Rhine River Germany city suggestions

Old Aug 5th, 2014, 07:05 AM
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Rhine River Germany city suggestions

My husband and I want to explore the Rhine and Moselle River areas 9/22-9/25. I would like suggestions on a city in which to stay to use as a base to take day trips (by boat, Eurail pass or guided tour). Suggestions as to city and tours?
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 08:07 AM
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Cochem to me far outshines any town on The Rhine and is just a short train ride away from the Rhine Gorge (between Rudesheim/Bingen and Koblenz) - it is your dreamy picture-postcard base for the whole area.

To me and many the Mosel is muchmore gorgeous than the Rhine, nice as that is - the Mosel twists and turns incessantly in a deep gorge with southward facing slopes inevitably carpeted with vineyards yielding the vaunted Mosel white wines.

Burg Eltz, one of Germany's most famous castles is a short train ride (or bike ride) from Cochem to Moselkern then a two-mile walk to the castle thru a forest or by mini-bus from the train station.

For lots on trains and boats in this area (don't miss the K-D cruise thru the Rhine Gorge- Rudesheim to Koblenz) check these IMO fine sites: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

To me and many Cochem is a lot more quiet as well as cuter all in all than any Rhine Gorge town because the Rhine has two busy rail lines on each side of the narrow gorge and two main roads on each side - and noisy freight boats as well - Cochem is much more tranquil.

https://www.google.com/search?q=coch...w=1455&bih=977

Eurailpasses are 100% valid on many K-D boats on the Rhine and one on the Mosel (Koblenz-Cochem v.v.) - check www.k-d.com for boat schedules and info - no reservations needed just show your pass when boarding.
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 09:15 AM
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Thank you so much. Very helpful!!
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 11:20 AM
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If you'd like to experience one of the Rhine wine festivals, you might shift your dates so as to be there on 9/19-20 (Oberwesel wine fest, St. Goar fest on 9/20 with Rhine-in-flames firework show) or 9/26-29 (Boppard wine fest.)

The 3 towns named above along with Bacharach are the most interesting on the Rhine and the most commonly visited, whether you make the fest or not. The Rhine scenery, with 40 castles in 40 miles of vine-clad river valley, tends to be more dramatic than the Mosel.

Oberwesel: http://s1.germany.travel/media/conte...T_1024x768.jpg

View near Bingen: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ngen_Rhein.jpg

For "...suggestions on a city in which to stay to use as a base to take day trips (by boat...)" I vote for St. Goar or Boppard if you want to stay on the Rhine. The best cruise segment on the Rhine is between Bingen and St. Goar or Boppard (a bit further north) so the idea is to take a train to Bingen to start the cruise - then cruise north to whichever town you book in.

Of the two towns, Boppard is better for you if you plan to visit the Mosel since day trips by train from there to Cochem and Burg Eltz are easily doable - and since you are only a very short train ride from St. Goar, Oberwesel, Bacharach and Bingen. St. Goar is fine for the Rhine towns too, but it puts you a little further away from Cochem than Boppard does. Boppard has some lovely old buildings, a chair lift ride to a nearby lookout, lots of wineries, and a nice river promenade and old town square.

Boppard: http://www.holidaycheck.com/data/url...1157457092.jpg

View from chair lift above Boppard: http://pic.pimg.tw/samlucky5711/1379...g?v=1379089585

The activity on the Rhine is definitely greater than on the Mosel. The Mosel has barge shipping but not as much as the Rhine. Noise complaints most often seem to come from those who room in Bacharach, where the tracks cut through the heart of town:

http://www.rhein-zeitung.de/cms_medi..._bacharach.jpg

St. Goar and Boppard accommodations in town are generally much better protected from train noise than Bacharach.

If you think you'll be visiting Trier: I would suggest using TWO base towns - Cochem on the Mosel, and St. Goar or Boppard on the Rhine. Trier expands the travel zone much more widely and makes trips from any single travel base pretty long. The only strategic single base own in this case would be Koblenz, the area train hub - but Koblenz is a somewhat MEH modern city, and the area near Koblenz station is so uninspiring, I just can't recommend it for this purpose.
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 11:21 AM
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Thank you!

I would start the Rhine boats in Rudesheim since many of the services begin there and Rudesheim is tour bus central for Germany (after Rothenburg I think) and many groups swarm on there, nabbing the best seats IME - those right up front on the outer deck so you can see both sides of the river easily.

By the times boats get to Bingen these seats are often full.

