ruins. You could easily go to Trier first thing, wander through the ruins then head back up to Burg Eltz in the afternoon.

In Bacharach, your kids might also enjoy staying in Burg Stahleck, a former castle converted to a hostel. It's very well run but always full, be sure to get reservations.

Seeing Wurtzburg and Rhotenburg and catching the nightwatchman's tour would add to your trip and without overdoing it.

Make sure you are ready for some cold and rain. Waterproof walking shoes, wool-blend hiking socks, a decent fleece and shell with a hood will help keep you warm and dry. You may get great weather but you don't want to do nothing if it isn't nice.

To all,

Thanks for all the wonderful info! We arrive at the FRA airport early Mon am and we are renting a car. We have decided to spend our first night in Wiesbaden to rest up and maybe go see the Allsburg roman ruins. Then head to Bacharach.

We have decided to spend the next four nights in Bacharach at the Pension im Malerwinkel. We want to take the 1 hour river cruise between Bacharach and St. Goar and we want to see the castle in St. Goar. We also want to see the Marksburg Castle and Burg Eltz. Now, I'm just trying to figure out in what order and days to do it all.

If we have time we would love to drive up to Bonn to see Beethoven's birthplace and museum. Can anyone recommend an itinerary for all these things we want to do? We check out Sat am to find a closer hotel to the airport for our early flight out on Sun.
Sorry, I wrote so much!

The boat trip from St. Goar to Bacharach, against the current, takes 70 minutes; the trip from Bacharach down to St. Goar takes 40 minutes. I would go the fast way.

The schedule for the KD boats is at www.k-d.de. There is a boat leaving Bacharach at 10:15 in the morning, getting into St. Goar at 10:55. You could explore Rheinfels and have lunch in St. Goar, then take the train back to Bacharach (there is one at least every hour). Fare for an adult, or a child 15 and up, is €3,10. If your children are less than 15, they ride with you free.

On the other hand, according to the KD site, you can get a 20% discount with a Bahn ticket from that day (but I don't know if just Bacharach, which is already a KD landing, to St. Goar counts). But if you take the train to St. Goar, you might get a discount (ask at the dock in Bacharach) for the boat trip back. The downside is that the trip up the river takes a half hour longer, and you will be at the mercy of the boat schedule, since there are just two afternoon boat trips, leaving St. Goar at 3:20 and 5:20 PM.

Our family (2 children, ages 11 and 9) explored the Rhine last fall. We stayed in Bacharach, at the Pension Binz (they have a nice 4 person apartment, with a kitchen). We did not rent a car. Bacharach is great base for exploring the area. Bacharach itself is quite a sleepy place, but we managed to have a wonderful time exploring castles and hiking through the vineyards. Bacharach was a good choice for us, with easy access to the train, the boat, and small grocery store (the grocery store in St. Goar had closed, so we were glad we didn't stay there).

Our favorite castle was Rheinfels, which is just a ruin, but you can explore all over, including dark tunnels (bring a flashlight). We also found that there is a great trail network (we hiked from one castle to another a couple of towns away from Bacharach). If this interests you, you might look for a trail map (in English) before you go. We could find one only in German.

Burg Eltz is a full day trip from Bacharach, including the long hike from the train station (pick the best weather day). Hiking through the woods, though, was very enjoyable. I'll add that Burg Eltz was our son's least favorite castle in all of Europe. While impressive, access is quite limited, with a required guided tour.

Have a wonderful time!

Dear Lee and Susan,

Thanks so much for the very helpful info! We will definately take the shorter cruise from Bacharach to St. Goar. That would give us more time to have lunch, enjoy St. Goar and the castle there before we head back to Bacharach by train.

I am concerned about the weather, since we are arriving there in the beginning of April. Hopefully, we will have at least one good weather day for the trip to Burg Eltz(we are driving there).

I still want to see the Marksburg castle too. I guess we could do boatcruise/St. Goar/Rhinefels castle one day, then Burg Eltz on another day and then do the Marksburg castle on a seperate day.

Thanks!

Hi James,

Thanks for the info. We have decided to skip Wiesbaden and go straight to the Rhine.

Now, we're just trying to figure out if we should use the trains instead of renting a car. I want to use what is easiest to travel from Frankfurt to Bacharach (our base) and to travel the mid-Rhine Valley from Bacharach to St. Goar, Brubach and Burg Eltz Castle.

Braubach (Marksburg) is on the opposite side of the river from Bacharach and St. Goar. There are very few places in that area to cross the river. You can go down to Koblenz and take a bridge, or you can take a ferry across in either St. Goar or Boppard, or you could go to Boppard and take the KD boat to Braubach.

If you take the boat to Braubach, a shuttle to the castle will probably meet you at the boat landing. However, then you will have to get back to where you left your car after seeing the castle. KD usually charges only a little more for a RT boat fare than for one-way, but then you are at the mercy of the boat schedule. You could take the train through Koblenz. You can take the train to Filsen and the ferry back to Boppard, but the ferry to Boppard is about a km walk from the Filsen Bahnhof.

Here is a view of the middle Rhine showing the towns on each side of the river. Note: trains run on both sides.

Our kids enjoyed the interactive Opera at Bethoven's birth house. We were there in October and it wasn't crowded so they each had control of one of the characters. I was surprised that they came out smiling.