Why did you pick Wiesbaden?

I think it's a fine base, transportation in Germany is easy.

It's an excellent base - I know the Hotel Oranien well, I used to live near it. It is very convenient to the pedestrian shopping zone, really only 5 mins by foot. The only thing I would say is that it is a little way off from the train station and if you are considering nipping off to these destinations by train there are convenient buses that run down Schwalbacherstrasse (2 mins by foot from the hotel). There are many, many buses in that direction, and they come every 6 mins or so, and the ride is no more than 5 - 10 minutes. If you want to drive I think the hotel has some modest parking arrangements.

Taking a hotel near to the train station would eliminate some of these difficulties, but you would be away from the main shopping (and eating) area. There is now a new shopping centre at the train station, which might fulfil some of your needs. But as far as being close to all these other destinations - no problem, it's very easy to get to any of those places, especially Mainz. Also very close to the Rheingau, which is where locals spend weekends out - wine-growing villages with a relaxed atmosphere. Eltville and Ruedesheim would be the major townships. Hotel Oranien is very pretty, you chose well!

Lavandula

"We would like to take a boat on the Rhine, visit Heidelburg, Speyer, another day take the train to the cute towns along the Rhine, maybe visit Worms and Frankfurt."

Heidelberg, Worms, Frankfurt and Speyer are all train, not boat trips, from Wiesbaden. You can do a boat trip from W'baden north to along the Middle Rhine to stop in the "cute towns" there. But because the river isn't especially scenic between Wiesbaden and Rüdesheim, you may wish to take the train to Rüdesheim, then begin the cruise there; this segment is about 30 minutes by train, about 1 hr. 10 min. by boat.

Russ, thanks. I am planning on taking the train except the one ride on the Rhine and will probably train to Rudesheim to pick up boat

I picked Wiesbaden as it seemed a good place to get trains from and is not as big as Frankfurt

Lavandula, excellent info on the hotel. We would rather be close to shops/dining than the train station. I'm glad to hear about the busses running to and from the train

The closest entry point to the pedestrian zone from the hotel would be a little street called Michelsberg. Cross over the Schwalbacherstrasse, walk down Michelsberg and cross over the Kirchgasse / Langgasse (main shopping street, with Karstadt and Galleria Kaufhof) and pretty soon you will arrive at the market square - the altes Rathaus is from 1612. There are many dining options in and around the market square, and some trendy cafes such as Havanna and Lumen. The Weinkeller is under the Altes Rathaus (light meals), heavier fare at the Ratskeller and at the Uhrturm. There are also some dining options in Langgasse and Grabenstrasse (and if I remember correctly, also the Bäckerbrunnen, which is a hot, hot spring bubbling out of the earth at 60 degrees Celsius). There is a Saturday market in the market square. Pretty city, hope you like it.

Lavandula

Wiesbaden is centrally located and a lovely city. Before you make your decision, check bahn.de for train schedules.

Many of the trains out of Wiesbaden go through Mainz, where connections are better.

Mainz is just across the river, but a completely different city. You may find it more convenient for your day trips.

I think I would consider taking the train to Munich, rather than fly. It only takes about 3 hours, and you get to see some lovely countryside. When you add in the time and expense getting to the airport, checking in, waiting for the flight and after you get to Munich, add in the time it takes to get from their airport to the city, you have spent way more time than the train would take. Those flight tickets will cost a lot more too.

Buy your train tickets 3 months ahead of time and they will only cost about 29 €.

While in Wiesbaden, you might be interested in visiting Idstein, which is near-by in the Taunus mountains. Also Eppstein.

Thanks for the suggestion of Mainz. There doesn't seem to be any quaint hotels there, such as the Oranien in Wiesbaden.

I considered flying to Munich because I thought the train took 6 hours. I will definitely recheck the train

Would we be able to get to Idstein and Eppstein by public transport?

Yes - this is the website for regional transport in the Rhein-Main area:

http://www.rmv.de/en/

You can get to Idstein by train with one change, or by direct bus from Wiesbaden. You get to Eppstein by a combination of two regional trains (R-Bahn) or train plus S-Bahn (kind of a light rail system).

Lavandula

Lavandula: thanks so much for the train website. I've just started looking at the days out site. I have a lot of researching to do. So many interesting places