ontheroadagain2013

We have rented a car for our upcoming trip through Germany so I haven't done much research on the trains and boats. Any advice is much appreciated. We want to visit Cologne one day from Cochem and thought we would take that opportunity to experience the trains and boat travel. Is it best to take the train one way and boat another between these cities? If so which ones? Everyone says how easy these forms of transportation are in Germany, just not sure if one way is better than the other to take the boat and which boat & train to take. Thanks for any recommendations.

mokka4

If it were me, I'd take the KD boat cruise on the Mosel from Cochem to Koblenz, past pretty scenery and vineyards, then pickup the train in Koblenz to Koeln, as this nothern portion of the Rhein is not so scenic AND the boat takes 5 1/2 hours from Koblenz to Koeln! Of course, the 'best' section of the Rhein is SOUTH of Koblenz anyway, not on the way to Koeln (castle ruins).
Koblenz is the city that sits at the confluence of the Rhein and the Mosel rivers.....

http://www.kdrhine.com/rhineschedule.htm

http://www.k-d.com/en/

PalenQ

But the only daily K-d boat Cochem to Koblenz leaves Cochem about 1 pm - taking a few hours to Koblenz then to Cologne you'd have such little time there. The best boat ride in the area that is practical to do is on the Rhine - take a train from Cochem to Koblenz and then to Rudesheim on the Rhine and take the K-D boats back to Koblenz over the prettiest stretch of the Rhine - thru the fabled Rhine Gorge - get off at Marksburg dock to visit the castle of your dreams.

Agree with mokka that the Koblenz to Cologne stretch of Rhine is not that scenic but often industrial - you go right by a nuclear power plant and thru the vast Ford car plant, the Bayer home plant, etc - interesting for some but not many expecting dreamy scenery like you get in the Rhine Gorge or on the Mosel.

www.k-d.com for boat schedules - just show up and buy tickets - never a problem boarding.

Or just do a short boat trip on the Mosel, which many find lovelier than the Rhine even - Cochem to Beilstein is a few hour ride thru arguably the prettiest stretch of the gorgeous Mosel, whose sinuous course serpentines thru a deep gorge, lovingy vineyard-carpeted at points facing south - lots of colorful wine villages like Beilstein.

Or do the short boat ride from Cochem to Moselkern, jumping off point for Burg Eltz, one of Germany's most famous castles.

For lots of good info on those boats and trains check out these IMO Wunderbar sites - www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

If doing the Beilstein boat you can easily return from Beilstein to Cochem by bus along the Mosel.

ontheroadagain2013

Thanks for the suggestions. Looks like we will take the train back and forth to Cologne to get our train fix and save the boat trip for when we are on the Rhine the following day.

PalenQ

for the Rhine I recommend boarding at Rudesheim - where many services commence and going downstream - faster - than upstream to Koblenz - I advise boarding at Rudesheim so you can get the better seats - up front top deck - many tour groups board here as well so board early and get a nice seat before they are all gone and you have to sit in the back, etc.

PalenQ

Don't just pass thru Koblenz, a city often overlooked when doing the Rhine boats - but from the terminal at Koblenz take a walk along the lovely
Rhineside esplanade to Deutsche Eck monumnet, which stands at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel rivers - a very famous monument to German Unity now but formerly the plinth had a large equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm on it - that however was blasted to bits at the end of WW2 when an American GI purposefully blew it up from his camp right across the river - this told to me by the camping manager who was running this tourist camp in the 1980s.

From Deutsches Eck you can take a pedetrian ferry across the Rhine to the Ehrenbreitsen Fortress - a historical military bastion that you can walk up to its top via tunnels or take a chairlift - there is a museum up top as well as a working youth hostel - the views from up there are sweeping over the Rhine and Mosel valleys far below. From Koblenz's riverfront an aerial cable way also goes up to the top of the fort - quite a thrill goin over the Rhine

http://www.koblenz-touristik.de/en/p...reitstein.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=ehre...=1600&bih=1075

Koblenz has a nice pedestrian shopping zone and a neatly restored Altstadt with beer halls and lots of restaurants, etc.

so don't just pass thru Koblenz IME.