My husband and I will be flying into Frankfurt next April. We'll be picking up a rental car and driving to the Rhine for a 3 night stay. My original idea was to stay at Hotel Kranenturm in Bacharach but now I'm rethinking after reading comments, would the Mosel River be a better location.

As far as the hotel itself we won't be spending much time there even though I do want our room to be on the river, my main concerns is to be able to visit the castles, the Lorelei, maybe take the train to Boppard, a river cruise, go to a couple of wineries and whatever else there is to do around there, so is Bacharach or the Mosel a better location.

Through ViaMichelin Beilstein on the Mosel is about 30 miles further to drive from the airport and 34 miles to our next destination which will be Rothenburg. So what do you Fodorites think, should I stick to Bacharach and Hotel Kranenturm. I know the hotel is by the train tracks but they now have double pane windows and it's also on the river.

We lived close to the area in 03 for 6 months, and enjoyed the area. I liked the Mosul area a bit more. It seemed a bit more serene. We stayed for a night in Bacharach and used that to take a short cruise up (north) to see some castle ruins. The next year, we stayed a few nights in Cochem, which we enjoyed a lot.
We were fascinated by the "commerce" boat traffic on the rivers ( more on the Rhine than the Mosel).

Could you spend one night in Bacharach so as to do the cruise, then spend a few nights in Cochem or another Mosel town?

the Burg Eltz is neat.

Since your 'main concerns' are 'to visit the castles, the Lorelei, maybe take the train to Boppard, a river cruise, go to a couple of wineries and whatever else there is to do around there' - I think you would be better off staying on the Rhine. However, I think you could do better than the Kranenturm. Check this page at my website for some other possibilities - http://www.bensbauernhof.com/accommo...hinemosel.html

Ben

Maybe I am weird, but just driving along those roads, alongside of either river, is a joy unto itself

Bacharach is a very attractive town; if more convenient for your departure, stay there - it won't disappoint. But you should plan on at least a full day on the Mosel during your stay. Burg Eltz castle is quite sensational and is the best in the region for a tour. Cochem and Bernkastel will delight you, and there are numerous wineries in between.

Accommodations of the type on Ben's site generally offer an authentic experience and are patronized most often by traveling Germans and other Europeans rather than the international tourist set - very likely your best bet and value.

these other postings seem to be more familiar with the area than I am.

I must say that we enjoyed the town of Cochem after dark...just walking the old town. There were quite a number of people out strolling, and night spots open for the young crowd and the not so young crowd.

EK

Thanks all, I will stay with my original plan on the Rhine. Since we'll have a car I'm sure it will be easy to drive to the Mosel.

Ben, is there something wrong with the Hotel Kranenturm? Why are the other 2 hotels better? Do the other 2 hotels have riverviews, that's one of the reasons for Hotel Kranenturm, also, it was in Rick Steve's book. Now I'm not sure where to stay.

I'm sorry suze1. My comment was flippant and uncalled for. I have never stayed at the Kranenturm so I shouldn't say anything about it. It's just that I have read comments from people who have stayed there who were disappointed. But OTOH there are also many folks who have stayed there who enjoyed their stay. I think it was usually room assignment that determined pro or con and the noise from the trains. If their windows are now insulated against that noise then there probably isn't a problem anymore. My favorite place to stay in Bacharach is the Winzerhaus (but no river view) - http://www.bensbauernhof.com/winzerhausbacharach.html

I'm told Hotel Kranenturm have double pane windows now, has anyone stayed there lately. If there should be train noise do the train run all night long. I'm sure we won't be around much during the day but I'd hate to keep awake all night because of train noise.

Bacharach would definitely be your best bet as far as location to the sights you wish to see. I've been to the hotel for a drink (with the Rick Steves' group in the ratskeller. But I usually stay at Pensione Lettie, just a few doors up the street.

I've never been lucky enough to get a room there, lots of groups stay there. We enjoyed Bacharach. Rented bikes just around the corner and biked to St. Goar and back. Not far and an easy ride along the beautiful Rhine.

