We will be in Koblenz in early October on a river cruise.

While in Koblenz we have two choices:

One is to get a guided walking tour of Old Town

the other is

a guided tour of Marksburg Castle.

Any opinions on the preffered choice?

Thank you in advance,

Walt

I can't comment on Old Town Koblenz, but among castles in Germany, Marksburg is a favorite of mine. If you can reach Marksburg on your own, it has guided tours that are in English and not expensive at all.

Not sure how much time you have. The tour of Koblenz' old town is probably interesting - it's a nice place to walk. But Marksburg is an intact medieval castle that you probably won't see the likes of very often. It shouldn't be missed. If you have time, do both; take the train from Koblenz station to Braubach for the Marksburg tour - a little shuttle takes you from the town center to the top and back for a few Euros. Then take the walking tour of the old town whenever it's offered.

www.marksburg.de

castle for me, but its a river crossing and a "ski lift" not much of a tour though there is a toy museum up there.

Old town hardly exists

you on mosel or rhine tour?

It would be worth looking to see which wine towns have a festival on your trip

Rhine Tour from BUD to AMS.

I agree with Russ. The Marksburg is unique. I walked through the Koblenz old town, not a tour, just on my own. It was nice but doesn't compare to the Marksburg. Deutsches Eck is interesting.

There was little left of Koblenz' Altstadt or Old Town when i first visited Koblenz years ago, even in the early 70s war damage was evident and the main square there had a rather derelict look - but with the economic boom of then West Germany Koblenz' vest-pocket sized Old Town has indeed been caefully pieced back together and has bloomed into a typically colorful German Altstadt area - yup a tour of anything in Germany could be fine but Marksburg Castle, about the only castle on this stretch of the Rhine not destroyed in wars.

(many by Napoleon's marauding army in the early 1800s), is a gem and even the chair lift to the top can be food - you can also hoof it up to its commanding location overlooking the Rhine, always a major navigation cord, far below. To me it don't matter what is in the caslte - tacky as some claim, or not - but an intact medieval fortress as well as to take in its commanding vista from up on its top envrions, the view over the Rhine Gorge, sweetly spread out below.

Marksburg would be my choice for sure.

And you can forego the guided tour excursion IMO as this is an very easy on your own thing - either take a train from Koblenz to a station right under the caslte - Braubach i believe is the name of the station and village Marksburg hovers above but not sure - and then take the chairlift or hike up to the castle, where i'm sure you will give Walkman headset guided tours, or even actual guided tours and pay less and be on your own time frame and not some tour's. Really very easy to do on your own.

http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm - check out the castle picture and set sail for one of Europe's finest intact medieval castles IMO

Braubach is indeed the name of the station and of the village below the castle. There is a trolley that meets the K-D boat at the dock and goes through the old town square up to the castle. I never saw a chairlift. The walk up the hill from the old town is not difficult.

From the Marksburg website, "Die Burg kann nur im Rahmen einer Burgführung besichtigt werden". The castle can only be seen in conjuction with a tour. You can't just go in by yourself. I took the tour (€5) and the commentary was worthwhile.

Definitely Marksburg. The castle is well restored and the tour is informative. The one I went on was only in German, but you can use an English guide for a $5 deposit. My aunt translated all the German jokes. Overall, you get a good idea of how castles were used and changed over time to fit the needs of their inhabitants. A word of warning though, there is one staircase that is extremely narrow, so if you are claustrophobic it might be better to see the Old Town, which is also a sight to see. Just don't get spit on by the fountain.

I suppose the Koblenz Altstadt (Old Town) tour includes also the confluence, nearby, of the Mother Mosel and Father Rhine, as Germans i'm told oft refer to these two famous rivers.

At the confluence is Deutsches Eck ("German Corner") - a huge plianth monument that hovers right over where the Mosel empties into the Rhine. Topped by a huge equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm, the origin Kaiser statue was turned to rubble when, during the days when WWII just ended some Canadian or American troop decided the kaiser would make a good target and wham - a resurrected Kaiser horse statue once again graces the top and the whole thing is devoted i believe to to German Unification, which i like Kaiser Wilhelm represented before. (Story told to me by a Koblenz resident who managed the camping place just opposite the monument on the north side of the Mosel here.)

Deutsches Eck - Stadt Koblenz
The view from Ehrenbreitstein Fortress high above the Rhine (118 metres) across the river down to “Deutsches Eck” with its re-erected equestrian statue of ...
http://www.koblenz.de/stadtleben.../...e_infos_e.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Eck

The third choice to your OP two choices is just to get off the Cruise Ship and then stroll along the Rhine-side boardwalk the short distance to Deutsches Eck - stroll over to the Altstadt (lots of nice eateries here, including a typical German Beer Garden, as well as outdoor cafes) and meander around Koblenz en route back to the boats.

The cruise ships usually dock quite near the Deutsches Eck monument.

I spent 6 days in the middle Rhine area in July and Koblenz was by far our LEAST favorite town. A few nice buildings otherwise a total bore. Marksburg was a very nice castle. Some of the people above are confusing it I think with a fortress near Koblenz. There is no chairlift to Marksburg. The tour is included in the ticket price and must be taken. You are not permitted to wander around on your own. There are English tours but you may have to wait for one but if you get a German one they loan you a written explanation of what you are seeing. There is a little "train" you can take up there for €2.50 or you can walk - uphill (obviously) about 45 minutes. The town of Braubach is tiny but extremely picturesque (at least the four or five streets right in the center).

My photos of Marksburg, Braubach, and Koblenz are at: http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/germ..._mosel_valleys

Seilbahn zur Festung Ehrenbreitstein is the castle area and ski lift I was talking about, in three visits to Koblenz I've never spotted another fortress but having seen your photos (good colours) I recognise it as as a castle I have visited. Nah the Ski-lift one is better and views are to die for

http://www.festungehrenbreitstein.de/englisch.html

I have been up to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress several times and am always awed by it and the totally awesome view over the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel rivers and Koblenz below. Plus the fort has an interesting regional museum and also one of Europe's most unique youth hostels, right in the walls of this fortress. You can indeed chair lift up or trek up thru tunnels burrowed out of the rock.

Personally i'd take Ehrenbreitstein anytime over the mandatory guided tour i took at Marksburg. A pedestrian ferry scoots right over to the chair life to the fortress from the Deutsches Eck area in Koblenz, near where most cruise ships dock.

The Festung is also gorgeous at night. The view of Koblenz and Deutsches Eck with all the lights and the barges along the rivers are amazing. There is construction on the Festung right now though, so some really interesting parts are hidden behind scaffolding. If you do have the freedom to pass up the guided tours, a trip up to the fortress and then a quick walk through Koblenz would be wonderful. For a true taste of German culture, take a walk through the Lohr center, the shopping mall.

And though Koblenz will disappoint many foreign tourists as it won't meet the old-world picture of Germany etched in most tourists' minds, it is to me a thoroughly pleasant city much like most German cities i've been in - that is cities largely obliterated in WW2 and rebuilt in a modern form - with the ubiquitous lively (during weekdays) pedestrian shopping zone, etc. It's a typical German town but one with a stunning setting under the Fortress and at the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers - giving it a unique cache.

A friend who lives in Koblenz mentioned to me that there will be a huge garden show in Koblenz in 2011, and because of that, there is a lot of construction underway in Koblenz right now, including a lot of underground parking and work at Festung Ehrenbreitstein and an aerial tram that will go across the Rhein from the dock area to the Festung. That should be pretty cool!
I agree that the pedestrian shopping zone is nice, plus Deutsches Eck and the park are pleasant to walk through.