And ride the boats to Koblenz, a nice larger town - walk thru the pedestrian shopping street to the train station for trains back to Cochem. (From cochem take a train to Koblenz and change there for a train to Rudesheim.

You may want to spend the whole day on the Rhine - getting on and off at places like Marksburg Castle, the only castle on this stretch of Rhine not ruined in war - some kind of lift takes you up the hill to it from the boat dock.

http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm

And or get off at one of the nice Rhine side towns like St Goar or St Goarhausen or Boppard or Bacharach, etc and have lunch and a walk about.
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 11:51 AM
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About the cruise and the Rhine sightseeing:

If you start from Cochem, it's nearly 2 hours by train to Rüdesheim, and only a little less time to Bingen (the 2 towns lie opposite each other across the river.) Then you have total boat time from R'heim to Koblenz of 4 hours. Then you have roughly 35-50 minutes of train time back to Cochem depending on the train. So with around 6.5 hours of transport alone, you are left with few hours in your day to see the villages and the castles. Both Marksburg and Rheinfels castles are very good. All the west bank villages are attractive, fun places. Hopping off the boat and getting back on again to see the next town is generally impractical if you take a look at the boat schedule. Marksburg does not have a lift of any kind - you'll need to board a shuttle from Braubach's center or hike up (20-25 minutes, steep.)

The upshot is that one day trip from Cochem probably isn't going to cut it, and you'll need to make a second (long) day trip there to see what you missed the first day. AS a base town, Boppard, more central to the area you will probably cover, makes the trips that much easier.
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 12:34 PM
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cochem is about 40 minutes from Koblenz by train - if you stay in two bases (which has its merits as Russ points out) though you will spend much more time than that packing up and re-locating - carrying bags on trains rather than if you took you first train to just one base - something I loathe is loading up and unpacking, takes a lot of time.

If I had to chose between one and two bases I'd chose one and I'd chose Cochem simply because it is so so dreamy and quiet a place and you can easily spend a leisurely day on the Rhine from it as a base IME - I simply am not awed by the Rhine like Russ is - after taking boats so many times thru the Rhine Gorge average tourists often quickly get bored (why I cannot fathom but IME of taking over 1,000 people of trips on the Rhine and Mosel most liked the Rhine but were not mesmerized by it like they were Cochem.

IMO there are more exciting things to do from a Cochem base - including the Rhine for a day but Trier - the oldest city in Germany they say with its stellar collection of the finest Roman relics north of the Alps - the Porta Negra an aancient Roman city gate - a Roman theatre and a roman temple, converted by Charlemagne (I think) into a Christian basilica.

And the stretch of Mosel between Cochem and Beilstein can be done by boat and is awesomely scenic - if you want to rent bikes you can bike along bike paths that hug the Mosel - the Rhine has paths too but generally IME along main roads or rail lines.

IMO from a Cochem base - 1 day on the Rhine - enough for most of my groups - and a day in Cochem itself - with its picturesq

But it is a subjective take - Rhine towns are hemmed in by the Rhine Gorge cliffs
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 12:39 PM
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IMO from a Cochem base - 1 day on the Rhine - enough for most of my groups - and a day in Cochem itself - with its picturesq castle of its own and you can do a lovely trek up to a ruined castle high above town and the Mosel or do a wine tour in the town's local winery.

then a day in Trier

then a day between Cochem and Beilstein.

That's what I would recommend - one base - easier than two always in packing, unpacking and perhaps cheaper.

But yes it is a subjective take and Russ sincerely things the Rhine Gorge is as awesome as the Mosel - I do not - the Rhine Gorge is neat but for most one day is enough but Cochem is so awesomely pictuesque.

Nuff said on the matter and Russ can get the rebuttal - the more opinions based on actually being there so many times like Russ and I have are the best - more opinions to let the person decide.

Chose either one you can't go wrong.
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 12:44 PM
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I loved my two weeks in Bacharach in the fall (caught their Weinfest too). My two weeks in St. Goar seemed much more boring in the evening due to fewer choices to dine.
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 06:58 PM
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I happen to like Cochem better than any single Rhine town as well. But if you want a base town for outings, you need to weigh heavily the locations of the OTHER towns you want to travel to - travel distances and times are not subjective issues. Maybe a look at this map will clarify the usefulness of Boppard as a base town:

