martina

Travelling to Germany in Sept. for 6 nights. Flying in to Frankfurt and departing from Dusseldorf.
Will travel by train or bus or boat in between. Any ideas for best stop offs.

capxxx

How about this:

Arrive in Frankfurt airport, take the train to Mainz or Wiesbaden. Spend 2 nights, including a Rhine river cruise between Wiesbaden and Koblenz, and a day in Mainz center.

Then train to Heidelberg, 2 nights. See the cathedral.

On the last day, rent a car and take a scenic drive in the countryside that includes lunch and a day in Trier (visit the Roman Ruins).

End up in Koln (Cologne), 2 nights. Enjoy the Dom and city center, have a Kolsch.

Cologne is only about a half-hour from Dussledorf, an easy drive on your last day.

PalenQ

I've copied something from another current thread on this topic - that said your train and boat travels are in a compact area and i do not think a German Railpass would be a great deal for your plans - investigate the Lander or Regional passes that cover all transport (not the boat i think but not sure) in a region and are dirt cheap - you cannot travel on express trains however.

Author: PalenQ
Date: 06/20/2008, 11:53 am

I can tell you about the trains - fantastic service in those areas and easy to use. With that amount of travel you want to at least consider one of the following railpasses - the German Pass for Germany only; France-Germany railpass for both countries

eurail select pass - for any 3, 4 or 5 countries - say France, Benenlux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg as one country for this purpose and Germany - can add on Austria or Switzerland or both.

Folks under 26 can get seriously discounted Youth Passes and adults traveling together discounted Twin or Saverpass for putting two names on one pass. Anyway i always refer folks to two great sources that have tons of information on trains in these countries apart from the usual pass prices and 'add to cart button' - www.budgeteuropetravel.com where you can download their free 2008 European Planning & Rail Guide which is a great primer for learning about European trains - rail maps, itineraries like you are looking for, etc. and www.ricksteves.com which also has a lot of good content not typical of usual sites that merely sell passes.

cmeyer54

Given that you'll be there during Oktoberfest season, best to reserve hotels now!

PalenQ

http://www.galttech.com/research/tra...-2007-2008.php

martina

Thanks everyone, so far. We will be back home before Oktoberfest begins so that shouldn't be a problem. I like the sound of your suggestions capxxx. Will have to do a bit of research on them. Really don't want to have to drive over there though, so will look at trains instead.
Thanks again
Any other ideas anyone or suggestions for nice hotels, preferably located near train/bus stations, but not in seedy areas.

gradyghost

Hello Martina:

When you arrive in Frankfurt, you could take a cab for a 40 minute trip to the Hotel Krone in Assmannshausen. This small luxury hotel is directly on the Rhine with great views from the terraces of rooms in the main building -- fabulous restaurant. From there you can take a river cruise toward Koblenz and continue your travels as you wish. I typically use the Krone to decompress before flying home, but it certainly would serve well after a long overnight flight. Just make sure your room will be ready in the morning. Good luck. Gradyghost

Russ

Good advice to skip Frankfurt and hop a train from FRA to one of the Middle Rhine towns. St. Goar is perhaps the best base if traveling by train - you can ferry across from there to St. Goarshausen which has its own train station and allows you to travel the east bank easily. St. Goar is also blessed with the most scenic setting on the Rhine - 3 castles visible from town.

On 9/13 in Oberwesel and on 9/20 in St. Goar you can catch one of the more spectacular fireworks festivals on the planet - the "Rhine in Flames" show. These very popular events include "burning" castles, live music, and lots of riverside food and wine - lots of fun. I would definitely try to book near one of these events if they fall within your period of travel.

www.rhein-in-flammen.com/index.php?id=746

PalenQ

I agree that taking a train from the airport to a Rhine Gorge cutesy town - and i think you cannot go wrong with any of them - is something more folks should consider than going into Frankfurt, one of Europe's least dreamiest cities IMO

PalenQ

Two different train stations at Frankfurt Airport

Fernbahnhof - long-distance train station for inter-city and ICE trains that stop only at main cities

Regionalbahnhof (name? has S-Bahns into Frankfurt's main station and also regional trains to places like Mainz and Rhine towns on the western bank - change at Mainz i believe to take the sideline that stops at places like Rudesheim on the east side of the Rhine Gorge.

martina

Thanks Guys
Think we will go directly from Frankfurt airport by train to one of the towns on the Rhine, maybe St. Goar and think we will skip Heidelberg this time. Thinking of spending 3/4 nights there and take day trips each day and then go by train to Koln (Cologne) for the last 2/3 nights. We have to be at Dusseldorf airport at 8.50am on Saturday (13th) morning, so it will either be getting an early train from Koln or spending the last night in Dusseldorf. Any recommendations? Had a look at a website showing trains etc. but most of it was in German. Any other hotel recommendations either for the St. Goar/Oberwesel/Assmannshausen/Goarshausen or in Koln?

