Rhine River Cruise
Jan 15th, 1999, 05:27 AM
#1
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Rhine River Cruise
I am seeking information on taking a Rhine River Cruise in Germany to see the castles. I believe you can catch a boat in Cologne and travel down the Rhine. Is this correct? Can you easily take a train (or boat) back to Cologne in one day? How much time should I allow myself Do you think this will be running on March 29? Any information is greatly appreciated. I tried searching for this on the Internet with no luck.
Jan 15th, 1999, 06:40 AM
#2
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Teri: You can take boat trips from Cologne, south to Koblenz and beyond. I would suggest the area from Koblenz, down to Wiesbaden/Mainz (towns on oppossing sides), where you will have the best scenery including towns and many different castles. <BR> <BR>We'll be staying in Assmanshausen am Rhein for a couple of days in May and this is right in that region. <BR> <BR>Try the web site "http://germancastles.com/". This will have info on that area and also boat cruises. <BR> <BR>Good luck and have fun! <BR>
Jan 15th, 1999, 12:20 PM
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For train connections and timetable go to http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/db.s98/query.exe/en
Jan 15th, 1999, 01:09 PM
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Hi Teri: <BR> <BR>I've taken that Rhine River cruise on numerous trips to Europe. I find the Koblenz to Mainz (sp?) the most interesting with castle after castle on both sides. The river and Rhine valley themselves are most interesting with a great amount of barge traffic and train after train passing on both sides of the river bank. <BR> <BR>From Koblenz to Mainz I believe it take about 5-6 hours. There is plenty of train service to get you back to Cologne that same day. Great day trip <BR> <BR>Have fun and enjoy your trip. <BR> <BR>Larry
Jan 15th, 1999, 02:07 PM
#7
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Since there are few here who have done this several time, here are the question for the mavens: <BR> <BR>1. Direction of travel. All the references seems to be Koblenz -> Mainz direction. Is this the preferred direction or is this the only direction the Cruise travels? <BR> <BR>2. Disembark along the way: Is the cruise hop on/hop off nature or you stay on until the destination? Are there not enough cruises to make this <BR>practical? <BR>
Jan 15th, 1999, 02:37 PM
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I've done once, after looking for the most interestinge and not too much fastidious cruise. We're travelling by car. We left it in Koblenz, took a trains for one hour until Bingen. Then we took a three hour cruise back to Koblenz. We passed Bacharach, Die Pfalz, Loreley cliff, St.Goar, the ruins of Rhinefels, Boppard, Braubach, Stolzenfels and Koblenz. I think that is the most interesting cruise and not too long.
Jan 15th, 1999, 04:41 PM
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Teri, yes you can ride a boat from Koln down your final destination. The rails run right along the river. The trains stop in just about all the towns, I would not be concerned about that being a problem. As Lee stated the most senic part of the river is from Koblenz to Mainz. You can cut that down to the heart of the by going from St. Goar to Bacharah (about an hour ) or koblenz to Bingen (about 4.5 hours) depending on how much time you have. There are two web sites for you to check out. <BR>http://gogermany.miningco.com/librar...chedvorM-K.htm and rivercruises.com. The main company is KD Cruises. They have a web site at the 2nd one listed, not the best but they have an 800 # for more info in NY. Greg, you can get on and off as you please. If you see an interesting town, you can stop for a while and catch the next boat or a later boat. We rented bikes in St Goar, took them on the boat down to Bingen and rode by. Which was a great trip. There is a bike path along most of the river for a great view of castles and river. The mining co schedule is 1998 but I would guess it would be the same each year by a day or so. Enjoy !!
Jan 15th, 1999, 04:42 PM
#10
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Teri, yes you can ride a boat from Koln down your final destination. The rails run right along the river. The trains stop in just about all the towns, I would not be concerned about that being a problem. As Lee stated the most senic part of the river is from Koblenz to Mainz. You can cut that down to the heart of the by going from St. Goar to Bacharah (about an hour ) or Koblenz to Bingen (about 4.5 hours) depending on how much time you have. There are two web sites for you to check out. <BR>http://gogermany.miningco.com/librar...chedvorM-K.htm and rivercruises.com. The main company is KD Cruises. They have a web site at the 2nd one listed, not the best but they have an 800 # for more info in NY. Greg, you can get on and off as you please. If you see an interesting town, you can stop for a while and catch the next boat or a later boat. We rented bikes in St Goar, took them on the boat down to Bingen and rode back. Which was a great trip. There is a bike path along most of the river for a great view of castles and river. The mining co schedule is 1998 but I would guess it would be the same each year by a day or so. Enjoy !!
Feb 6th, 1999, 08:01 AM
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Hi Teri, <BR>a time sparing idea would be to take a train from Köln to Mainz (takes nearly 2 hours) and cruise the Rhein downstream from Koblenz and take another train back to Köln (takes 1 hour). It is the nicest part of the River and is faster than the upstream Trip. Altough one day is probably too short for a trip like this. <BR>Enjoy your stay in Germany!
Feb 22nd, 1999, 12:36 AM
#13
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Thanks for the great info and web sites posted here. I am also interested in these Rhine Cruises. I will be travelling in late April and wonder if I can expect to find the cruise boats running? Also, what do you recomment to see in Koln? Have seen the cathedral on my one day visit there three years ago, and will of course go again, but what else do you recommend that is easily accessible by foot or public transport? <BR> <BR>Thanks! <BR>
Feb 22nd, 1999, 09:59 AM
#14
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Thanks again to everyone for the great information. I just found out that the cruises don't begin until April, and I want to go on March 29, argh! <BR> <BR>So, what do you experts think about taking a scenic train ride. <BR> <BR>Larry mentioned that the train runs along the river, would this provide some idea of the beautiful castles along the river?
Feb 22nd, 1999, 10:27 AM
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Teri: It's a shame that the cruises will not be running during your trip. You will still not be disappointed. <BR> <BR>You would have two choices: One, is to take the train. Either side would be scenic, but probably the Mainz "side" through Boppard, Bacharach, etc., may be better only because it would appear to be closer to the river and/or allow better visability. The second is with a rented car. You would certainly have an easy and enjoyable drive if you did this on either side, but I would suggest the Lorelei "side" for the drive and you could head down to Rudesheim and take the cable car ride over the vineyards. <BR> <BR>Whether you took the train or rented a car, you could do the trip in one day starting at Koln and heading to either Rudesheim or Mainz and then back. You can still cross the river by ferry boat, if you choose. <BR> <BR>There must be 25 castles or ruins along the Rhine between Koblenz and Mainz. Certainly the greatest concentration of such castles that I am aware of. Don't forget the camera! <BR> <BR>Carol: If you seen the cathedral at Koln, I would suggest seeing either this middle Rhine region (mentioned) or along the Mosel River to Traben-Trarbach, Cochem, etc. Koln is a beautiful city, but there's nothing like the Rhine and/or Mosel. <BR> <BR>Teri, if you decide to stay the night, I have info on the hotel we've booked for May in Assmanshausen, the Hotel Cafe' Post, right on the river. <BR> <BR>Many happy travels! <BR>
