Help with logistics of 2 days on the Rhine
Sep 18th, 2014, 08:01 PM
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Help with logistics of 2 days on the Rhine
My family of 5 will fly into Frankfurt arriving in the morning and want to head straight to the Rhine region and spend 2 nights in a town somewhere in the koblenz/Bacharach/st. Goar area. We want to tour the marksburg and rheinfels castles, see a bit of st. Goar and bacharach too. I've read a lot online and in books about the area but I am confused about how to go about seeing this area, get from place to place, and how to get back to a hotel each night. I think a river cruise for part of it sounds good but am unsure about the logistics. Starting/ending where? What about when we want to get off the boat to tour something?
Most things I see online are for a day trip from Frankfurt or a week long cruises on the river.
Has anyone spent a couple of days in this area and can tell me what tone you stayed in and how you got around to the different castles/sites in the area? What itinerary was realistic each day? Thank you so much!
Most things I see online are for a day trip from Frankfurt or a week long cruises on the river.
Has anyone spent a couple of days in this area and can tell me what tone you stayed in and how you got around to the different castles/sites in the area? What itinerary was realistic each day? Thank you so much!
Sep 18th, 2014, 08:44 PM
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I visited Marksburg two days ago and Rheinfels yesterday.
<b>Marksburg</b>
Like many other castles/palaces, you can visit rooms only by tour. German tours are frequent, but not English tours. http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm, only at 1pm and 4pm in "summer." They had English tour two days ago, but I went with the Germany "group". But since there were only two others, the guide snuck in few explanation in English as time permitted. If with Germany group and don't understand Germany, pickup an English book loaner at the ticket counter. You put down 5EU deposit you get back when you return the book.
I took a VIA train from and to the Koblenz HBF to Braubach station (13min). There is also bus from the Koblenz HBF, but it takes longer (30min). Look at www.bahn.com for both schedule. I have been using Deutsche Bahn apps on my Android using T-Mobile simple choice plan that includes FREE data roaming. It has been valuable in looking up train schedule, schedule delays, progress of the current trip, and last minutes track changes (at large stations) in real time.
Getting up there is not easy. The unpredictable tourist train was not running. The choice was either walk up or taxi. If you look up, the castle is way above your head looking from the station. We first went to the Tourist Info office little up the street, used the restroom there, and had a taxi called to the TI. They don't use meter on this trip. It was fixed 11EU.
The footing inside Marksburg is uneven. Wear good shoes. This is the case for practically any "burg" type of castles as oppose to "schloss" type of castle. The view of the river is stunning from inside the castle. For return to Brauback station, I walked down path to the station. It was quite steep and took 30 min. The path was not well marked at several splits. I look at where the river was and always chose the path pointing to the Rhein river. I also asked people coming up is this was the right path to Braubach. I would not do this if the path is soggy.
<b>Rheinfels</b>
I took a KD cruise from Assmanshausen to St. Goar after taking an aerial gondola down from the Niederwalddenkmal monument. But St. Goar is served by any slow trains, MRB trains, going the west side of the Rhein.The scenery better on the left side on this cruise, except fro Pfalzgrafenstein castle in the river and the Loreley rock, which are on the right if going down stream. You want to go the river down stream, that is north from Mainz side to Koblenz direction as the current is very fast and up stream cruise is very slow.
From St. Goar train/dock, either take a tourist train, every 30min or walk up. It is not as hight as the Marksburg. You need a strategy to explore Rheinfels as the path criss crosses and go up and down. Bring a small flashlight (you can buy one there) even if you don't plan to exlore the dark tunnels. It is dark at several places.
<b>Marksburg</b>
Like many other castles/palaces, you can visit rooms only by tour. German tours are frequent, but not English tours. http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm, only at 1pm and 4pm in "summer." They had English tour two days ago, but I went with the Germany "group". But since there were only two others, the guide snuck in few explanation in English as time permitted. If with Germany group and don't understand Germany, pickup an English book loaner at the ticket counter. You put down 5EU deposit you get back when you return the book.
