In Ludwigsburg, the castle is the attraction (actually three castles). I would spend just half a day there.

The middle Rhine valley is UNCESCO World Heritage. It is very scenic, with zillions of castles and ruins on the slopes of the cliffs. There are picturesque villages and wineries as well.

http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/index.php?id=318&L=3

Here some highlights:

- Kloster Eberbach is an impressive monastery ("The Name of the Rose" was filmed there) and a winery as well.

- Rüdesheim is a picturesque village with dozens of wine bars - quite touristy. There is a tram that goes over the vineyards to a monument.

- A boat trip from Bingen or Rüdesheim to Koblenz is very scenic.

- The Marksburg is an excellent castle.

- Bacharach and Oberwesel are picturesque village.

- You can even sleep in a castle: http://www.histohotels.com/burghotel-auf-schoenburg/items/11.html

Thank you so much for the links and the advice! That's very clear.

The Mosel Valley near the Rhine Valley is thought my many to be more scenic than the Rhine Valley - lots of castles as well there and a more scenic valley IMO - a deep gorge often covered with vineyards and ruined castles and some intact castles such as the famous Burg Eltz, one of Germany's most famous castles - a few miles uphill from Moselkern, on the Mosel.

Trains trundle along both sides of the Rhine and K-D boats also do the trip several times a day - the best part of the Rhine being between Rudesheim/Bingen and Kobelnz (Boppard really) - a short 2.5 float Rudesheim to Boppard - get on and off at castles en route - like Marksburg one of the few castles in this strategic military area not to have been ruined by Napoleon or other marauders thru the ages.

Cochem on the Mosel makes a perfect base for either the Rhine or Mosel and it also has the castle of your dreams popping right out of vineyards in the town center - albeit Ersatz - re-built to look like a medieval castle in the 1800s I believe - it still is so so pretty.

For great info on trains and boats on the Mosel and Rhine check out these fine sites - www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id9.html and www.seat61.com.

I second Pal's recommendation of Burg Eltz. It's my favorite castle in Germany.

Hi,

Liked the Rhine and loved the Mosel. Cochem is a terrific place to base on the Mosel. We spent 4 nights on the Mosel in Oct. 2007. I couldn't imagine not visiting Burg Eltz while in the area. As Pegontheroad said, best castle in Germany. Marksburg on the Rhine is a close second.

Paul

Thanks, Paul and everyone for the good advice, we will try to fit the Mosel valley in!

Dislike the Rhine, LOVE the Mosel

Hi again,

If interested, we have photo's at:

www.worldisround.com/articles/338907/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/338870/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/338874/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/338906/index.html

Paul

These are very helpful, thank you, paul! I was wondering what you think of Trier. Is it a place worth visiting? we kind of want to go but we are afraid we could not fit it into our very tight schedule...

oh, and also, is that possible to visit trier and burg eltz in one day from frankfurt? is that too ambitious? Thanks in advance!

Trier has a lot to offer - one of Europe's oldest cities and one with sterling Roman ruins and an intact Roman Temple now a famouus Christian basilica. Once the capital of the western half of the Holy roman Empire.

There is also the Karl Marx House where he lived as a kid and is now a museum/exhibition center.

Trier has a really pleasant pedestrian shopping center and what is often called the most intact Roman relic north of the Alps - the Porta Negra or Black Gate, a massive stone-block city gate that was called the entrance to the eastern Holy Roman Empire I believe.

And yes you could easily IMO combine Trier with a visit to Burg Eltz - on same train line.

and I would visit Burg Eltz on the way back to Frankfurt - in case you find you want to spend much of the day in Trier - easy to do and then simply skip Burg Eltz if time does not allow.

A taxi from Moselkern train station can have you in Burg eltz in a jiffy.

I would not suggest you try to do Trier and Burg Eltz in one day from Frankfurt. I just spent 3.5 weeks in Frankfurt (yes, a trip report is coming! just got home last night) and took day trips via trains 15 days and spent 3 weekends on the road with hubby. Trier was my favorite place and you'd be shortchanging it to try to fit in anything else. I don't remember how long the train trip is from Frankfurt (too long for me to plan to do that, so it must have been over 2 hours--we drove instead), but you'd better check dbahn site and see--it's not like you can be there at 9 am or something. There is more than a full day of stuff to see in Trier. As for Burg Eltz, it is definitely great, but again, you need to check your train times. AND you'd better check on how to get there from the station; when I looked at doing this, the taxi wasn't necessarily a definite thing and it is quite a hike, over an hour one way, up to the castle. (Last weekend hubby drove me to the parking lot much nearer the castle, for his second and my first visit.)


Play around with the dbahn site if you are thinking of using trains. It's quite easy to use and will let you see real-time ideas of how long trips will take. Using trains from Frankfurt is pretty easy and they run frequently--BUT what about those connections especially in little places like Mozelkern? I will certainly recommend train travel after my experiences (not all good and smooth but mostly), but you do need to plot your trips carefully and have realistic ideas of how long trips and connections take. And better have alternative plans for those times when tracks close for hours or your train is so late you can't make the next connection.

And short answer to--which is better, a RailPass or regional/city day/weekend tickets or planning and buying tickets ahead? Yes. (Ha--the point is each of those options has its merits. I used a combo of a GermanRailPass--LOVED IT!--and some daily tickets--LOVED them too. I just couldn't plan my itinerary firmly enough ahead of time enough to get the cheapest tickets. But flexibility is worth a LOT to me.)

And after seeing Marksburg, Rheinstein, and Rheinfels on the Rhine and Burg Eltz on the Mosel and Heidelberg and Braunfels and Marksburg and...I can't even remember right now what other castles--anyway, my favorite is Rheinstein! Ride a ferry from Ruedisheim to a dock at base of its berg or park at its base right on the road next to the river and walk up. It's smaller than Burg Eltz, more restored than Rheinfels, and suffered more damage than Marksburg but I found it charming.

Oops, meant to say Marsburg (not Marksburg twice) and Wartburg as two other castles (that I recommend, but they're not near your plan).

a railpass allows ultimate flexibility to just hop any train anytime - no advance booking of non-changeable trains weeks in advance and not restricted to regional trains like on Lander Cards - regional trains are a lot slower and can always be overcrowded during rush hours as they are often commuter trains.

The more days you buy on a German Railpass the cheaper per day they get - like at about $20 a day for extra days above the base price - $20 a day can even be cheaper than a Lander Card for one day!

t) and took day trips via trains 15 days and spent 3 weekends on the road with hubby>

a 10-day German Rail Twin Pass is $341 p.p. or about 25-28 euros a day depending on currency rates - that is for fully flexible hop on at will travel (also on K-D boats on Rhine and Mosel) - Lander Cards can be a bit cheaper for a couple but you are restricted to slow regional trains and they are not good on boats I believe.

sorry for the late reply. I just saw all these! The advices you gave are really really helpful, good to know before we go! many thanks to texasbookworm and PalenQ!!

emily- as I love to repeat what I have seen on the walls of train stations - have a "Gute Fahrt" (sp?) or I guess good journey!

more time on Mosel.. visit Burg Eltz and enjoy! You will not be disappointed.

Thank you, PalenQ!! and Lincasanova for the advice! we will do that.