tcreath

Hi,

My husband and I are planning our next vacation, which will be next May. We would like to see the sites along the Rhine, including castles and historic sites, scenery, interesting quaint towns, etc. We are planning on following the Rhine from Koln to Switzerland, which will be the next leg of our trip. What's the best way to do this? We are considering renting a car but we really don't want to lug our luggage to a new hotel every night. At the same time, I'm not sure there is any other way to do this except for a river cruise, which we looked into but we can't find anything that quite fits our needs as most seem to include excursions and tours which we aren't interested in. I believe there are some boats that travel up and down the Rhine that you can "hop on, hop off". If this is true, would this be the best option? Has anybody done this that could give me some suggestions?

Thanks!
Tracy

smueller

The "hop on, hop off" ferries that I am familiar with generally restrict their service to limited portions of the river, such as the stretch between Koblenz and Bingen/Rudesheim. Even if you do find something that suits your needs, you still have the luggage problem. When you "hop off" your luggage has to hop off with you because when you "hop on" a few hours later it will likely be a different boat.

My wife and I have toured the German Rhine by boat and car and, while both experiences were rewarding, we preferred the car because we had a lot more control over our itinerary and schedule. A car allows a degree of flexibility that is impossible with a tour boat.

One solution might be to travel by car and arrange your hotels before you leave, but only choose hotels that have onsite parking, which will minimize the luggage hassles. You could also take a few short cruises along the more scenic parts of the river as roundtrip excursions.

Another option is an excursion boat tour that covers the entire distance that interests you. With this option, it might be difficult to find "hop on, hop off" flexibility, however. You will be forced to limit your land excursions to the itinerary predetermined by the tour provider.

The flexibility vs convenience dilemma is one that most of us on this forum grapple with constantly.

tcreath

Sorry, that was supposed to be "Rhein" river for my above post. I wasn't sure how to spell it but just looked it up...should have done that before I posted the message!

Tracy

Russ

The most scenic part of the Rhine lies in a short section south of Cologne beginning roughly in Koblenz and continuing south toward Bingen. I would plan to plant myself in one of the smaller villages there (Boppard and St. Goar make for good bases) and daytrip around the region for several days from there. You can do this section by car or by train, and perhaps in part by hop-on, hop-off K-D boat. I prefer the train here for novelty's sake and because of the hassle and expense of renting a car (daypasses on the regional trains here are available for gourps up to 5 people for only 22 Euros/day.) But if you don't enjoy walking or the occasional hike up to a castle, you might be better off with a car. You can use the boats or the train to get to nearly any town in this region, but I would caution against cruising for longer than a couple of hours - it's great for the scenery, but your time is better spent exploring the towns here on foot, IMO.

I would make a point of touring Marksburg Castle in Braubach and/or Burg Eltz, the better of the two and a bit west of the Rhine near the Mosel River.

We rented an apartment overlooking the river in St. Goar last summer for 3 days - very reasonable - and had a great time.

tcreath

Thanks for both of your replies! I really appreciate it. We both love to walk so we were thinking of renting a car but then parking it somewhere and doing some walks, especially up to the castles. Thank you Russ for your castle suggestions. I have a Germany travel guide and noticed that the Mosel had some great scenery and castles as well, so we'll probably try to include it. Is this a very far detour from the Rhein/Rhine (sp?) river? Can I ask for more information about the apartment you rented?

Thanks!
Tracy

GeoffHamer

I agree with Russ. The scenic stretch of the Rhine is fairly short: south from Rüdesheim, the land is fairly flat which is why there are fewer boat trips. Along the Rhine gorge, there are railways along both sides of the river and fairly frequent boat services. Wherever you base yourself, it's easy to travel up and down the river. Because the river has a strong current, boats downstream are faster, so it may be better to go upstream by train and downstream by boat. The boats are actually quite big ships with restaurants, so it is a very comfortable way to see the scenery.

yk

tcreath-

The Mosel river is not a far detour from the Rhine. I have taken a boat from Cochem to Koblenz which is also serviced by K-D. You can also consider taking the train to Trier, which has many ancient Roman Ruins.

I have also taken a ferry on the section of Rhine in Switzerland between Schaffhausen & Stein-am-Rhine. Those 2 towns have very nice oriel windows & frescos facades.

Russ

We stayed in the top-floor "Rheinblick" apartment you see here (others don't have a river view.)

http://www.loreleytal.com/st.goar/fe...tz/english.htm

Owner is very friendly, helpful, speaks good English, will walk you to the apartment from the station. Keeps bikes and a supply of beverages in the cellar at cheap prices for guests.

There is some wonderfully scenic hiking along the Rhine cliffs behind St. Goar and south past the Loreley toward Oberwesel; trail starts just behind the St. Goar train station (steep ascent, mostly level thereafter)

The Mosel is a great place to explore if you have a little time. Cochem, Trier, Traben-Trarbach, and Bullay are easily reached by train; other small towns like Bernkastel require an additional bus connection. Here's a page on the region:

http://www.mosel-reisefuehrer.de/mos...ightsengl.html

jayne1973

bookmarking

Aramis

the best way to see the Rhein is to pass it quickly on your way to the Mosel.

It's an overrated bargeway.

hypatia

The best section to me is between Bacharach and St Goar( rheinfels castle is on the hill)..I would rent a car stay in St Goar and stay at three nights (at least) ..I also would take a trip over to the Mosel and go to Burg Elz ( best preserved castle in the woods in Germany) We took the car on the west side of the river...you can take a train or boat and also rent bikes too