Bacharach to Marksburg Castle

First place the train doesn't go to Marksburg Castle. It goes to Braubach Bahnhof, then you either hike up to the castle (less than ½ hour), or you go down to the K-D dock and catch the Marksburg Express trolley (click on "Approach", see bottom of page) to the top.

The fastest way from Bacharach to Braubach is to take the train (11 min) to St. Goar, walk down to the waterfront and take the ferry across to St. Goarshausen, then take the train (22 min) to Braubach. The ferry doesn't show up on the Bahn website because it is a private concession. I'm not sure how long it takes from St. Goar to St. Goarshausen, but the ferry doesn't take very long and runs often.

When walking up to Marksburg from the dock and into the town, you will see several small signs to the castle- be aware that at one point the route appears to take you up an alleyway to the right between some residences towards the hillside and then to the left behind some houses and sort of switchbacks up the side of the hill. That's because it actually does indeed take you up an alleyway between some residences, etc. LOL !

Lee says 30 mins, I's say allow 40 mins each way so you aren't feeling too rushed. Some less mobile people may not be up to the walk uphill, but Marskburg is definitely worth the visit. There is a small shop there selling waters, snacks, etc, as well as a gift shop selling doo-dads.

Thanks guys for your input greatly appreciated.

we leave in 14 sleeps can't wait

Christina, what you say doesn't make a lot of sense. In the first place, the Bahn website shows 17 regional connections between Bacharach and Braubach leaving from 8 AM until 6 PM. The median time is 1 hr 51 min. Only five of those connections take less than 1:51. The train/bus connection takes 1h 23m.

Also, I have seen the ticket automat in Bacharach. In fact, I have a picture of it on my website. It is a standard DB Nahverkehr ticket automat with the shield on the left with five columns of towns with a four digit code for each. There's hundreds of towns on the shield; I can't believe that Braubach is not on it. Maybe you missed the name?

When I was there, I had no trouble buying a ticket to Boppard at that machine.

Another way (albeit more expensive) to get to Braubach is on the K-D ship. The first ship of the day leaves Bacharach at 10:15 and gets to Braubach at 12:20. I'm sure that the Marksburg Express trolly will be there at the K-D dock in Braubach to meet the ship.

If you don't want to go all the way from Bacharach, you can board the ship in St. Goar (10:55) or Boppard (11:50), but you still get to Braubach at 12:20. There are at least hourly trains leaving Bacharach for St. Goar and Boppard. The train takes 11 min to St. Goar (€3) and 24 min to Boppard (€4,90).

If you take the boat it will be about 2 hours. If you take the train to Koblenz and then transfer to another train to Braubach it will be just over an hour. At the train station in in Bacharach the machine won't let you buy a ticket all the way to Braubach (there is only a machine there) so you will have to buy to Koblenz and then buy one to Braubach unless you are using a rail pass.

I missed the connection to Braubach and they train only runs every hour so I went outside and took a bus from Koblenz to Braubach. The bus runs every 15 to 20 mins so I didn't have to wait the hour to catch the next train.

Last month the little tourst train didn't pick people up at the docks. You had to go to the actually choo choo office to catch the train up to the Marksburg. The tours office said it would only run if there are at least 7 riders. It was only running on the :15. Once an hour at quarter after. When I got there I was just praying there would be 6 more people showing up. It was so so so hot when I was there I didn't want to walk up the mountain.

I didn't say you couldn't buy a ticket to Boppar I said to Braubach. When I went to St. Goar the day before I looked at the machine and when I couldn't find Braubach I asked at my hotel and was told you have to wait unitl you get to Koblenz to get the ticked going back up the river on the other side. I thought it was strange that I couldn't buy the ticket. That is why I asked. Trains leave Bacharach every hour and Koblenz every 40 mins (I thought it was every hour, sorry) The bus leaves every 26-30mins.

It is a half an hour shorter not to take the boat but if you want the boat ride then it is up to you. The first boat doesn't leave Bacharach until 10:15 am and is a 2 hour and 5 min ride to Braubach.

I was just saying what happend to me last month. I must have picked a different date when I saw that the boat would take over 2 hours. I also went to the Bahn site before I posted to refresh my memory.