Next week will be my first trip to the area. I am planning to stay at the Im Malerwinkel in Bacharach and take day trips via rail and boat for 2 days from there. Do you know of any type of pass which will allow a discount for a single traveler? Also, the only web sites I've seen for boat trips are more for lengthier cruises that transportation.<BR><BR>Also, I saw a previous post about a fireworks display that will be in Koblenz on May 4th. Does anyone know details or of a place where I could find more info? I was planning to depart that day, but would consider switching it if this is a must see display. <BR><BR>Thanks in advance for your help!<BR><BR>

ttt

Try these two sites.<BR><BR>www.firework.rhine-river.com<BR><BR>www.rivercruises.com

You can travel all day on the trains in this region with a daypass - it's good for up to 5 people, but at only 21 Euros, it will save a single person some $ too. On weekdays, the "Rheinland-Pfalz" ticket is good within the states of Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland, which means within the triangle formed by Mannheim in the south, Bonn in the north, and Saarbr&uuml;cken in the west. You can use the pass after 9 am on the regional trains (probably the only ones that stop in Bacharach anyway) which are designated RE, IRE, S, or RB on the train schedule. <BR>On Sat or Sun, the pass costs 28 Euros but allows you to travel at any hour<BR>throughout the entire country. Ask for a "Sch&ouml;nes Wochenende" Ticket, which gives you passage on the same trains listed above.<BR><BR>These tickets do not work on the Rhine boats - just buy a regular ticket. A short ride between, say, Bacharach and St. Goar, the most attractive part of the river, will take only about 40 minutes (one hour 10 minutes going the opposite direction - it's a swift river current) and costs about 8 Euros (maybe 10 Euros round trip.)

Brenda: one more thing on those passes:<BR><BR>Bacharach is small and probably does not have a ticket agent. If you buy the passes there, you'll need to use the ticket machines. You can buy the passes with a credit card or cash at these machines if you can figure out the German instructions. It might be easier to buy one in advance from a real person in a larger city you might be passing through on your way to Bacharach - Koblenz, Mainz, or Bingen Hbf can all sell you these passes in person.

Thanks for the ticket info, Russ, and the links, Tony!<BR><BR>Do either of you or does anyone else rec a place to stay? I just found out the place I was planning on staying is full. I'm not hooked on Bacharach, but am wanting to stay at a budget pension or B&B.

Hi, Brenda. Just north of Bacharach is Oberwesel, another wine town with several old towers among the remnants of the wall that once surrounded the town. We stayed there about 3 weeks ago in a nice B&B that runs 40 Euros/night. There are just 4 rooms. The rooms in front have a nice view of the ridge where Sch&ouml;nburg castle lies, and the breakfast room has huge windows with the same view. Breakfast was very good. The house is set back a ways from the train tracks (translation: you should be able to sleep), maybe a 5-10 minute walk into the town center. Oberwesel's not any more "hopping" than Bacharach is, but it has the basics - an ATM, a few stores, a train station and a boat dock you could set out from, and a wonderful setting on the Rhine. The B&B hosts are Mr. and Mrs. Brager, at Hardtweg 7, 55430 Oberwesel, phone 06744/532 Oberwesel. I'm not sure they speak English, so you might just call the Oberwesel tourist office to see whether the Bragers have something available; that way, they can set you up with something else automatically if the Bragers are full. Here's the tourist office contact info: <BR>phone: 06744/1521<BR>fax: 06744/1540<BR>e-mail: [email protected]<BR>web: www.oberwesel.de<BR><BR>You may e-mail me if you want to ask me any other specific questions.

Brenda,<BR>We too are going to that area next week. We're staying at the Hotel Landsknecht, which is just north of St. Goar. The hotel is recommended highly in Karen Brown's guidebook and the place looks to have an awesome river view and nice restaurant. Correspondence with the owners via e-mail was fast and friendly. Double room rates run from around 70-115 Euro per night. Here is the website:<BR>http://www.hotel-landsknecht.de/index.engl.html<BR>Good luck.

