Bruges to Rhine Valley

The Middle Rhine Valley where the scenery and castles and villages are found lies between Koblenz and Mainz, more specifically between Bingen in the south and Braubach in the north. Boppard is a great town to use as a base. You can travel Bruges - Boppard on an advance-sale savings fare ticket for as little as 29€ each (if such fares are available for your travel dates - prices go up as tickets sell, regular fare is about 75€.) German railways itinerary and ticketing page Koblenz is easier to reach - you'll pass through or change trains in Koblenz to reach Boppard - but isn't as scenic or as interesting, generally, as the other villages south of there. It was pretty much flattened in WW II and is full of modern buildings, shopping centers, etc. now. Consider also St. Goar, Oberwesel, and Bacharach - each is very nice and has its own charms - but Boppard is closest to Bruges and offers the widest range of accommodations and eateries. Nice chairlift ride there too. Boppard chair lift

I have no idea of your level of experience with European trains, so I'll give you the 101 level tutorial (if you have more experience, my apologies). You really have only one feasible route between Brugge and the Mittelrhein, although the details of how to get there vary. The route is Brugge to Brussels to Köln to Koblenz. Brugge to Brussels is a Belgian rail (NMBS) intercity (IC) train. There's usually at least two trains per hour, even more during peak periods of the day. The next step depends on what time you reach Brussels. The multinational .premium high speed service Thalys has hourly trains between Brussels and Köln. Deutsche Bahn also operates an intercity express (ICE) service along this route, but not as many per day. I'm not positive, but I believe the ICE is a little cheaper. Both take about the same amount of time. From Köln, you could take an intercity train south along the Rhine to Koblenz, and from there catch a regional train whatever town you wanted to visit. Or, you could ride a much slower regional commuter train from Köln to your Rhine town of choice. You wouldn't have to change trains in Koblenz, but it would take longer to get there. Overall duration of the trip from Brugge is 5-6.5 hours, depending on which trains you take and where you stay on the Rhine. From the Mittelrhein back to Amsterdam, there's direct ICEs from Köln and Düsseldorf to Amsterdam several times a day. 5-6 hour duration.

"It was pretty much flattened in WW II and is full of modern buildings, shopping centers, etc. now." Sorry, I have to counteract the conventional wisdom usually found on this website about Koblenz. There are a few streets in the downtown area that could charitably be described as "modern ugly", but there's also large pedestrian shopping area that is very pleasant. Dates mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, and includes a large Schloss, several attractive churches, and a nice riverside promenade. On a tight trip, I would probably focus more on the towns to the south, but with more time, I wouldn't ignore Koblenz either. OK, back to the train question. How you can purchase tickets for the entire route is a little more complicated. You will need to buy more than one ticket. If you catch the Deutsche Bahn ICE from Brussels, you can pre-order the Brussels and onward portion on one ticket from the Deutsche Bahn webiste. Seat reservations are available, but not mandatory, from Brussels to Köln, and possibly from Köln to Koblenz. The trains that service the Mittelrheins are local commuter trains, no reservations sold. Under this option, you would need to purchase a separate ticket for the Brugge to Brussels leg, but you can simply buy it at the station before you go. If you ride Thalys, one ticket will cover you from Brugge all the way to Köln, but you'll need to purchase a separate ticket for the regional and local trains once you get to Köln. Your ticket on Thalys comes with a seat reservation on the Brussels to Köln leg.

"How you can purchase tickets for the entire route is a little more complicated. You will need to buy more than one ticket." Not true, at least not for all travel dates. Please enter Bruges(B) and Boppard Hbf at the DB webpage provided in my post, Sue and Tom - you'll find that it's a simple matter to purchase just one ticket that uses IC, ICE and MRB trains, often very cheaply, and often for a trip of just 5 hours. The 8:59 departure looks advantageous.

Thanks for the responses! All good advice!! I will take a look at the train prices and see what I think. I was considering just "winging" it from Bruges but it sounds like it might be cheaper to plan ahead.

I stand corrected...

Thanks for the advice about Boppard. I have checked it out and it looks nice. Also, it appears that I can get train tickets from Bruges to Boppard and also Boppard to Amsterdam (where I will stay for my last night before flying home) fairly cheap at this point. I will only have about a day and a half to explore the Rhine but hopefully, I can at least get a taste of it.

Sue: " I will only have about a day and a half to explore the Rhine but hopefully, I can at least get a taste of it." Here's a do-able quickie Rhine-loop for a day's outing from Boppard: Train south to Bingen Hbf (35 min.) for the scenery then immediately return north on the first train to Bacharach (10 min.) for an hour's look around. Continue north to St. Goar (10 min.) - tour Rheinfels Castle (self-guided,) have lunch. Ferry over to St. Goarshausen (ferry runs all day,) catch train north to Braubach (20 min.) no later than 14:31 and see town briefly before hiking up or taking shuttle to Marksburg. There's normally a 4 pm guided tour of Marksburg Castle in English. Train north to Koblenz (11 min.) and catch a connecting train back to Boppard (16-17 min.) The train and ferry for this loop are covered on the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (daypass, 26€ for two, buy at ticket machine in Boppard or elsewhere.)

Thanks so much for the input! That sounds great - exactly what I want to see. And I will have both evenings to explore Boppard and relax a bit. Thanks again!!