We just came back yesterday (I'll do a report and thanks to all who helped). We stayed in St. Goar instead of Bacharach and were very glad we did. St. Goar seems to be closest to the water. All of the other towns have their parking there and you're not as close. We loved St. Goar and hope to be able to go back. There is a little wine garden on a stretch right at the water. We sat at night with our feet at the water's edge and watched the car ferry go back and forth to St. Gorshausen. Castles lit up across the water on either side. Just beautiful. You can't do that in Bacharach and it was just a quick car ride there for dinner. We also drove to Burg Eltz from there. I liked the Rhine better than the Mosel, but it's just personal preference. Both are beautiful in their own way.

Bacharach is a nice base. We have stayed at the Hotel Kranenturm, but that was in 2000. It's a nice hotel, with a terrific breakfast and good location, but the train noise was rather unbearable. If they've upgraded their windows, this may not affect your sleeping. However, the trains do run, up and down the river, all night long.
The hotel will provide earplugs in your room, which we did not use.

Others have stayed there, but did not have a river view room, and were not affected by train noise.

Excluding the train noise, I would highly recommend the Kranenturm, based on the excellent breakfast, location, comfort, and friendliness of the staff. No elevator however.

We stayed this year in May two nights in Bacharach at Pension Lettie, on the main street. Very nice pesnison and good breakfast. 2 minutes from train station.
Then we stayed for 5 nights in Cochem - at Pension Alberts, I have not enough words to recommend it! For 45 euro per night we had one bedroom apartment, with bath, kitchen and livuing room, in the old town. From Cochem we visited each day another place, like Burg Eltz, Beilstein, Luxembourg, Trier, Koblenz.
We liked both Bacharach and Cochem, but Cochem more.

We stayed in Sankt Goar at the Flair Hotel Landsknecht. This beauty lies on the Rhein, about 1km north of town. Room 5, as I recall, has a three sided view of the river and Burg Maus on the other side. The restaurant is excellent and they produce/sell their own wine, which is excellent. Karen Brown's guide recommended this hotel and it turned out to be the nicest of the places we stayed in our three week trip. I highly recommend it.

We stayed in Boppard but Bacharach was a lovely little town with lots to do.
Boppard was smaller and not as scenic as Bacharach but still they had the best cake I've ever tasted in my life.
Each of the towns you've mentioned have their own charms and it's easy to get from one to the other.

L84SKY,

How did you like Boppard? We are planning to stay there, taking a bike trip from Koblenz to Bingen, breaking it up with stops in Boppard and Oberwesel. I wanted to take the chairlift up to Gedeonseck and then stay at Castle Auf Schoenburg in Oberwesel. Where did you stay in Boppard? What do you think of our plan?

CRose, Sorry it took me so long to respond to your question.
Boppard was a nice little town- very little. We were there last March, so no chairlift for us, much to my husband's dismay. . It was March so I choices were somewhat limited in our choices, we stayed at the Rhinelust. It was comfortable and clean but it was also a trip back to the 70's as far as decor went. Burnt orange furnishings, I should have taken a picture but it seemed to me that the room had lots of dark wood in it with shag, yes I said shag carpet! We kept wondering where in the world they got that.
If we went again, I might opt to stay in Bacharach with a lunch and shopping trip to Boppard but it sounds like you're just making a base their for biking convenience. For a base it was great.

Thanks for your reply. We're going to be there a very short time, just over night. I hope it will be okay. I guess I should check and see if the chairlift will be running as we will be there in early October. Didn't imagine that it wouldn't be, but I guess I'll check.

Vielen Dank,

Cindy

Boppard sent me a lot of info when I emailed them. www.boppard.de
Have a great time.

The Boppard chairlift was working between Oct 11-21 in 2003 when we took it. Loved the views, and there is a nice terrace cafe on the bluff overlooking the horseshoe curve of the river. Beautiful!

We stayed in St Goar (Hotel am Markt) as the wine festival that weekend was in Boppard and everything was full. If I were going to stay in Boppard I would choose:

Hotel Garni Gunther 77-98€
http://www.hotelguenther.de/

Hotel Ebertor 79-95€
http://hotelebertor.de/
The rates are on the German version, hover over 'Hotel' and select Preise.

BW Bellevue Rheinhotel 83-110€
http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwest...ode=95006#null