BabsB

I am in the initial planning stages of a trip to Germany. We will fly into Frankfurt and are thinking of taking the train to Bacharach and spend the night at Hotel Kranenturm. Has anyone stayed there? How noisy are the trains? Any other nice hotels in town that you might suggest? Then we will take the K-D cruise up to St. Goar and visit Rheinfels Castle. Any suggestions on how long should we allow for this visit? Would we have time to reboard the boat and continue to cruise up to Marksburg to visit that castle in one day? We will probably train back to Bacharach for one more night. Any suggestions or ideas? All comments appreciated.

MichelleY

Dear Babs:

I have not stayed in Bacharach, but friends of mine recommend Pension Letti, a little bit down the street from Kranenturm. I haven't used the K-D cruise, but took the train to St Goar to see Rheinfels. Give yourself at least 3 hours to see it and then take a look around town. Hope this helps.

MY

GregPCM

Babs,

We stayed at the Kranenturm in 2001. It is even better then it looks on Rick Steves. We stayed on the top floor and the trains didn't bother us at all. By the way there is no elevator. The food is great and the rooms are large.

We then took the K-D line up the river to St. Goar to Rheinfels. Rheinfels is on the top of a steep road and therefore difficult to walk, but there is a cart that will bring you to the top with ease. Rheinfels will easily consume 3 hours or more depending on how much exploring you want to do. Bring a flashlight if you want to explore the tunnels properly.

After that we took the train back to Bacharach. Everything went pretty well, but it was a full day.

Have a good trip.

Greg

BabsB

ttt, anybody else?

BabsB

I got excellent replies to my ferry questions so thought I would ttt on this and see if anyone else has hotel suggestions or warnings for Bacharach. Thanks!

111op

I can only speak about Rheinfels. Don't know enough to answer the rest.

Rick Steves self-guided tour is good and was the one I used when I was there:

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti.../rheinfels.htm

I just printed it off his website.

We ran into two other tourists using his book, and at one point, they were reciting a passage I was reading. I though that was funny.

Rheinfels also gave me a little pamphlet that was not very informative. I think I also bought a booklet.

But anyway, this doesn't take too long to see. I think Michelin gives it **, but it's all right.

Many people have praised Marksburg -- I didn't go.

I think the other castle that comes up is Burg Eltz? I didn't go either.

St. Goar is not very big, and there's a trolley train that goes between Rheinfels and somewhere near the ferry stop. I think we walked the whole (it might have been a bit of an uphill walk). There're shops in the center of town that you'll pass by when you walk.

Basically all this to say that St. Goar will not take very long to see.

The Boppard chair lift is not on your list. Someone here recommended it to me, and we really enjoyed it.

The chair lift is a fairly long walk from the train station (that I do recall) if you decided to add this to your list.

travlsolo2

We stayed at the Hotel Kranenturm in May of 2003 and had a very nice room. The trains go by so fast that it is just a swoooossshhh and they're gone; didn't bother us at all. The food was quite good in their dining room also.

Travelnut

We took the chairlift in Boppard - there's a tourist train in Boppard, and it has a stop at the foot of the chairlift. The view from the outdoor cafe on the bluff was fantastic, and we enjoyed a cold plate and beer/wine while we looked.

We also printed and refered to the RS 'tour' of the Rheinfels ruins - it was very helpful.

p.s we stayed at Hotel am Markt in St Goar, and found it to be quiet with the window cracked open - 59€ for a double/ensuite, and decent food in the ground-floor restaurant.

BabsB

WOW, I am hitting the info bonanza today. Thanks to everyone! Looking at the K-D schedule, Boppard is one stop ahead of Braubach. Can anyone give me an estimate of time to catch the little train to the chair lift, do the view and get back to the K-D pier? The day is already pretty full, but is we can fit it in, it sounds like fun.

111op

I don't know about the train in Boppard -- but personally I would put the chairlift above Rheinfels (even though Michelin may not mention the chairlift at all -- I can't recall).

So just in case you're running out of time....

I can't compare Rheinfels and Marksburg since I didn't go to the latter.

BabsB

111op, I just hate it when there are SO MANY things to do and not nearly enough time in which to do them. So you enjoyed the chair lift more than Rheinfels, any reason in particular? How long was the chair lift ride? What do you see? Convince me I need to fit it in.

