MrsJenn

Does anyone have opinions on either of these hotels? I just realized that the weekend we will be in Bacharach is the same weekend the Rhein in Flames is held. Every place I requested in St Goar is already booked, so I'm looking in Bacharach now. These two places are available. The Hotel am Markt is not available either.
Any insight to either of these places is appreciated!

Russ

I haven't stayed in either. Boppard offers more accommodations than the other villages. It's a nice place, too. Which weekend is it?

MrsJenn

We will be there Sept 15-19.

Russ

You might look into Boppard, a very nice town north of St. Goar. There's a cool chairlift ride there. The Ebertor, ranked #4 of 26 at Tripadvisor, has a great location near the station, the town center, and the river promenade and is available for 9/15-19 at olotels.com, ratestogo.com, andhotelclub.com for $99-$103/night with breakfast and free cancellation. I found these by using www.hotelscombined.com .

MrsJenn

Russ, you have given wonderful advice - again! Thank you so much. Do you think Boppard would be a better location for 4 nights than Bacharach would be? Any advantages/disadvantages? You're knowledge has helped plan our trip, I've read several of your posts.

Russ

I'm going to fill you in on some train info here as that might impact your choice. You might want to use the map of the Middle Rhine at the left of this page in a different tab to see where the villages lie:

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

Bacharach has the most attractive half-timbered buildings on the Middle Rhine and is definitely worth visiting. It tends to be disproportionately overpopulated by North Americans - it's a Rick Steves pick - if that matters. Some of the hotels there get a bad rap for train noise, as the tracks tend to run closer to the central part of town. But I would say that most people who stay there love the place. It's quite adorable.

Boppard is larger and a bit more of a "real" German town, and there's a little more to do in town than in the other villages. Like Bacharach, there are wineries and tasting opportunities in town. But there are more inns, restaurants, cafes, and shops, some minor Roman wall remnants, and a particularly nice market square with a few outdoor dining set-ups. The chairlift ride is great - there's an outdoor cafe with a great view at the top (Gedeonseck) a short walk from the lift:

http://www.gedeonseck-boppard.de/4579.html

If you intend to visit Marksburg Castle in Braubach - www.marksburg.de - or to take a train north beyond Koblenz to Linz (gorgeous village, nicer than Bacharach IMO) or Remagen (WW II museum) or west along the Mosel (Cochem, Trier) Boppard puts you about 22 minutes closer to Koblenz, where you'll need to change trains, saving you 44 minutes time per trip over Bacharach

With 4 days... There is a daypass disadvantage for Bacharach that most people don't know about. A 3-day railpass, 40€ for two and good north to Remagen, south to Oberwesel, and west to Cochem and Bullay is available if you stay in Boppard or anywhere from Oberwesel north. This won't work for you from Bacharach, which is just south the area of validity. The "3-day mini-group ticket" is explained below:

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...e-ticket/#c423

It's valid to the places inside the dark blue line on this complicated map that shows rail AND bus lines:

http://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data...pl_2012_01.pdf

I don't know where you're arriving from on DAY 1 on the Rhine, but if you stay in Boppard, DAY 1 might be a good day to visit Bacharach and/or do a river cruise starting from Bingen (both are south of Oberwesel.) If you used a German railpass day or Eurrail pass day to reach Boppard, then you could use any trains you like to these places that afternoon or evening after dropping your bags. (The railpass would also give you a free river cruise.) The 3-day pass could then be used for the balance of your stay to see everything from Oberwesel north.

If you want to stay in Bacharach, it's possible to buy the 3-day minipass in Oberwesel or one of the other towns to the north and to pay for regular tickets between Bacharach and Oberwesel every time you head north and back - that's about 9€ per day for two. The other option is the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket, 25€/day for two, which will work from Bacharach:

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...-pfalz-ticket/

quokka

Whereever you stay - pick a place that is not next to the railway line.