St, Goar or Bacharach

Old Dec 10th, 2017, 12:44 PM
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St, Goar or Bacharach

My wife and I will in the the St. Goar / Bacharach area on March 20 for 2 nights.
I would appreciate help in deciding which city to stay in and what place to spend the 2 nights.
We will be driving in. I would like to stay in a town where we could walk to a restaurant for dinner and a bar after.
Also would like suggestions on what to do and see in the area. We do plan on taking a river cruise on the Loreley-Linie.
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Old Dec 10th, 2017, 01:14 PM
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Are you there one full day or two? If two then Marksburg Castle is a great visit -the only authentically intact medieval castle on this part of the Rhine. Hopefully a Fodorite expert fuzzbucket will see this and give you lots of advice.
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Old Dec 10th, 2017, 02:08 PM
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In Germany you needn't go to a bar after a meal in a restaurant. Just have some additional wine or beer at the same table. Nobody will bring you your check unless you call for it.
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Old Dec 10th, 2017, 04:31 PM
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We really enjoyed our stay in Bacharach. We ate at two wonderful quaint restaurants right in the center of town. Easy walking from anywhere...it is a small town. We enjoyed our visit to Marksburg castle. Pack a picnic and enjoy your river cruise.
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Old Dec 10th, 2017, 04:49 PM
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Bindery,

I visited the Mosel and Rhine this past May. On the Rhine, I stayed above St. goar at castle Shoenberg hotel. It was fantastic and they have an excellent restaurant for dinner. Weather wont be warm enough for dinner on the terraces with the beautiful views, but I would still recommend it. When staying at the castle, you really must have a car and since you do.....

I did the river cruise on the K&D line all the way from Rudesheim to past St. goar. Honestly, I could have gone a shorter distance and been happy.

I toured Marksburg and enjoyed it, but make sure you know when a tour in your language will be given. In May the English tours were quite a few hours apart so I settled on German with a printed paper guide in English. Not so great.

I also toured Burg Eltz on the Mosel and liked it better.
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Old Dec 10th, 2017, 06:08 PM
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"I would like to stay in a town where we could walk to a restaurant for dinner and a bar after."

Both St. Goar and Bacharach are appealing towns worth visiting, but the town of Boppard, just north of St. Goar on the same side of the river, would likely be best for your stated interests. It's a very enjoyable town for walking and snooping around. There's a large main square with outdoor cafes adjacent to the cathedral.

http://home.kpn.nl/JLKampen1961/alb/...%20Boppard.jpg


There's a nice riverfront promenade, nicer and longer than in St. Goar or Bacharach.

http://schnuggel-elsje.de/upload/Bilder/IMG_0131.JPG


There are more lodging, dining and drinking options in Boppard than in the other towns, including two at the top of Boppard's chairlift ride (Gedeonseck is the better of the two.)

http://ext.pimg.tw/samlucky5711/1379...g?v=1379089585

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...%B6merburg.JPG

http://www.deutschlandgourmet.info/b...ab-Boppard.jpg

Boppard also has a car/passenger ferry, which makes it easy to cross over for a visit to Marksburg Castle in Braubach:

http://www.faehre-boppard.de/s/cc_im...g?t=1426781287
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Old Dec 11th, 2017, 04:29 AM
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Boppard looks like just our kind of place.
Reading some other Fodors post one recommended Hotel Bellevue Rheinhotel. It looks like a good place to stay.
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Old Dec 11th, 2017, 06:44 AM
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I did the river cruise on the K&D line all the way from Rudesheim to past St. goar. Honestly, I could have gone a shorter distance and been happy.>

IME many get bored on these cruises - not sure why and I am always excited to take them but many seem to do - for lots on this area check www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Boppard is great -but be sure to get a hotel without noise from main highways and train line that cuts thru town. Fuzzbucket again is an absolute expert on everything in this area.
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Old Dec 11th, 2017, 07:48 AM
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We stayed 4 nights at the Bellevue Rheinhotel in Boppard this past May.

The hotel is very well located, has a beautiful restaurant for reasonably priced breakfast and I did not hear any train noise. The only draw back is that the rooms did not have A/C, so in the heat of the summer it could be uncomfortable. But you are going in March, so it will be all right.
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Old Dec 11th, 2017, 07:48 AM
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Train noise: Bacharach is a "narrow" town that hugs the tracks; reviews for Bacharach hotels show relatively many complaints, but it depends on the hotel... Hotels that line Blücherstrasse are further from the tracks (but also further from town.) Scan the reviews carefully for this problem.

Not so many train noise problems in St. Goar and Boppard but check the reviews anyway. Morning church bells can be bothersome if you're near the cathedral (this is true in most towns.) It pays to take ear plugs with you anyway.

Cruise: You probably should avoid the Loreley-Linie. It does not cover the best stretch of river (Rüdesheim to St. Goar) at all in March (and only once per week in April.) Bingen-Rüdesheimer offers daily cruises and normally begins their spring cruise season before the other companies; they're 2018 schedule isn't posted yet but I would check B-R in a month or two to see.

(Have you given me a nickname, Palenq, or does your personal device autocorrect to "Fuzzbucket?" Anyway thx for the strokes.)
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Old Dec 11th, 2017, 08:02 AM
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The only reason I picked the Loreley-Linie is that they state they will run cruises in March when we are there.
I will check Bingen-Rüdesheimer before we go.
I checked on the chair lift ride and the website showed it is down for maintenance. Does it normally run in March?
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Old Dec 11th, 2017, 08:12 AM
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K-D.com also runs boats at that time - www.k-d.com.
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Old Dec 11th, 2017, 09:59 AM
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I went on KD and did enjoy it. I just probably could have finished in St Goar.
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Old Dec 11th, 2017, 10:05 AM
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"The only reason I picked the Loreley-Linie is that they state they will run cruises in March when we are there."

They operate their "Loreley cruises" at that time - their territory is the northern part between Boppard and St. Goar:

http://www.loreley-linie.de/lorel-e.html

This is a very small cruise segment and a less attractive segment than the area south of St. Goar.

As you can see from this timetable, L-L operates in the southern half ("castle cruises") only on Wednesdays and only starting in April:

http://www.loreley-linie.de/rued-e.html

So yes, it would be wise to check B-R and K-D later before deciding and to use one of them instead - as long as they are operating while you are there - if you want the best scenery.

Also, whichever company you choose, do your cruise from south to north. Starting in Rüdesheim is possible but not advisable if you stay in Boppard, St. Goar or Bacharach; BINGEN (just across the Rhine from R'heim) is better since it lies on the same side of the river as your base town and you can catch a train to Bingen. There is no train to Rüdesheim unless you first cross the river by ferry boat (probably in St. Goar.) So you have two basic steps:

1.) Train to BINGEN

2.) Cruise boat from Bingen north to St. Goar (or you can stay on the boat and cruise north to Boppard if your room is there.)

(If you are staying in Bacharach, step 3 is to catch a train from St. Goar back to Bacharach.)

If you board the boat in your base town and cruise south, it will take you nearly twice as long to do your cruise. The cruise boat must buck a very strong current in that direction.
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Old Dec 11th, 2017, 11:49 AM
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K-D I think requires reservations in off-season to assure boat runs.
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Old Dec 14th, 2017, 08:45 AM
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Hopefully a Fodorite expert fuzzbucket will see this and give you lots of advice.>Oops mean to say fussganger who as usual posts such great info as above. Fuzz knows a lot too but fussganger knows this area so so well. Pay good attention to his/her advice.
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