Or, let me ask the question differently.

How does the the are where the AC Marriott hotel is locate (very near the train station) compare to that of the Hilton City hotel (not the Hilton near the river).

The AC Marriott is right across from the train station that in some cities is not the best of areas. But very close to the train is convenient for train use.

The Hilton City seems to be located more in the city center area but a bit off to the side. A 10 minute walk both to the train station and the river.

Great. And that is exactly my point: you just randomly post here that you liked it. For whatever reason. How this is supposed to be helpful totally eludes me.

Hard to say what you are exactly picturing from your description but if your idea is roughly that you go along Kaiserstraße to the Rhine and then along it you couldn't be more wrong. Take a look at the streets they are very regular in this area hence these are 19th century extensions. The old town with its irregular streets is to the southeast. That goes even more for Mainz since the carpet bombing pretty much destroyed the 19th century extensions completely and took out the north western part of the old town roughly up to the cathedral. So the picturesque parts are around Augustinerstraße. However there are multiple reconstructed noticeable individual buildings in the bombed area among them the castle and some baroque palais. A concentration of the latter is at Schillerplatz where the Hilton Mainz City is. So the latter looks perfectly fine to me. Though there is nothing wrong with the square in front of the train station which is a large transit hub with many trams and buses.

Is the area around the train station deserted in the evening or frequented by people I may not wish to be walking thru every evening?

I haven't noticed much of this in the smaller European cities/towns. But I was reading some of the hotel reviews and did see a few comments.

Those areas like in Frankfurt by station are not dangerous IME - just bit seedy. But I stayed in a hotel in Mainz by station and saw nothing there to unarm me.

PalenQ,

Can I ask in which hotel you stayed and what did you think of it?

I'm trying to decide between two hotels; The Hilton Mainz City which is just on the edge of the old town area and a 10 minute walk to the train station and the AC Marriott that is right in front of the train station.

One is obviously closer to the train. We will be arriving from Frankfurt airport I assume by train and leaving to go to Amsterdam by train. In addition we will go on a few day trips as well as touring the Rhine Valley by train. So being close to the train has it's advantages.

However, I think the area where the Hilton City hotel may be a nicer area than where the AC Marriott is located.

Any comments that would sway me one way or the other?

The 3 hotels I mentioned in my post 35 are all OK and close to the railway station square. As there arrive tons of trains, trams and buses until midnight, this area may be y bit deserted between midnight and 6am only, but not dangerous at all.

after staying in Mainz it was a nice enough city but there are a lot nicer places IMO including Wiesbaden just across the river.

PalenQ,
I thought of that a few days ago but then I checked out some of the train rides we'd want to do.

Much better from Mainz than Wiesbaden.

I'll make sure we get across to Wiesbaden for a few hours of wandering.

Is Heidelberg too far away from those train trips? If not consider it - one of few German cities not blitzed in wars (some say because Allies planned to make it their postwar HQ which they did) - anyway a nice day trip from Mainz as are the K-D boats down the Rhine.

I posted this a couple of minutes back but it got lost.
As of now this is the plan.

Arrive in Frankfurt about 9:00AM and go to Mainz. Spend the day wandering Mainz and crossing over to Wiesbaden.

One day take a day cruise from either Mainz or Rudesheim to Boppard. Wander Boppard. Have so other places to take in after depending upon time.

Another day take the train to selected towns along the Rhine. Lubitsch suggested a few of the more prominent ones. Any suggestions which?

On two separate days take day trips to Koblenz and Heidelberg. In the event we have time later on each day I'd like some suggestions for stops on the way back to Mainz. Could be Darmstadt from Heidelberg since it's on the way. Maybe Frankfurt. Suggestions?

Including the arrival day we have 5 days there.

Comments on the plan?

" On two separate days take day trips to Koblenz and Heidelberg. In the event we have time later on each day I'd like some suggestions for stops on the way back to Mainz"
You already got these suggestions (and much more). Have a look at the posts above.

neckervd,

Yes, I know there are suggestions above. I've reviewed it several times. But different people may have a different perspective. More suggestions never hurt.

