carcassone

I'm looking for a good base on the Rhine for day trips. We will have a car.
While there, we plan to visit:

- Rhine River Cruise (from St. Goar to Bacharach)
- Marksburg/Rheinstein Castle
- Burg Eltz
- NurburgRing
- a vineyard?

We are a family of 4 of any lodging with a quad room will be a plus.

From the reviews, St. Goar seems more appealing than Koblenz.

mokka4

You don't say the ages of ?children involved, but, I found St. Goar to be TINY, with not more than a handful of eateries for the evenings VERY slow-paced).
I much preferred Bacharach, still a small town, though more choices, livelier overall. I stayed there for two weeks a few years ago, daytripping by train to Burg Eltz, Cochem, Mainz etc
The Mosel may give you more choices for vineyards and quaint wine-tastings (esp Winningen, though there are MANY in the area).

Russ

"Rhine River Cruise (from St. Goar to Bacharach"

1.) This is a very tiny segment of the scenic part of the river - only 13 km. You should see at least the 28km between Bingen and St. Goar.

2.) Start in the south and finish in the north - not the way you planned. If you travel north to south, the trip takes a good bit longer and you see nothing more.

From Bingen, you can cruise to St. Goar in 1 hr. 25 min. Starting in St. Goar, a cruise to Bingen takes 2 hrs. 40 min.; Your plan, St. Goar to Bacharach takes 1 hr. 10 minutes (but it's only 45 minutes from Bacharach to St. Goar.)

There are some good accommodations in St. Goar - but fewer great dining options than in the other towns. Bacharach is a good choice too - it has lots of wineries as well. Since some of your destinations involve a trip north of this area, consider Boppard, north of the other towns, with more dining and hotel choices than the others, many wineries, and with a very nice old town and market square.

The KD cruise continues north beyond St. Goar, of course, and stops in Boppard too - and this segment is also very attractive by boat.

Woyzeck

Boppard is a bit livlier, in my opinion, than St. Goar, which is lovely but a bit sleepy. Boppard has maybe less character, but has good connections northward in the directions you will be going. It's a bigger town with a nice square and restaurants along the Rhine. There are some good hikes on the edge of the city which provide nice views down over the Rhine Valley. Depending on their age, your kids may enjoy the Boppard chair lift:
(http://www.sesselbahn-boppard.de/)

which provides a very lovely view at the so-called Vierseenblick:
(http://tinyurl.com/kxc5y2o).

There are a couple of restaurants up at the peak, where you can have lunch and/or beer in the beer garden.

I stayed with my wife and kids at a vacation rental called Rebstockhaus, which was well-located between the train station and the town square on the edge of the pedestrian zone. We had a balcony, full kitchen, and washer/dryer, all of which came in handy on our stay.

Woyzeck

Sorry for messing up the chair lift link:

http://www.sesselbahn-boppard.de/

carcassone

Thanks for the suggestions thus far. My kids are college age (thus the desire for vineyards

I'll look into Boppard and Bacharach. Boppard seems a better choice if I daytrip north bound.

What about Koblenz? From the reading it seems to lack the charm and personality, nothing but a tourist hop for the cruise ships?

dfourh

Koblenz is more of a city, with the standard range of shops in the shopping zone, and more clubs and nightlife. It's pleasant enough (for more of a city), but it won't feel like a precious little Rhine gem from another century - - but college-age kids may find more going on for precisely that reason. Have a look at Google Images to get a feel for the layout and the goings-on.

Woyzeck

You could also consider Cochem on the Mosel. It's a small but very lively town, more picturesque, in my opinion, than most of the Rhine towns. You would have better access to Burg Eltz and the Nürburgring. Most of all, I think it's a better location for wine tasting and vineyards. There are acres and acres of vineyards on all sides of the river and indeed much of the downtown seems oriented to food and drink. It's a relatively simple ride west of Koblenz.

Koblenz is a nice German city, but fairly typical for provincial cities of this size. I think most people visit the region, however, to experience the quaint and scenic smaller towns in the area. There is more commercial activity and more people, but I think you'd find plenty to do for a few days basing yourself almost anywhere on the Rhine (or Mosel).

This is a frequent topic of discussion here and there are many opinions on the matter - so many, in fact, that it can be difficult to make the decision. The real bottom line is that its a great area to spend a few days and it's hard to go wrong between St. Goar, Bacharach, etc, notwithstanding individual travelers taste and preferences.

bigtyke

Rather than a quad room, I would look for a ferienwohnung (fewo) - apartment. Probably just as inexpensive (maybe even cheaper) with more room plus the kitchen.

carcassone

I'd love to locate an "ferienwohnung (fewo) - apartment". Any particular web site or I have to look in each city separately?

I tried one in St. Goar and it's already booked.

Any pointer will be much appreciated.

mokka4

Try these two sites to start:

http:http://www.traumferienwohnungen.de/e...gebnisse.htm//

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals...ermany/boppard

mokka4

Sorry, I can only get in german for the frst one, but numerous possibilites abound...You could always email in english and see if they respond....

mokka4

Ta-Da!
In english:

http://www.vacation-apartments.com/e...ay_rentals.htm

Woyzeck

Mokka4 is right - just email in English and see what kind of response you get. When I booked, I had to email numerous apartments before settling on the Boppard (Rebstockhaus) location. Many owners did not respond and many apartments were already booked, so you may have to target a handful.

carcassone

Thanks. Looking now.

LuvToRoam

We are planning about 5 full days in Cochem in September, staying at:
http://www.pension-haus-andreas.de/EN/rooms.html

Hopefully it will be a nice place Hard to go wrong anywhere in Germany! Several years ago we stayed in Boppard, also a very lovely area.

bigtyke

Here's the listing of Fewos from the St. Goar town website.
www.st-goar.de/586-1-fewos.html
You can access most town websites by using www.(town name).de