Trian Travel from Rothenberg ob der Tauber to the Rhine cruise

Donna, I'm not clear on whether you're planning on staying at least one night in Bacharach, or just stopping there long enough to take the cruise and then continuing on to Köln? The rail trip from Rothenburg ODT to Bacharach is a minimum of about 4H:15M, with at least 3 changes in Steinach, Würzburg and Mainz. The trip certainly is "possible", but it would help to have some further information. Cheers!

Assuming you are going on to Köln for the night, if you leave Rothenburg at 9:06 and take regional trains to Würzburg, you can take an IC to Mainz and a Regional Bahn to Bacharach, arriving at 13:21. That gives you just under 2 hours in Bacharach for a little sightseeing and buying your K-D tickets before the next boat to St. Goar at 15:15. That gets you into St. Goar at 15:55. Hustle up the hill to the train station and catch the 16:38 to Koblenz and on to Köln at 18:05

"We eventually want to end up in Colonge . Is this possible." On the same day? It's possible, as Lee suggests, but it's just wrong. Would you also take the trouble to detour to Paris for a 40-minute cruise on the Seine? Of course it's not quite the same situation, but the same principle applies. If you're going to the Middle Rhine, you really need to see some stuff there, not just cruise or ride the train past everything on your way to somewhere else. If you want to see Cologne, you can leave R'burg at 9:06 and be there at 13:05. If you want to see the Middle Rhine, well, first of all, you might enjoy a little more time on the boat. If you catch a boat from Bingen north to St. Goar instead, you'll have a little more time to enjoy the scenery (about 1.5 hours) and you'll see some of the very best scenery more slowly than you would on the train. A 2:20 cruise north from Bingen to Boppard might be even better, or stay on until Braubach (3 hours.) Secondly: Bacharach itself is pretty and very much worth a couple of hours, but it's mostly just a collection of half-timbered buildings. There are no castles you can tour there, and the Rhine castles have been waiting for you to show up for over 800 years. You might have time to squeeze in some wine tasting, or have a meal, but that's it. Here's what you miss: St. Goar: Rheinfels Castle http://www.st-goar.de/17-1-.html Boppard: handsome town center, cool chairlift ride: url]http://www.sesselbahn-boppard.de/chairlift_boppard/index_eng.htm Braubach: Marksburg Castle tour: http://www.marksburg.de Middle Rhine info: http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/index.php?id=318&L=3 Spend at least a night in the area and see something.

I 'm leaving Rothenburg on May 13th and need to be in Cologne in the evening of May 15th. I didn't know if it's better to take the cruise upstream and then catch a fast train Mainz to Koblenz and then on to Koln ? Can we get off and on the KD line and which town is the best to overnight in? ST. Goar or Bacharach? For some reason this part of our German trip has stumped me. Thanks for any ideas!

Donna, If you're going to spend one night there, my suggestion would be to stay in Bacharach. It's smaller than St. Goar and I found it to be much less crowded and more pleasant. I've stayed in both Hotel Kranenturm and Pension Lettie, and would highly recommend either one of those. Cheers!

"I 'm leaving Rothenburg on May 13th and need to be in Cologne in the evening of May 15th." Aha. Then on 5/13, take that 9:06 out of Rothenburg to Bingen Rhein Stadt station (13:00), the closest Bingen station to the K-D docks. There's a cafe at dockside or try one of the other nearby places. Have a meal and/or a look around Bingen and get on the 14:30 cruise boat to Bacharach or St. Goar, whichever you choose. The Bingen TI is close to the station - they'll probably take your bags if you don't want to walk around Bingen with them prior to your cruise. St. Goar gives you a ride of about 1.5 hours and would be my choice. Explore on foot from your hotel. 5/14: Visit Rheinfels Castle, Bacharach (or St. Goar if staying in Bacharach) and Boppard. All 3 towns are on the same side of the river, and train service is hourly. A Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (25€ for 2) works after 9 am weekdays for all your training around. 5/15: Check out, head to Braubach for Marksburg Castle - English tour is normally at 12:00. Easiest way from St. Goar is to use ferry (runs all the time, a couple Euros) from St. Goar to St. Goarshausen then walk north a few blocks to the station for the 20-min. ride; the 10:31 train from there gets you to Braubach in time to drop bags at the TI office ( a couple of blocks), look around the old town center, and walk up to the castle (about 20 min.) or take the shuttle up if it's running. It is also possible to take the train from St. Goar to Koblenz, change there to a bus for Braubach. After your tour, p.m. trains head north to Koblenz at :52 after the hour. Transfer there for Cologne.