We're finishing an upper-Rhine cruise at Boppard just after noon, so we have all afternoon to see some medieval history, spectacular scenery, and get back to Bonn.

Where's a castle anywhere between Mainz and Bonn that can be reached from a train station by a chairlift or similar transport? It can be upstream or down, left bank or right, but the better the view, the more we'll enjoy it.

If you know what date it opens for the summer season, that would be a plus. Unfortunately, the Gedeonseck Sesselbahn in Boppard won't be open when we're there.

Marksburg looks like a good candidate for a castle - but hiking up there might be an ordeal, and the train to the summit doesn't start running until Easter.

www.marksburg.de doesn't seem to let on any information about pricing. Anybody know what the (mandatory) tour costs?

Robespierre,

Although this is in the other direction, BTilke suggested it. Maybe you have time to take a short trip from Bonn to have a quick look.

http://www.schlossburg.de/index.php?id=4

Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful.

MvK

There are the ruins of Burg Rheinfels on a bluff above the town of St Goar, 2-3 train stops south of Boppard.
http://www.st-goar.de/

There was a brochure at the cashier but only in German, so we used this:
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti.../rheinfels.htm

There were at least two castles across the river from St Goar - I don't know if they were open to visits, hotels, or what...

Why won't the chairlift be working in the summer? That's too bad b/c it's a great view over the horseshow turn of the Rhine from the top. I wonder if there is another way up there.

Thanks, Mark. We have been thinking of adding Schloss Burg to our Düsseldorf-Wuppertal-Neanderthal-Aachen ramble a few days after the upper Rhine trip.

travelnut - Thank you, too. Rheinfels is the front-runner so far, but I'd sure like to find that magic combination of chairlift and interesting castle.

I'll see what I can dig up on the Katz und Maus.

By the way, I have an excellent accordion-folded pictorial guide (Farbbildführer) of the river and castles from Mainz to Köln from www.rahmel-verlag.de. Anyone contemplating a cruise should give it a look. The English version is shown here:
http://www.rahmel-verlag.de/de/staed...php?prod_id=35

Travelnut - I believe you're thinking of Burg Katz above St. Goarshausen. Unfortunately, not open to the public.

North of Burg Katz lies Burg Maus, opposite Burg Rheinfels at St. Goar across the Rhine river. It houses an aviary, where flight demonstrations of falcons and eagles are staged for visitors from late March to early October.

As mentioned, Burg Rheinfels is worth a visit, Robespierre. And how about a visit to the Lorelei rock near St. Goarshausen?

We'll definitely include the Lorelei if time permits. What's a good way to scale it without mountaineering equipment?

Robespierre - it's been a loooong time since I made that hike. Let me check tomorrow when the Europeans are awake and I'll see what I can find out from my friends. When I googled, I only found group tour info.

You can drive to the top of the Lorilei rock. There is a restaurant and I think a hotel at the top of the rock that cannot be seen from the road below. We stopped at the base expecting to walk up, but was told about the road by the man in the little tourist stand before you start up the hill.

I think the road is south of the rock. We took awesome pictures of the Rhine from the top. Probably one of my favorite places of the trip justs because of the view.

Hi Robespierre - Here's what my friend had to say: There's no regular scheduled transport available to the Loreley rock. Do you have a map of the area? You have the option to go

1) by taxi from the ferry/boat landing via the Forstbachtal (Schweizertal) directly to the parking lot of the Loreley rock.

2) on foot, walk from the boat landing, upriver 3 km on the "Bundesstrasse" to the base of the rock. The path leads mostly over a flight of stairs; the difference in altitude is about 150 meters.

We were a lot younger when we walked up and I don't remember it as difficult, but my friend called the hike "tiring".

In season, regional trains run on an hourly schedule from Boppard to the ferry from St. Goar to St. Goarshausen.

I'll be very interested to hear about your trip.