My wife and I will be in St. Goar for 2 days in May; does anyone have suggestions for sites to see, things to do, interesting side trips in the St. Goar area?

Will you be driving or using the trains?
Bacharach is just south, and interesting. Remagen (famous bridge from WWii town), but the bridge is not there anymore.
The cathedral in Cologne is awesome to see.
Going south on the Rhine to Koblenz, then west up the Mosel river valley is neat too. Near Cochem (neat city) is Burg Eltz, but not easy to get to if you don't have your own car.
There is something famous at some church in Koblenz, but I am not sure. I just heard another traveler wanting to go there specifically to see "it". Maybe another person can fill us in on that.
EK

Assmannshausen, on the river, has a chair lift that takes you from downtown Assmannshausen up the hills for a beautiful view of the vineyards. The chairlift will drop you off and allow you to take a very nice walk through the woods to Rudesheim. You'll walk down to the town of Rudesheim and pass a pretty interesting monument. can't remember what the monument is for, but it must be 200 feet high and pretty darn impressive.

Of course, you have the River Rhein cruise ship to enjoy a nice leisurely ride on the river

In Rudesheim you have the Drosselgasse, a very touristy street full of small restaurants and bars.

In Rudesheim you will also find a mid-evil torture museum. Pretty interesting.

To echo, the Rhine cruise between St. Goar and Bacharach (or farther) is particularly scenic (a number of castles). Check to make sure the cruises are operating in May (I think so). Consider cruising one direction and training back. Bacharach has a small castle/youth hostel above it, makes for a nice hike (there are stairs and a path). The castle is not the most interesting, though. There is a destroyed church in Bacharach that I would love to know the story behind (which you will walk past if you hike to to the castle). Of course Rhinesfels (sp?) in St. Goar is immense. Enjoy the wine. You can train to Moselkern on the Mosel to tour Berg Eltz, but it is a long (though pretty) hike to the castle. Search the names of any of these castles/towns and you'll get a lot more info.

We stayed 2 nights in St Goar this past September. We climbed up the road to go through the Rheinfels ruins. (there is a great 'guide' for this in Rick Steve's book, I guess the one for Germany, better than the one the cashier gives out). The main part of St Goar is very small, a few shops (Europe's biggest cuckoo clock?) and a couple of restaurants. We ate at the Italian one (La Fontana) - good food, very inexpensive. We also ate dinner at our hotel at Am Markt, which was fine. There is a nice riverside park to watch the boats go by and look up at the castles (you can see 3 from there).

We took the train to Boppard (2 stops north), which is a good bit bigger but still characteristic, and took the mini-train to the chair lift. I highly (no pun intended) recommend the chair lift and the outdoor terrace/cafe at the top. It gives a beautiful valley view, showcasing the river's hairpin turn, and the cold cuts platter and beer (or wine) was refreshing. We also rented bicycles in Boppard, and rode along the river and back for a couple of hours.

It was a fun and relaxing couple of days, hope you find it to be the same.

Yes, I can only reinforce what others have said. Bacharach, Assmannshausen, Rudesheim (this last one esp at night), Cologne, and along the Mosel to Cochem & Berg Eltz. It's all wonderful.

"You can train to Moselkern on the Mosel to tour Berg Eltz, but it is a long (though pretty) hike to the castle."

But if you have a car, you can get to a prking lot with an easy walk to Burg Eltz. We did it last year and it's simple.

Ignore the Burg Eltz signs in Moselkern and follow the signs to Munstermaifeld. It seemed like we were headed in the wrong direction but in about seven kilometers we came to a T in the road. Signs to Burg Eltz popped up again.

We made a left and went though the tiny town of Wierscheim and from Wierscheim's exit sign it was only 2km to the Burg Eltz Upper parking facility. It was an easy 10 -15 minute walk down to the castle from there which was fortuitous because the day we went was extremely hot for the Mosel area.

Burg Eltz is great. I recommend it even if you have to take the longer hike. Have fun.

I loved Germany, but there's no "There" there in St. Goar and in general on the Rhine in that area. We stayed one night at St. Goar, took a cruise to Bacharach the next morning, and were ready to leave by early afternoon.

mendocino: St. Goar is the most scenic spot on the river and a very good base for the Rhine, with trains and boats coming and going and a ferry across the river to another town (no bridges between Mainz and Koblenz, so this is important if you sant to go across!) There are dozens of interesting things to do in the immediate area of St. Goar, and you could easily spend 4-5 days there; hopefully, you will be better informed on what to do than mary fran in the previous post.

Burg Eltz makes for a really good tour, but it's a bit time-consuming to get there for such a short stay as yours unless you have a car. A good tour alternative is Marksburg Castle across the river and north in the town of Braubach; tours are usually in German but an English handout is available, and it would be good to check www.ricksteves.com for tour and castle info. Just ferry across at St. Goar and drive or train north to Braubach.

Also just across the river from St. Goar and about 2 km north is Burg Maus Castle. No tours, but there is a good falconry show there in the castle courtyard twice daily.

Travelnut has excellent advice on the chairlift ride in Boppard - a real treat. The lookout is called the Vierseenblick - a spot from which the Rhine appears to be 4 separate lakes, and a great place to have a beer. Boppard also has some Roman ruins, a nice old town center, and great atmosphere.