You are missing out on the marvelous Mosel Valley - prettier than the Rhine Gorge IMO - take train to Koblenz then either K-D boat about 9 am or train to Cochem, a fairy-tale wine town on the Mosel with the castle of your dreams sticking out of a vineyard-carpeted hill right in the town:

https://www.google.com/search?q=coch...w=1745&bih=853

Hit Burg Eltz by train and few-mile footpath up to one of Germany's most famous castles.

And on Rhine Marksburg Castle is popular - one of the few medieval castles on Rhine or Mosel not destroyed in war - Braubach is boat dock then a cable way or steep footpaths take you to this authentic medieval castles.

Koblenz is a nice modern city with Deutsches Eck, a famous monument to German Unity, is located right at confluence of Mosel and Rhine - cable ways go from here to a huge fortress high on a cliff on other side of Rhine where there is a military museum and lovely views.

The marvelous Mosel valley is not exactly around the corner from Mainz and rather difficult by train. Cochem is also a third class town and the building above a rather second rank historistic castle.

As for your plans, Myer ... doing Mainz and Wiesbaden on your arrival day is completely unrealistic. As for the towns along the Rhine no one will pull any magical rabbits out of their hats ... Oberwesel, Bacharach and Boppard are the places to go and that's not too much for two days. And yes you should hit Marksburg on one of these two days, too. Also thinking that you will add anything to Heidelberg is also rather optimistic if you walk once the whole Hauptstraße up then do the castle and the Philosophenweg.

As the expression goes "you can't dance at every wedding". We only have a few days so decisions have to be made.

Lubitsch, Thank you for your excellent advice throughout this thread. My intention isn't to add extra stops to day trips. I just like to have places ready in the event we have the time. We definitely will not rush a first place to include a second.

About Marksburg. I'm having a bit of a problem with it. It doesn't appear to have a train stop. Will it fit on the same day we go to Koblenz? Braubach has a train station and looks like a 15 minute walk. What's special about Marksburg?

About going to Wiesbaden the same day we arrive in Mainz. This is only a possibility. We're staying in Mainz so we'll have to decide which we should tackle first. One we will be based in so we'll probably have parts of days there. On the other hand we'll probably wander around since our hotel room probably won't be ready. Depending upon which when (what time) we take the day cruise, we could spend a few hours wandering Mainz before. Or Wiesbaden after a day trip. I'm sure the proximity of Wiesbaden to Mainz will allow us to fit a few hours in there.

I still have to research things a bit more to get a feel for Mainz and Wiesbaden as well as all the other places.

Thanks.

Having options is always good idea; however, you may be underestimating the time it takes to do things, especially public transit. Keep your "must-sees" or priorities on top of each day's agenda and expect to have glitches and things to take awhile.

Marksburg is only castle on Rhine not destroyed; it was the very first actual castle I'd ever been in, back in 1988 so it holds a special spot in my memory.

texasbookworm,

We have been on many trips so I understand what you are saying. Yes, very often it takes a lot longer to get to places than you had expected. Or you want to spend more time in a place than you had expected. We also know that glitches are part of travel.

But we never want to stand around wondering what we'll do next because we ended up with too much time available.

So, I usually have some optional things at the bottom of the list. Thanks for reminding me.

For Mainz and Koblenz pick up these here and . There's also an OOP book for the valley which you can get cheaply.

I'm sure you know very well to plan and I also tend to overload my itinerary slightly in order to have something to fall back on if something turns out less rewarding. It's just packing two large towns which struck me as overkill. For Koblenz you have either the small towns in the valley on your way back to Mainz or you go to Marksburg at Braubach (you'll want to cross the river once wirth the cable car anyway). From Heidelberg Schwetzingen's palace garden is always the best option and on your way back from Speyer there is Worms and the mentioned church at Oppenheim.

Marksburg is the only undestroyed castle on a hill in the upper middle Rhine valley to be precise ... but it is usually the go-to castle for a reasonably medieval castle experience.

Lubitsch,
Thanks for more good info.

I have to review a few things because Marksburg gets us to the other side of the river and that causes a problem.

I've got a few things to take care of so I'll get back with a few more questions this evening.

Thanks.