First full day ~ Rhine Cruise w/friends>

Best bet is to board a K-D boat in Rudesheim and take it downstream to Koblenz (or Boppard) - taking the train back to your start - I advise going downstream because it is much shorter time-wise and IME of taking these boats several times it seems some folks get rather bored after an hour or so even in such stunning scenery.

Be sure to get up to Cochem, just upstream from Burg Eltz - this pciture-postcard town is smack at one of the very prettiest stretches of the Mosel - keep driving up to say Beilstein - some say this is the most gorgeous stretch of the Mosel Valley - then you can, rather than re-tracing your route, drive up and over the hills to go straight back to the Rhine and Darmstadt.

PalenQ ~ Am I putting the wrong Bielstein in Google Maps? I put in Darmstadt, Cochem, Bielstein, Darmstadt, came up with 5.5 hrs of driving time. Is Bielstein east of Cologne?

Last time went on the Rhine Cruise we did go that route ~ Rudesheim to Koblenz. We got out and had lunch and a walk at Rheinfels Castle, I anticipate we'll do that again, remarkable.

Since we're kind of rushed with our friends, and my husband and I have done this before with them (but looking forward to doing it again!) the train suggestion will be kept in mind, especially if our friends want to take us somewhere else that day. Thanks!

wrenwood,
Beilstein is 6.6 miles south of Cochem, directly on the river. If you are looking at a map of the river, you will go directly east from Cochem to where the river heads south. After the river heads south it will go west again. At the intersection where the river goes west is the location of Beilstein. We stayed in Beilstein and absolutely loved it.

Hi, I think you are wanting 'Beilstein' and not 'Bielstein'.

Lavandula

Got it! Google wants me to put in "Beilstein, de, Beilstein, Germany"

Looks like a great way back to Darmstadt!

Hi, I think you are wanting 'Beilstein' and not 'Bielstein'.>>

wrenwood - if you use one, be careful with your satnav. we entered our destination "Naumburg" into our "navi" when we were leaving Potsdam, and it was only because i knew that it was supposed to be a 2 rather than a 4 hour drive that I realised there was something wrong. turned out that there are two places called "Naumburg" in Germany. Naumburg Salle, south of Berlin, which is where we were going, and another one further west, which is where we weren't planning on going, anyway.

so spelling can really matter!

annhig...that is another reason to have a paper map in addition to GPS...at least you have a ballpark idea of where you are headed and the time allotted to get there.

Michelle - i ALWAYS have a map or 6 with me.

it was invaluable when, on that same trip, the navi couldn't cope with the roadworks around the airport and was trying to take us across a field on our way to Potsdam.

ok it took us twice as long as it should have done, but we did get there in the end.

Yep, husband with maps and GPS