111op

Ok, here's what the website says:

http://www.boppard.de/2001/html/leisure_english.htm

Chairlift
One of the highlights is a chairlift ride to the "Vierseenblick", the view of the four lakes. It takes 20 minutes to the hilltops overlooking a spectacular view of the great winding River Rhine. The chairlift is in operation daily from 1. April to 31. October.
Peak season: 9.30 a.m. - 6.30 p.m.
0ff season: 10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.
Prices return: adults: EURO 6,20, children (from 13 y): EURO 4,20; one way: adults: EURO 4,20; children: EURO 3,00. Chairlift, Mühltal, 56154 Boppard, Phone: 06742/2510

Rhine-Express
The mini-train offers a 30 minutes tour around the town, past the remains of Boppard's fortifying walls dating back to the Romans and the Middle Ages, past the Romanesque and Gothic Parish Church of St. Severus and the Carmelite Church, and many other historic places of interest.
Departure places: Market Square, Rheinallee or Chairlift. Prior booking needed for groups. (in operation: Apr-Oct.)
Prices for roundtrip: Adults:Euro 3,50, children: Euro 2,00; Fa. Schneider, Sonnenhof, Rheinbay, 56154 Boppard, Phone: 06741/2030, Fax: 06741/7258.

111op

Well my mom likes chairlifts and views. I don't have a huge preference, but I thought the view was really quite stunning.

As the website says, you get a view of the "Vierseenblick" (four lakes). Hard to describe it, but because the Rhine twists and turns, from a certain vantage point it looks as if the river has been split into four lakes.

Rheinfels is a ruined castle, as you probably know. And you've an unruined castle on your itinerary. (In fact, isn't this the only castle that's not been rebuilt, or something?)

I think that when you sit down and look at the schedules, you'll probably not be able to fit Boppard, St. Goar and Marksburg in one day. I can't recall how much time I had -- but I only did the first two. That's saying something, as I went to five different Italian towns in four days two months ago.

So I'm all for cramming it in, but it may be too difficult.

Well, I was also with my mom, and she slows me down.

If you do decide the chair lift, two small "warnings":

1. I went in the first week of October, and it was quite chilly. It was in the 50s, and I wasn't appropriately dressed for the chairlift.

2. You do go quite high up on this one, and you're "exposed to the elements" (I can't recall if there was a cover over the head). So this can be a little scary. My mom, to my surprise, was not at all frightened.

I was just a little scared. But just a little!

We also went on the chairlift in Ruedesheim and I didn't think that it was as scary.

BabsB

I looked at the schedule and there is no way to fit all three in. I am taking a girlfriend to Germany as her very first trip out of the US. I guess, I need to find out if she is scared of heights then decide. I am thinking of taking the gondola ride in Tegelberg but haven't gotten that far in the planning so have not asked her about heights. 111op, did you write a trip report? I would like to read it if you did. I'm also interested in your itinerary as still trying to figure that out. Danke! (Got that phrase book out!)

111op

Hi Babs, this trip was pre-blog, but I'll cut and paste the relevant part of the e-mail I sent to friends.

While reading it, I guess I realized that I might have been able to squeeze all three in, as our Day 1 started around noon. You'll see what I mean when you look at the report. I don't think it will be too useful for you. Nowadays with the blog my trip reports have become more detailed. Back then they were comparatively shorter.

You'll see that we were rushing a lot as usual.

=====================================
Day 1: The Rhine Valley

We left Friday right after work and flew directly to Frankfurt. [Flight arrived 45 minutes early.]

I booked our hotel in Ruedesheim, a town in the southern edge of the ĻromanticĻ part of the Rhine closest to Frankfurt airport. We had a very full day planned. The first stop was the Boppard chair lift (the town Boppard also has some Roman walls ruins). Reaching Boppard was an elaborate affair. First we had to take a ferry to cross the Rhine to reach the other side and the town Bingen and then take a train from there. We only had five minutes between the ferry and the train. Fortunately, a local woman from whom I asked directions offered to drive us. We were very fortunate and avoided an hourīs wait for the next train.

The chairlift was a little frightening, but we caught a magnificent view of the river as it turned around and appeared to wrap a piece of land. We got off the chairlift but didnīt really have time to walk to the lookout point, where the Rhine looks as if it was split into four different lakes (I bought a postcard to compensate).

