My Husband and I are planning a trip for next September. What I'm wondering is, if there is a better way that gives you more views of the Castles. Going up the river or down? I appreciate your help. Shelley
It's quite slow in both directions, but upstream (north to south) is REALLY slow. Start in Bingen or Rüdesheim and travel north to Braubach, and you will have seen just about everything worth seeing in just under 3 hours. Braubach is also a good spot to end your cruise since it's the home of never-destroyed Marksburg Castle, the best one to tour on the Rhine. You won't see any more or less whichever direction you travel. The cruise above takes you past several other interesting villages too - Bacharach, Oberwesel, St. Goar (Rheinfels Castle) and Boppard, all on the west bank from south to north. It might be possible to stop in one village and hop back on the next cruise boat 1 or 2 hours later, but you probably won't be able to do this more than once, or maybe twice if you start very early, since there are only a few boats per day and they aren't very conveniently scheduled for such hopping. You can get off in Boppard (prior to Braubach) and take the train south to see these other towns too.