BTW You need to check the train times yourself for the dates in question since I just picked a random date to give you a rough idea about how the day might proceed.

Obviously you can rent a car if you want to but you don't need to.


Also - I could see a stopover in Aachen on the way back to A'dam on Sunday. You will need to schedule a specific stopover period if you are booking a saver fare (Sparpreis Ticket) back to A'dam. 3-4 hours might work.

Day 1 - Thursday: If you've already booked A'dam-Cologne for Thursday, that's a shame if indeed you are going to do the cruise that day. You'll need additional tickets to reach Bingen in that case. (After the cruise to St. Goar, just buy a local ticket to Koblenz for a few Euros.)

Fuss- are you saying and what I understand to be true also that A'dam-Cologne and A'dam-Bingen would be about the same price on a discounted basis -guess I could look up but that's too much work as you no doubt know!

Cheers!

There's no way to know for sure without exact dates and times, Palenq, but that's my sense of it.

I just checked a random date and looked at two different departures from A'dam and found that it costs exactly €30 extra for two to travel to Bingen rather than Cologne.

Separate tickets for Cologne - Bingen came up at €40 - €60.

Well I guess I'd want to stop off for a few hours in Cologne to see the humungous Gothic cathedral, plopped smack dab next to the main train station (sacrilege!), one of the world's largest, so having separate tickets necessary in that case.

Cologne has other things of interest but for the average tourist little to make them linger as much more interesting things await in the Rhine/Mosel already discussed.

Thanks for responding!

Separate tickets for Cologne - Bingen came up at €40 - €60.>

Maybe there is some regional Lander discount?

A month out Cologne-Bingen seems cheapest booked in advance about 30 euros each.

Same date Amsterdam-Bingen was available for 39 euros!

Thank you all so much! I am terrifically excited by this miniadventure in the middle of my vacation. I'm all good with stopping in Cologne to explore for a bit--originally Cologne was proposed as the place to go for the weekend. My son reports, "the Dutch seem to like it" because so many of his co-workers recommended it but as I researched I realized what may seem ho-hum to them is exciting to me; I needed more than Cologne!

Cologne for the average tourist should be a few-hour stop as yes there are so many more exciting spots nearby than a modern huge city -but I can see why Dutch like it -night life, shopping, etc. and close to home.

I've literally spent collective weeks in Cologne in past on business and it is in many ways a fascinating city with ethnic neighborhoods, great nightlife, etc. but for the casual tourist looking for more wow -it lies elsewhere - like in your case Rhine/Mosel/Aachen.

I have to admit that Cologne is not "there" for me either, they can't even pour a beer properly

Fussgaenger: you suggested departing the Rhine cruise in St. Goar at 17:55 for dinner and then "Continue north to Bingen at your leisure, fetch bags, check into a hotel near the station." (I believe you meant continue north to Koblenz, not Bingen) Looking at KD timetable http://www.kdrhine.com/rhineschedule.htm it looks as though there is no later cruise to get back aboard. Or am I reading it incorrectly?

If that's the case perhaps we'd stay aboard and cruise just to Boppard or Braubach and make that our base for two nights. Thoughts from all please!

"Continue north to Bingen at your leisure, fetch bags, check into a hotel near the station."

You are right! Sorry for that messed-up utterance. Ending the cruise in St. Goar was the plan. Should have said, "Continue north by train to Koblenz..."

It's only 27 minutes to Koblenz by train. There is no good reason to cruise all the way to Koblenz for an additional 2.3 hours - the scenery north of St. Goar is not quite as delightful and somewhat repetitive. And that additional cruising would cost each of you an additional €20 or so. Train fare is €8 each - buy ticket at St. Goar station on the platform from a ticket machine.

I'd suggest cruising all the way to Koblenz if you had the whole day but if in a hurry yes the best part is Rudesheim/Bingen to St Goar area but for others make a leisurely day of it - get off say at Braubach to visit Marksburg Castle - the only castle on this stretch of Rhine that is a real intact medieval castle - others are either newer or Ersatz - rebuilt or in ruins.

Then take boat to Koblenz as the Rhine Ufer (Rhineside esplanade) is delightful - many beer stubes, etc. along the way from boat dock to the Uber famous in Germany Deutsches-Eck Monument at the confluence of Rhine and Mosel rivers - a monument to German Unity that Germans flock to - really sweet scene where the two rivers join- across the Rhine is the clifftop Ehrenbreitsen fortress to which you can take aerial cable car up to the top or pedestrian boats to the bottom entrance and walk up via tunnels hewn out of the cliffs - stupendous views up top!

https://www.google.com/search?q=kobl...w=1745&bih=864

Then walk thru Koblenz' nice Altstadt full of outdoor cafes and restaurants and its thriving pedestrian shopping area to Koblenz' train station to return to where you may be staying on the Rhine or Mosel.

Koblenz is a large city but the riverfront is especially nice and overall not old-world dreamy city but a neat modern one.

So if you have a full day make a nice full day out of the Rhine cruise.

I booked us for two nights in Boppard and was planning on Saturday night in Cochem--turns out EVERYONE wants to be in Cochem on Saturday night! We were planning on doing a bike ride Cochem to Traben-Trarbach either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning and would like to be in the area...any thoughts?

Take the train to Cochem via Koblenz and rent bikes - takes about an hour Boppard-Cochem with frequent departures.