Rhine Valley Destination Ideas?
 

As I finish a study abroad program in Scotland, a friend and I are excited to get to see Germany and will be on the Rhine valley for several days as we travel from London to Amsterdam and then down through Germany and off to Paris. I am wondering what the best small towns to visit would be in this area?

We stayed in Bacharach for a few days a couple of years ago. Really liked the town. We also visited St. Goar and Boppard. In Boppard, there is a chairlift that goes up to the top of the mountain with a wonderful view of the Rhein. Lots of castles along this bit of the Rhein too.

Here are our photos if you are interested:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/554...yxotU?start=12

visit the towns' websites. In Germany, most towns have a website that is WWW.(town name).DE

Good way to get ideas of what there is to see and lists of all the accomodations. Many of the accomodations' websites will have links to area attractions.

Marksburg castle: http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm

Dragon's Rock railway: http://www.drachenfelsbahn-koenigswi...dex.php?id=122

Köln chocolate museum: http://www.schokoladenmuseum.de/index_e.html

Köln cathedral: http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=2&L=1

Asbach chocolate liqueur manufacturer: http://www.asbach.de/weiche.htm

Overhead rail in Wuppertal: http://www.schwebebahn.de/

Neanderthal museum: http://www.neanderthal.de/

Köln Rhine cable car: http://www.koelner-seilbahn.de/english

i would try to get over to the mosel for a day or two as it is very quaint. burg eltz is spectacular.

bielstein is quite nice, too.
bernkastel-kues is a real treat.
cochem has a great castle and town.(Mosel)

the youth hostel castle (stahleck) in bacharach is really nice.

assmanhausen and rudesheim are nice photo ops, too.(rhein)

we just did both rivers again in three full days, but had a car.there is a lot of wonderful hiking.. (lorely look out area)among others. if the weather behaves you will have a wonderful time.

the buses, trains and boats are all very well coordinated.if you do not have a car i would suggest buying a ticket on a boat and using the schedule stop along the way at the towns that perk your interest.

we easily found lodgings for 30-35 euros/person with breakfast.

Certain railpasses confer <u>free</u> travel on the K-D boats, and <u>discounts</u> on others. The free ones consume a pass day; the discounts do not.

So you could start a day at the southern end and work your way downstream, stopping off here and there as your interest and schedules permit. Then finish the day with a short train ride back to your base.

Cool WW II museum in supports of war-ravaged &quot;Bridge at Remagen&quot;:

www.bruecke-remagen.de

A second vote for Marksburg Castle.

St. Goar is the best base town for the Middle Rhine region IMO partly because of the ferry across to St. Goarshausen (which has a train station and service to Marksburg in Braubach and the east bank of the Rhine.) Also because of the cheap hostel (on the cliffside just below Rheinfels Castle ruins, easy walk though) and the very pleasant scenery and ambience of St. Goar (3 castles visible from town.)

Agree w/lincasanova that the Mosel is worth your time - lots of good biking paths and hiking trails. Stay in nice B&amp;B in the old town of Cochem (Frau Hilken at Loehrstr. 20, 20 Euros/night.)

Other accommodations for this area:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/accommo...hinemosel.html