Hiking along the cliffs between St. Goar and Oberwesel through pasture and vineyards provides wonderful views of the river and the Loreley; a trail begins behind the St. Goar train station - steep climb to the top, lovely, easy walk from there to the south (get a good map if hiking all the way to Oberwesel, another very attractive town.)

Linz, just north of Koblenz on the east bank, is an even more attractive town than Bacharach, IMO. just north and across the river (passenger ferry in Erpel) is Remagen, site of the famous WWII bridge collapse and home to a museum that chronicles the taking of the Rhine by American troops. The museum is inside the supports of the old bridge.

All this is just along one short stretch of the Rhine, of course. Slightly more distant towns such as Cochem, Cologne, Trier, and Mainz might also be possiblities if you have a particular interest in seeing them.

Take a short boat ride - that's fun for a while - but be sure to get into some of these towns and do some exploring - they're wonderful.

The main boat operator is Köln-Düsseldorfer (www.k-d.com) whose sailings start before Easter. There are several others, including www.hoelzenbein.de and www.bingen-ruedesheimer.com. As others have said, there are railway lines on both sides of the river with trains at least every hour. The ferry runs from St. Goar to St. Goarshausen (www.rheinschiffahrt-goar.de).

I'll offer another big recommendation for Burg Eltz. It was one of my favorite castles of the many we visted in Germany. Their website is: http://www.burg-eltz.de/e_index.html

Have a great trip! I've been living back in the States for a month now, and already wish I was "back home" in Germany

We were in St. Goar for two weeks last May. Had a great time using the trains and boats, going up and down the river. I will second the chairlift from Assmanhausen and then down to Rudesheim. In Rudesheim there is a fun little museum called "Siegfried's Mechanische Musikkabinett"---it has a great collection of mechanical musical instruments. I'm not a great museum fan, but I loved this one. Also, if you are really lucky, you will be St. Goar during the medieval weekend at the Rheinfels Castle. They have a "Ritter-Turnier" (Knight's Tournament) which shouldnt be missed. I don't know if this will be your only time in Germany, but you will be there during "Spargel" (Asparagus) harvest. It's on every menu, served with various accompaniments. Not the kind of asparagus we are used to. They are white, very large, and they tend, in my opinion, to overcook it. But it's still interesting to eat. have fun.

mendocino-

The "Spargel" mentioned by Gerhardt is not to be missed! Definitely brings back wonderful memories for me!

A hearty thank you to EVERYONE who replied!

I notice that almost everyone gives St Goar an excellent review. I do realize that 4 days may be too much to spend along the Rhine, but to try to soak in all that the Rhine has to offer in one day really doesn't make much sense to me.

Has anyone out there been to the torture museum in Rudesheim? We went to the museum and found it fascinating. Very disturbing, but pretty fascinating.

Also, can someone tell me some of specifics of the monument that sits on top of the hill overlooking Rudesheim.

Happy travelling everyone!!!

Winnepeg-

According to my book, the monument is the "Niederwald Monument", erected 1877-83 as symbol of Germany's unity. It is a figure of Germania, which measures 10.5m, plus a 25m pedestal with reliefs all over. You can get up there by chairlifts from either Rudesheim or Assmannshausen. Should be a great view from up there! I've only seen it from the cruise ferry.

Thought I'd send you a short message about a restaurant that we found in Hattenheim, about 40 minutes by train from where you'll be on the Rhein.

Hattenheim is next to Eltville (www.eltville.de), supposedly the oldest town along the Rhein. Anyway, I had heard about a small restaurant run by a guy named Bernard Barth in Hattenheim. So 2 years ago, in September 2002, I stopped with my group on the way to our hotel in Kaub. We had just landed in Frankfurt, were plenty hungry, and wanted to have a meal at this restaurant, but it was closed. We didn't know that Bernard wasn't open until later in the afternoon for dinner. Anyway, after dragging our luggage across the railroad tracks and down a small street, and after ringing the doorbell more than once, Bernard opened his bedroom window on the the third floor of his house, wasn't really pleased to see us at first, but agreed to open his backyard to us 2 or 3 hours earlier than normal. He sat with us for some of those three hours. He was so accomodating and friendly that he brought out some of his own wine and schnapps and gave us our own little private tasting. We sat in his backyard for more than 3 hours, drank plenty of Bitburgers, plenty of wine, and plenty of schnapps. Brought his children out to show us that they spoke a bit of English. Ended up having a meal with him. Food was excellent and the service and accomodations were beyond most anything I have ever experienced in Germany.(It helped that I spoke German, but the restaurant is still worth a stop if you are in the area.)

If you do decide to stop in at Bernard Barths restaurant, please do me a favor and bring him a copy of this Fodor's message. I told him that I would give him an excellent review whenever I can. I told him that I would share what we experienced with others on these travel forums. He'll be happy to see that I kept my word.

Have a great time and if you enjoy adult beverages, consider taking the train from St. Goar.(Not sure what side of the river St Goar is on. I usually get confused between St. Goar and St. Goarshausen).
Mark

Winnepeg,

The tall structure you refer to is Germania.

The bronze casting of Germania is 41 ft. tall and is placed on an 85 ft. high granite base; 126 ft. total. It's very impressive.

The design was submitted in 1872. Germania was completed in the late 1800s and is dedicated to the German people for their victorious struggles against France, which made the German empire possible.

It's possible to drive right up to the monument.

Curious