Tony's suggestion of St. Goar is a good one too - one of the most scenic settings on the Rhine. Since you're travelling by train, as I recall, and the Landsknecht is pretty far north of town, you might want something closer, like the Hotel Am Markt, which is right in the middle of town, about 2 blocks from the station and half a block from the river on a quiet, pedestrians-only street. There's an outdoor cafe and restaurant on the premises and half a dozen others within a block or two. I've never stayed at the Am Markt, but I've heard a couple of good reports on the place. Here's a webpage with contact info on the place: <BR>http://www.talderloreley.de/hotels/hotel_am_markt.html

Thanks, guys!<BR><BR>How is St. Goar for things to do? I've been looking online and can't seem to find out a lot about it. Is there anywhere else that you might suggest in Bacharach? I saw in a previous Russ post that the river travels north so that traveling south can take longer, so I'm thinking staying more south might be better.<BR><BR>Also, are there any good places to get beer around the Rhein? Not that I don't love wine, but it seems like I'd be missing out to go to Germany and not enjoy some of their beer as well.

Brenda: St. Goar isn’t filled with activities, but it does provide a bit more to do than Bacharach. The Rheinfels Castle ruins, located a short but steep walk uphill from town, make for some interesting snooping around and give you a wonderful view of the River, the castles opposite St. Goar, and the town itself. You can also take the little choo-choo shuttle on wheels for a few Euros to get up there if the walk looks too ominous. The Hotel Villa-Rheinfels, right next to the castle, has a restaurant with a million-dollar view. <BR>There is a doll museum on the Oberstrasse, a couple of blocks north of the train station. There are also some hikes you can take toward Oberwesel along the cliffs on the St. Goar<BR>side of the river. The trailhead begins about 50 yards north of the train station (to the left as you exit the station), goes under the tracks and proceeds up a stairway; once up top,<BR>the views are tremendous, and if you walk south a ways, you’ll be able to see the Loreley cliff on the opposite side of the river. The town itself is filled with restaurants and shops. I like the Italian place called “Alla Fontana”. All the places will serve you a beer (try the Weizen beer if you haven’t had it before.)<BR><BR>There is a ferry across the river to St. Goarshausen, where you’ll find a wine-tasting bar at the south end of town in an old tower. Also at the south end is a trail that heads straight<BR>up the cliffs to the Loreley lookout. North of St. Goarshausen is Burg Maus Castle - not tourable, but they put on a twice-daily Free-flight exhibition, with eagles and falcons swooping overhead - a good show. You can walk along the river to get there, or take a taxi or bus. The train north from St. Goarshausen will take you to Marksburg Castle in the town of Braubach - nice tour of a really rustic, medieval castle that has never been destroyed. Stop in at the St. Goar tourist office, right on Heerstrasse near the Marktplatz, to ask about all these things.<BR><BR>Boppard, to the north of St. Goar, is a larger town with a lot more going on. There are some Roman ruins you can visit, a funicular ride to a lookout over the Rhine, and lots of eateries in the old town square area and along the river promenade.<BR><BR>For a faster boatride, you do need to go from south to north, but since you'll be using the train to return anyway, you couldstay in St. Goar, then start out by taking the train south from St. Goar, then floating back the fast way.<BR><BR>Enjoy your stay there - it's a very nice place to spend a few days.

Brenda<BR> A few days in St. Goar might be fine but we stayed 10 days in an apartment last <BR>Sept. and it is small (essentially one street) and there's not much going on. Transportation is certainly easy from there. The KD line is 5 minutes from the train station and the ferry runs across the river for the trains on that side. <BR> One thing I would definitely recommend is to go across to St. Goarhausen and take the train to Assmanhausen. Walk up thru town to the chairlift, once on top you can walk along a level path thru the woods to the Denkmal (a large memorial statue.) The view from there is spectacular. Then take the small cablecar down thru the vineyards to Rudesheim. Once in Rudesheim there are many choices for a place to eat and a beer. Yes, it is touristy but that is a reaslly nice trip. Then you can take the train back to St. Goarhausen or take the KD line back to St. Goar. Have a great time. Carol

Brenda: Russ, Tony and Carl have pretty well covered it, so no need to elaborate. Koblenz has more to offer than most tour guides indicate. The fort at the top of the hill, Festung Ehrenbreitstein, is Europe's largest. Take the chair lift to the top (exhilerating in itself) and tour the facility and museum. But, the big attraction are the views. This is where the Rhine and the Mosel converge and you can clearly see it from this vantage point. The riverside walk from the Rhine to the Mosel is very pleasant; many restaurants with broad verandas for outdoor eating. We enjoyed Koblenz including walking the small old town.