gradyghost

Hello Martina:

Regarding your outbound trip, I'm sure you know that there is train service to Dusseldorf airport, I think mainly through Dusseldorf Hbf. Thus an early train from Koln should be doable. Once at the airport, there is an overhead tram to the terminals. Gradyghost

martina

Thanks Gradyghost
Yes, I think we may do that. I looked up a hotel called Ibis in Cologne, but it was fully booked. The location sounded great as it was right at the train station and the Dom. I'll keep looking. Thanks. Martina

gradyghost

Hello Martina:

This past October, we starting our tour of northern Germany in Koln. We stayed at the Meridian Dom Hotel which is just across the plaza from the Dom cathedral and an easy walk to Koln Hbf. The hotel is pricey but the location terrific -- an easy walk to the restaurants on the Rhine. Gradyghost

dcmom8

The Auf Schonburg in Oberwesal is an unforgettable castle accomodation. We just returned and felt it was a once in a lifetime experience for our family. It is a little pricey (we had a large room overlooking the rhine, with beds for 4 @ 220E including breakfast), but more than worth it if you can do it. They may already be booked- so don't waste time...

Cowboy1968

Düsseldorf airport has TWO train stations. You can check train connections on bahn.de
You don't need the German letters Ü and Ö to run a query.. use "Cologne" as start, and "Dusseldorf airport" as destination.. works that way, too.

One station at Düsseldorf airport is right underneath the terminal buildings but for suburban trains only, which require a change at Düsseldorf main station when you travel from Cologne.

The other airport train station is on the airport's Eastern perimeter but on the main line coming from Cologne. From there you take the SkyTrain to the terminals. This would be more comfortable for you, since the SkyTrains run every 3 minutes or so, while a change at Düsseldorf main station may require a longer wait for the next suburban train for the airport.
It has been a while since I used the train/SkyTrain connection, but back then you could already check-in at the station before you boarded the SkyTrain. May depend on which airline you travel with.

You can travel from Cologne main station to that latter DUS airport station on the main line with direct regional express trains:

RegionalExpress (with final destination Emmerich)
0731 dep Cologne main station
0808 arr DUS airport (main line)

or

RegionalExpress (with final destination Hamm(Westf))
0751 dep Cologne main station
0828 arr DUS airport (main line)

Dickscar

If you haven't already made reservations that can't be changed, don't go directly to St Goar. Be sure to include it, but there are some great places south of St Goar that you will miss. Bacharach is a walled city with some wonderful old buildings, and there is a youth hostel in an old castle above the village. Also on the other side of the river is Rudesheim, with "Wine Alley" and the Niederwald Monument on the hill above with a cable car to get there. Thre is a ruin or castle at every curve. Try starting in Mainz and get a boat tour up to St Goar. Then proceed from there. Mainz in itself has a wonderful Cathedral and the Guttenburg Museum where the first bible was printed as well as the "Old City". It's worth a stop

martina

Thanks again everyone, so Dickscar would you recommend actually staying in Mainz for the 3 nights and do trips from there instead of staying in the St. Goar area and doing the trips from there. I would prefer to have the 3 nights in the same hotel rather than having to move each time, not that we will have that much luggage, but just for convenience.

Russ

"Dickscar would you recommend actually staying in Mainz for the 3 nights and do trips from there instead of staying in the St. Goar area and doing the trips from there."

Mainz is a very nice city - I used to live there - but it isn't a "cutesy town" or a village. It was almost entirely rebuilt after the war save for a few blocks around the Cathedral and is mostly pretty modern. Also, it is well-removed from the scenic part of the Rhine. If you take a boat tour from there, you'll spend almost two hours on the flat, fairly industrial-looking stretch of the river that lies between Mainz and Bingen, where the truly scenic part of the Rhine begins.

What you and most visitors want to see lies between Bingen and Koblenz. Mainz is good if you have to overnight after or before a flight from FRa, but with 3 days, I would definitely not base in Mainz. You're much better off spending 3 nights in St. Goar or Bopppard, which have the best transport connections, or in Bacharach or Oberwesel, all of which are lovely towns with scenic settings and proximity to castle tours. If you want to be in a larger city for some reason, I'd pick Koblenz, which is much closer to the best sights.

If you'd like to visit Mainz, I'd suggest stopping there on the way to one of the other towns - there are hundreds of lockers at the Mainz station where you can stow bags while you look around.

PalenQ

Rudesheim gets overlooked as one of the cuter Rhine Gorge towns and it is as cute as any - it's just that it has a reputation as being overrun with tourists - mainly because it's a stopover town for so many tour-bus groups.

Yet this riverside town whose intimate lanes are yes lined by restaurants and hotels has a lively atmosphere because of tourists milling around. It's a great people watching town and the tourists cannot obscure the sweet views of the Rhine gorge, and Bacharach on the opposite bank.