We will be traveling on the K-D Line Rhine River Cruise from Bacharach to Koblenz in a few weeks and then by train from Koblenz to Koln. We would like to travel on the paddleboat. Can reservations be made for the paddleboat since it is the last boat of the night? We have hotel reservations in Koln for this night and we do not want to get stranded in Bacharach.
Posted by
Paradise
7070 posts
If you start in Bacharach you'll be missing more than half of the most scenic section, the part between Bingen and St. Goar. North of St. Goar, it's nice but somewhat less impressive on the way to Boppard (about 14 km); the rest from Boppard to Koblenz is less impressive yet (and somewhat industrial in spots.) Consider getting off in St. Goar to cut 2.25 hours off the cruise, or in Boppard. The time you'll save will help you get into Cologne at a better hour. The other thing is that the KD dock in Koblenz is pretty far from the main station where you connect to Cologne - more than a mile. In St. Goar, you are just a few steps away, a bit further in Boppard. I don't think you can reserve a spot on that or the other boats.
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
First of all, you can't get stranded; the train runs along the river, so you'd just get a ticket and hop on. The ticket machines walk you through the process. Secondly, I've done this trip in reverse - on the Goethe, too! - and as much as I loved it (in contrast to most on the Helpline, apparently) it was a ( very nice, but) long trip at 3h30m. Your trip is just under 3h. The last trip I took was Bacharach to Boppard, and that was plenty long (probably because it was indoors only - too cold). FWIW, at the bottom of the schedule is a map showing the landing stages; if at any time you're ready to get off the boat just get off at any dock and catch the next train to Koblenz. I'd suggest going to Bahn.com and checking out the trains from a few of those landing stages ahead of time; the travel departure times and length of travel times vary wildly. That is especially important if you already have train tickets for Koblenz to Köln and need to make a specific train. No need to buy train tickets ahead of time, though. If you'll be in Bacharach for awhile, you can go the the dock and buy tickets for a later boat (or could as of a few years ago...) - but I Would Write Down The Time and 'Goethe' very plainly on a piece of paper so there's no confusion! If the agent speaks and understands English very well then no need for the paper ;-) Use Google Maps to find the train station and map out a route in case you decide to get off in Boppard.