I took a VIA train from and to the Koblenz HBF to Braubach station (13min). There is also bus from the Koblenz HBF, but it takes longer (30min). Look at www.bahn.com for both schedule. I have been using Deutsche Bahn apps on my Android using T-Mobile simple choice plan that includes FREE data roaming. It has been valuable in looking up train schedule, schedule delays, progress of the current trip, and last minutes track changes (at large stations) in real time.
Getting up there is not easy. The unpredictable tourist train was not running. The choice was either walk up or taxi. If you look up, the castle is way above your head looking from the station. We first went to the Tourist Info office little up the street, used the restroom there, and had a taxi called to the TI. They don't use meter on this trip. It was fixed 11EU.
The footing inside Marksburg is uneven. Wear good shoes. This is the case for practically any "burg" type of castles as oppose to "schloss" type of castle. The view of the river is stunning from inside the castle. For return to Brauback station, I walked down path to the station. It was quite steep and took 30 min. The path was not well marked at several splits. I look at where the river was and always chose the path pointing to the Rhein river. I also asked people coming up is this was the right path to Braubach. I would not do this if the path is soggy.
<b>Rheinfels</b>
I took a KD cruise from Assmanshausen to St. Goar after taking an aerial gondola down from the Niederwalddenkmal monument. But St. Goar is served by any slow trains, MRB trains, going the west side of the Rhein.The scenery better on the left side on this cruise, except fro Pfalzgrafenstein castle in the river and the Loreley rock, which are on the right if going down stream. You want to go the river down stream, that is north from Mainz side to Koblenz direction as the current is very fast and up stream cruise is very slow.
From St. Goar train/dock, either take a tourist train, every 30min or walk up. It is not as hight as the Marksburg. You need a strategy to explore Rheinfels as the path criss crosses and go up and down. Bring a small flashlight (you can buy one there) even if you don't plan to exlore the dark tunnels. It is dark at several places.
Sep 19th, 2014, 07:08 AM
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Well, there's a train along the Rhine. You can take it upstream and a boat downstream or vice versa. Will you travel from Frankfurt airport by train or car?
We stayed near Oberwesel at the Burghotel auf Schoenberg, a castle. It was a real thrill, to be in a castle above the Rhine. But we had a car and used it for part of our time in the Rhine. As I remember the train along the Rhine had dirty windows and you couldn't see much from it.
We spent more time on the Mosel River, which we especially enjoyed. Small scale, lined with vineyards, the Mosel is more atmospheric than the Rhine. And Burg Eltz is one of the best castles I've visited. It has been continuously occupied and has furniture from different eras. As opposed to being a pile of stones.
We stayed near Oberwesel at the Burghotel auf Schoenberg, a castle. It was a real thrill, to be in a castle above the Rhine. But we had a car and used it for part of our time in the Rhine. As I remember the train along the Rhine had dirty windows and you couldn't see much from it.
We spent more time on the Mosel River, which we especially enjoyed. Small scale, lined with vineyards, the Mosel is more atmospheric than the Rhine. And Burg Eltz is one of the best castles I've visited. It has been continuously occupied and has furniture from different eras. As opposed to being a pile of stones.
Sep 19th, 2014, 08:00 AM
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Boats between Mainz and Koblenz run until Oct 26th, some of them daily, others only on certain days. Have a look at the timetable: https://www.k-d.com/en/kd-scheduled-...ine-timetable/
Slow trains along the Rhine river (with stops at almost any village) are very frequent (on both sides).
http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/trains/...regional_LZ001
http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/reg...z_ticket.shtml
http://www.vrminfo.de/en/route-maps/network-map/?style=
Mainz may be a good base for the visit of the whole area:
http://www.mainz.de/WGAPublisher/onl...5v7l9v.en.html
http://www.touristik-mainz.de/sehens...iten.html?&L=1
Slow trains along the Rhine river (with stops at almost any village) are very frequent (on both sides).
http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/trains/...regional_LZ001
http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/reg...z_ticket.shtml
http://www.vrminfo.de/en/route-maps/network-map/?style=
Mainz may be a good base for the visit of the whole area:
http://www.mainz.de/WGAPublisher/onl...5v7l9v.en.html
http://www.touristik-mainz.de/sehens...iten.html?&L=1