The next stop was St. Goar and the Rheinfels Castle ruins. Here I overheard two tourists reciting a passage from Rick Steves. I had printed out his guide for the ruins off the web, so I chimed in. Rick Steves would prove to be quite popular -- I spotted a couple of tourists with his guides throughout the trip.

After touring the castle ruins, we took the K-D cruise ship at St. Goar. This cruised past the famous Loreley rock, where legend has it that a seductive voice would lure sailors to their demise. We got off at Bacharach and walked around before heading back to Ruedesheim (via Bingen). We had dinner at a restaurant in Drosselgasse, which has been called the smallest, happiest street in the world. Of course, we drank some Riesling. The street is complete with bar taverns, restaurants, souvenir shops and undoubtedly a major
tourist trap.


Day 2: And a brief interlude in Bonn and Beethoven Haus

We started off the day with the Ruedesheim chairlift. The ride gave us a magnificent view of the vineyards
and took us to the impressive Niederwald monument, which commemorates the wars of 1870. We didnīt have time to take the cable car down to the neighboring town of Assmannshausen, which produces red wines. So we returned to Ruedesheim and set off.

Again we had a very tight connection, but the local train arrived late, so we made it. We couldnīt buy tickets at the train station, so we got on and I feared that we would suffer a huge fine.
Fortunately there was no conductor and we rode to Koblenz for free. Because the local train was late, we had about four minutes to make the connection for Bonn (I ran to buy tickets and we made it).

[Rest to Bonn and to Colonge, deleted. We then flew to Lisbon from Cologne and then to Malaga to Lisbon -- car to Granada -- then Seville and then Madrid.]

BabsB

My trips are always rushed because I don't want to miss anything. It may be a problem fitting all three in because once again, they are on different sides of the river. I need to look at the ferry crossings again. And here I thought I had it all figured out.

111op

Well, I can tell you that it's a non-trivial problem.

Actually as I wrote we were very lucky because a woman actually drove us to one of the train stations (so that saved us an hour).

To throw another wrinkle into your planning, you should figure out which stretch of the Rhine is most scenic for your cruise. I think that the standard advice is to start at St. Goar and take the K-D cruise south for an hour or so (so you go past Loreley). Looking at my report now, I think that's what I did.

Lots of people gave me some useful advice, so if you try clicking on my name and go back to threads from fall of last year, you may find some other useful stuff.

But I'm sure that the German experts will chime in. Russ, I seem to remember, knows this area really well.

The Rhine threads tend to pop up in the summer (for obvious reasons) -- this is not really the season to see the Rhine.

Russ

Usually, you'll be a bit jet-lagged on your first day, but it seems you might have some time for a little sightseeing after you get to Bacharach. I'd suggest taking the short and scenic train ride up to Boppard that afternoon. The chairlift is not terribly far from the Boppard station if you feel up for a walk. Once cliffside, you'll find an outdoor cafe up there - nice place to unwind.

On your second day, Rheinfels and Marksburg should be feasible, with a river cruise (or two) along the way. I think the best scenery is between Bacharach and St. Goar, but the trip up to Braubach is attractive too. I'd take the morning train to St. Goar, see Rheinfels, cruise with the mid-day boat (warmer than the a.m. boats) up to Braubach (about 1.5 hours, I think) for Marksburg, then when you're done, train south to St. Goarshausen and catch the late afternoon boat (around 5:00) south to Bacharach (about 1.5 hours) to cruise the most scenic part of the river.

BabsB

Russ, you are a genius. Yesterday I could not figure out how to fit it all in so decided we obviously needed to spend an extra day and relax a bit. I think we will do your suggestion. Thanks to everyone who helped with this.

Curt

We have also used Pension Lette and were very happy with it. We had dinner at Hotel Kranentrum and it was good. We shared a table with another couple our age (by no means kids) and they were staying at the hostel on the hill above the town in an old castle (sorry don't recall name). They thought it was just fine also. Bacharach is a neat little town and has some nice pubs and wine bars. If you can get over to the other side of the river and are into wine be sure to visit Schloss Johannesburg for awesome views and great wine and food (famous for Johannesburg Riesling).