Day on the Rhine

Old Apr 25th, 2015, 10:17 AM
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Day on the Rhine

My family and I are going to spend two weeks in Germany this June. We would like to spend a day on the Rhine or Moselle River to get a view of the castles. Which section of these rivers has the most to see in a day's time? We can leave from Cologne or from Koblenz. Is this too ambitious of a goal?
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Old Apr 25th, 2015, 10:47 AM
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For castles definitely Koblenz. But I would end in Koblenz and start your cruise upriver in Rudesheim for instance. Traveling downriver will lessen travel time as indicated in the attached link.
http://www.kdrhine.com/rhineschedule.htm. Also, do a search on this forum for several similar questions.
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Old Apr 25th, 2015, 11:41 AM
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You may want to get off the boat at Braubach, right near Marksburg Castle and take a shuttle or cable or whatever takes you up there - the only castle on The Rhine or this section not destroyed by war so if you want to see a real intact medieval castle this is it - there are trains from Braubach to Koblenz or Mainz - the portion of river from Braubach to Koblenz is not all that awesome but is very nice.

IME boarding these boats in Rudesheim where many services commence gives you the best chance at the best seats - in the open-air front deck - bus tours swarm on a Rudesheim so try to beat them to the seats - after the boats docks in Bingen often IME the best seats are gone - so I'd board in Rudesheim if possible.

for some details on the Rhine check www.budgeteuropetravel.com - their section on Germany and www.ricksteves.com and for trains www.seat61.com.

I would suggest staying a couple of nights in Cochem, the picture-postvcarad town of your dreams - its own lovely but Ersatz medieval castle poking its head out of vineyards right in town and Burg Eltz - one of the most famous and awesome old authentically old castles in Germany is just a few miles downstream from Cochem - you can rent bikes and go there or drive there or take the train to Moselkern from Cochem and then walk up to the perched high above the Rhine castle or mini-bus shuttle vans.

Do the Rhine as a day trip from Cochem, which IMO is much much MUCH more romantic than any Rhine town - towns there can have noise problems due to two rail lines and two roads that parallel each side of the Rhine thru the narrow Rhine gorge plus those towns just don't have the cute looks of Cochem:

https://www.google.com/search?q=coch...sm=93&ie=UTF-8

Cochem is a popular resort with especially Dutch families - lots for families to do - huge open-air town pool, mini golf, etc.
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Old Apr 25th, 2015, 02:28 PM
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Thanks! I appreciate the advice. Is it difficult to use the train system if you don't speak German? Also, is the train close to the dock, assuming that we board in Rudesheim? We will be staying at a resort in Gemund for a week. Prior to that, we will be in the Bavaria region. I am a little uncertain about activities in or near Gemund, so if you have any advice, I would certainly welcome it. We love history, culture, hiking, and more.
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Old Apr 25th, 2015, 02:31 PM
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The train station in Rudesheim is a very very short stroll from the nearly adjacent boat dock - you could drive there and park too and then after getting off the boat take a train back there in a few minutes.
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Old Apr 25th, 2015, 03:02 PM
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It's really hard to understand just what your plan is - if I could, I'd offer some tips, but right now I only have questions.

"We will be staying at a resort in Gemund for a week. Prior to that, we will be in the Bavaria region."

So... you are trying to make a stopover in the Rhine/Mosel between Bavaria and Gemund, is that right??

You say you want to spend "a day." Do you intend to spend a full day, maybe with an overnight, or squeeze in a couple of hours on your trip to Gemund?

But you also write, "We can leave from Cologne or from Koblenz." I don't know what you mean with this exactly.
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Old Apr 25th, 2015, 03:03 PM
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It's really hard to understand just what your plan is - if I could, I'd offer some tips, but right now I only have questions.

"We will be staying at a resort in Gemund for a week. Prior to that, we will be in the Bavaria region."

So... you are trying to make a stopover in the Rhine/Mosel between Bavaria and Gemund, is that right??

You say you want to spend "a day." Do you intend to spend a full day, maybe with an overnight, or squeeze in a couple of hours on your trip to Gemund?

But you also write, "We can leave from Cologne or from Koblenz." I don't know what you mean with this exactly.
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Old Apr 26th, 2015, 10:53 AM
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Sorry, I didn't make it very clear, did I. We are staying a week in the Bavaria region and have full plans there. After that, we are driving to the resort in Gemund. From the map, it looked as though Cologne and Koblenz were both within driving distance from the Gemund resort. I suppose other towns on the Rhine may also be within driving distance and, therefore, be good river cruise spots, too, but I have not read about any others. The Gemund resort would be our "home base." Thanks for asking for clarification!
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Old Apr 26th, 2015, 01:08 PM
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You do know that the classic Rhine most folks rave about is between Rudesheim/Bingen and Boppard or abouts - a very small section of the Rhine itself - the Rhine between Cologne and Koblenz is horribly industiralized at places and not scenic in any sense of the word IME of biking along it with groups for a few decades.
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Old Apr 26th, 2015, 07:56 PM
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OK, so you would drive to St. Goar. Park somewhere. Take the train to Bingen to start your cruise (€6.10 each.) The cruise to St. Goar has lots of castles, covers the very best scenery in 1.5 hours, and costs around €20, but you'll get around €4 off because when you arrive at the cruise starting point by train, you get a 20% discount. Yay. Just show your train ticket at the cruise dock kiosk for the discount.

KD cruise schedule:
https://www.k-d.com/en/kd-scheduled-...hine-timetable

Even though much of the Rhine is closer to Gemund, it's somewhat industrial in spots, as Palenq points out.

When you're back in St. Goar you can tour Rheinfels Castle (unguided, it's a set of ruins with a museum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxFF80wORNQ

You could also take a drive down to the very cute towns of Bacharach and Oberwesel. Or stop in Boppard for a while - drive up to the Vierseenblick lookout there for an amazing view and have some refreshments at Gedeonseck terrace:

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/med...king-rhein.jpg

If you want to take a guided tour of a never-destroyed castle, Marksburg Castle is really good. It's in Braubach and has tours in English at 1:00 and 4:00.

http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame_nj.htm
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Old Apr 27th, 2015, 03:43 AM
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fuss' plan sounds like a good warp to all!
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Old Apr 27th, 2015, 08:55 AM
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Thanks for the advice! That is just what I'll do.
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