My husband and I love traveling in Germany, but don't especially like the food, so we decided to rent apartments rather than stay in B&B's. We really wanted to experience Rhein in Flammen (Rhine in Flames), so after checking their website to see where and when the fireworks displays would be held, we chose our date (September) and location(Oberwesel). Fe-Wo is the German term for vacation apartment, so that is where we searched. Rick Steves recommends Bacharach and since it was very close to the event in Overwesel, we checked there. We wound up in Bacharach-Steeg, about 1 km up the valley from the town of Bacharach. This turned out to be a very good location. We found out that parking in town can be very hard to come by, plus right along the Rhine are very busy train tracks on both sides of the river. They don't use their whistles, but the sound of the freight trains just hangs there. Our apartment was very quiet and there was parking just across the street. From there we were able to easily traverse both sides of the river, as well as cruise up the middle! We visited several castles and churches, tasted a lot of good Riesling, and had one of the most relaxing times we have had in a long time. If you write me, I'll be happy to give you the name of the place we stayed--it was excellent and we would go back there again.
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Huntsville, AL, USA
8319 posts
Sue: I've stayed in Bacharach a couple of times, as it's a good one day drive from Amsterdam after stopping at Cologne to see the Duomo and eat lunch. Many think it's a bigger city, but it's really just a little over 1/4 miles long. It's hard to believe 10,000 people once lived there offloading freight onto barges downriver to avoid the shallow waters of the Rhine. I've found Bavaria Ben to have great places to stay in Bacharach at http://www.bensbauernhof.com/accommodationsrhinemosel.html
They're especially famous for their sweet white wines in the region.