aussiedreamer

We arrive into Dusseldorf early on a Tuesday morning from Australia. We are hiring a car to explore for nearly 4 weeks. Our route is pretty well worked out, I'm struggling to decided where to stay for the first two nights. We'd like to stay in a German town/village with some atmosphere and history. We have previously been to Rothenburg and loved it.

I'd love to hear your suggestions, somewhere where we can stay in a nice/cosy hotel and walk around to stretch our legs after our long flight and have some lovely meals.

Mainhattengirl

Bacharach or Boppard. Eltville is my favorite, but it is farther down the Rhine.

PalenQ

Slightly off the Rhine, on the wonderful Mosel Valley (which many find more beautiful than the Rhine Gorge) check out Cochem for a fairy-tale town to unwind in after a long flight and the Mosel Valley is one of the primo motoring areas in Europe for scenery - consider a drive up the river from Cochem - there is the castle of your dreams sticking out of vineyards in the city center andf a winery with the vaunted Mosel wines to visit right in the heart of the city.

https://www.google.com/search?q=coch...w=1745&bih=868

PalenQ

Rudesheim is a nice small cozy town but it is also tour bus central as groups stay in the many many many hotels in conjunction with a K-D boat tour - boarding here. Kind of ruins the atmosphere of a quiet Rhine town (well the Rhine is boisterous with two busy rail lines and roads running down the very narrow Rhine gorge) - if getting a hotel in a Rhine village be sure to ask if there is any road or rail noise - a NYTimes article not long ago said such noises were a plague of some hotels and towns, especially on the western bank where it is a major rail line running freight and passenger trains night and day plus a busy road.

Fussgaenger

Indeed Ruedesheim is touristy. Bacharach's inns are often plagued by train noise - but you can avoid that problem by staying in the Bluecher Valley part of town. Boppard is a great choice - it's generally well-shielded from train noise and has a wide selection of lodging and dining options. Also, it's well located for a cruise (start in Bingen, end in Boppard) and for day trips to the other Rhine towns AND to the Mosel. Nice buildings and some Roman ruins as well.

aussiedreamer

Perfect, thank you all. I was starting to worry about Ruedesheim's tourist influx (yes, I know we're tourist...;-) )and every hotel I researched in Bacharach, mentioned train noise.

So thanks again, Boppard & Cochem look amazing.

Percy

If you stay at Boppard, then the three hotels right alolng the river are:
Hotel Gunther
Bellevue Best Western and
Baudobriga.

All are equally nice.

The town is quaint and easy to walk ( See the Roman Walls there )

But make sure you take the Chair lift at Boppard .

It is a nice ride up with spectacular views back to Boppard and the whole valley.

Here at the top you will come to the Vierseenbleek.

(The Vierseenblick got its name because the viewer from there you can look at four different sections of the Rhine,
as if there were four lakes. )

You will stand here and look down at the Rhine , but it looks like 4 lakes spaced apart.!

PalenQ

Boppard does seem to be one of the nicer Rhine towns but still is not have the dreamy looks of a Cochem. Maybe stay a few days in each.