http://rhein-moselland-reisen.de/bil...hein-Mosel.jpg

(Note - rail lines follow the rivers between Bingen and Cochem.)
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 07:56 PM
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WOW!! So much useful info, and even links to check out! Many thanks to all of you. This is the last unplanned leg of a month-long first trip to Europe, and I had gotten burned out, frankly, on planning. Our original itinerary has changed several times, due to travel time between cities and the feeling that we were simply trying to see too much on this trip. We picked this area because we have from 9/21 to 9/26 to get to Amsterdam. Rather than going into Austria and further east into Germany, as originally planned, we decided to spend less time traveling and more time exploring one area on our way to The Netherlands. Now I'm very excited about spending a few days in this beautiful region!
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Old Aug 6th, 2014, 05:38 AM
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Boppard is a nice town and well situated as Russ says. I've been there many times - some folks abort their K-D boat trip here as the best of the Rhine Gorge is winding down once here and get on the train to go to Koblenz or other Rhine towns.

There are train stations inevitably close to several K-D boat docks so it is easy to abort the boat ride if, like many IME average tourists get bored, whenever you want.

Boats do have cafes/restaurants on board and you can bring on anything you want to eat or drink - on a nice day picnicking as the Rhine slides by can be so so sweet.
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Old Aug 7th, 2014, 11:23 AM
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though no one eever mentions going to Koblenz to me that city, at the confluence of the 'Mother' Mosel and 'Father' Rhine (as Germans are want to call these very different rivers - the languid damned up at several places Mosel and the rough fast-flowing Rhine) - Koblenz is a rather nice city to spend a few hours in at the end of the K-d cruises which mainly terminate here.

Koblenz has the Uber famous in Germany Deutsches Eck monument to German Unity - a huge equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm, one of the first unifiers, along with Bismark, of modern Germany - melding them from a group of autonomous city-states into a federal Germany that was becoming a world power - but the huge equestrian statue was blitzed to bits by American GIs firing right from the opposite side of the Mosel (where today's municipal Campground is) - during the waning days of WW2 - this told to me by the camp manager - that the GI was bored and just having fun by blowing the monument to wmithereens.

Deutsches Eck shines again today though as there is a another equestrian statue to Germany Unity - modern German Unity - has been placed on it and it is a hugely popular pilgrimage place for Germans.

The monument is situated on a spit of land sticking right out into where the Mosel and Rhine meet - a really nice setting -

looming high across the Rhine is the cliff top Ehrenbreitsen Fortress (sp?) which you can take a pedestrian ferry over to its base and then walk thru tunnels hollowed out of rocks to get to the top (or some kind of life I think- there is even a chairlift from Koblenz that crosses the Rhine to the fort - up top is a military museum (and a youth hostel) and sweeping views for miles around.

Koblenz also have a vest-pocket Aldstadt - Old Town Center overflowing with cafes, restaurants, beer halls, etc and one of Germany's nicest pedestrian shopping streets - wind thru it on the way to the Koblenz train station from the boat docks (about 2 kms). The Rhine Ufer or esplanade along the Rhine by the K-D boat docks is always full of strollers, beer and brat stands, etc.

The towns along the Rhine that you could get off the boat at are all nice but pretty much like peas in pods - lovely peas in lovely pods but for something different check out lovely Koblenz.
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Old Aug 7th, 2014, 12:19 PM
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I need to change train at Koblenz, I am thinking of leaving luggage at Koblenz HBF and making a trip to the Marksburg Castle.

When I looked up the route at www.bahn.com for Koblenz-Braubach, it shows either VIAS GmbH train or "Bus." Are they different entities from DB where DB train passes cannot be used?
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Old Aug 7th, 2014, 08:53 PM
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greg: No. There are many privately-operated trains in Germany. The MRB trains on the opposite side of the river are private as well. But you can use any of the VIA or MRB trains you like as both these companies carry out DB railpass agreements (and also conform to local transit authority price structures.)

A German railpass is good on some buses but I am not sure about that one. The train is fastest anyway.

You may also wish to know that the Braubach TI office will hold bags for visitors. Their hours are on the right at this page:
http://braubach.welterbe-mittelrhein...stinformation/
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Old Aug 8th, 2014, 09:44 AM
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A German railpass is good on some buses but I am not sure about that one.>

IME passes are valid mainly on buses that have been substituted for former rail lines - like from Wittlich to Bernkastel (actually Kues) - substituting for former rail service. They once were valid on the Romantic and Castle Road buses but now get a discount if any.

Russ has shown an uncanny knowledge of everything little thing on The Rhine = with such esoteric info as the Tourist Office in Braubach storing bags, etc - an invaluable resource for anyone doing the Rhine.
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