Friends,

I am driving North from Fussen on the Romantic road to Wurburg/frankfurt. I am arriving at Warburg or Frankfurt on May-19 and thent to do a day trip of Rhine river Cruise. I want to avoid going to Frankfurt if I can. I have 1 day in Frankfurt area for River cruise and on May-20 I have early train for Prague.

Looking for half day river cruise that covers castles/nature/wine tasting. I read the popular Loreley Valley with boats departing from Rüdesheim or Bingen to St Goar and St Goarhausen.

I need some help with
1. Where do I take the day cruise from?
2. Stay night Wurbug or Frankfurt or else where to get the cruise
3. Do I return the car before the cruise or after on May-19.

Please suggest.

Regards,
indtraveller2020

1. Take the cruise from Mainz. The area between Mainz and Frankfurt (which is the Main, not the Rhine) is dead. Cruises typically take in Mainz - Koblenz as that is the picturesque part. If you prefer you can start on the other side of the river, at Rüdesheim.

2. Return the car to Frankfurt Airport - that is where most of the car companies are represented. Return it the night before, you don't want to worry about the car the morning of your train.

3. You can if you wish go back to Mainz and stay there (so close to Frankfurt, only about 40 mins by train) but since you have an early train which I assume leaves from Frankfurt, why not one of the better places around Frankfurt train station such as the Adina? Otherwise the area near Mainz station is OK, just pick a hotel there. Frankfurt can be a bit dodgy but if you pick a good hotel you will be OK there.

Lavandula

I took the Rhine cruises on K-D River Cruise Line (K-D stands for Koln-Dusseldorfer) in 2017 while based in Boppard for 4 nights. Here is K-D's schedule for 2022:
KD_Fahrplan_intern_2022_web.pdf

Go to your local public library to borrow a current edition of Rick Steves' Germany guide book. It has a section called "The Best of the Rhine" which explains about taking these Rhine cruise in great details. Basically:
1) The Rhine River flows very fast, a river cruise up-stream would take 2 times as long as down-stream. Therefore I took the boat in down-stream direction to save time.
2) The most scenic segment of the Rhine is called Rhine Gorge, the stretch between Bingen to Koblenz. Loreley (or Lorelei) Rock is just south of St. Goar.

Assume you are going during the "high season" (May 1st to October 3rd), there is a scheduled cruise departing Bacharach at 10:00, arriving at St. Goarshausen at 10:45. St. Goarshausen is on the opposite side of the Rhine river from St. Goar. If you want to continue on to Boppard, then you'll have to wait and take the 11:40 boat leaving St. Goarshausen to Boppard.

If you want to start from Bingen or Rudesheim, read guide books on how far it is from the respective train stations to the boat dock, so as to gauge your timing. There was a booth selling boat tickets at the boat dock.

In 2017, I took train from Boppard to Bacharach, cruised from Bacharach to St. Goar for 40-minute, passing the Loreley (or Lorelei) Rock. On another day, I cruised from Boppard to Koblenz, spent the afternoon in Koblenz then trained back to Boppard.

Thanks for you responses.

Looks like there is more to see on the Rhine so adjusted itinerary

Day 1 : Rent car in Fussen. castles tour and drive north on the Romantic road. Over night at Nördlingen
Day 2: Drive to Wurburg on the Romantic road. Night at Wurburg.
Day 3: Car return in Wurburg. Take train to Rhine valley. Boat Cruise - Part 1
Day 4: Boat cruise - part 2, Koblenz cable car, castle and wine tour if possible
Day 5 : Train to Prague
Day 6: Prague
Day 7: Prague
Day 8: Train from Prague to Vienna
Day 9 : I have early flight from Vienna back home

Need help here.
Reading54 Based on the boat timings there is no direct boat from Bingen to Koblez. Added 2 nights so we can do the cruise, Koblenz cable car & castle, winery tour. Need help for stay - Bingen, Boppard or Koblenz ?
My wife is more interested more of Germany. What you recommend Prague or (Berlin, Desden, Leipsiz.) for days 5 to 8

Appreciate your help.

Your plan would work providing your car rental company has offices in Würzburg, as it is a secondary city. Frankfurt Airport is not Frankfurt, as you requested, it is about 10km west of the city, in Kelsterbach.

If you have more time, perhaps you could fit Dresden in - a short journey from Prague and very worthwhile.

Boppard is a good size for stays on the Rhine. I prefer it to Bingen. If you chose Bingen there would be no need for a part 2 of the boat cruise as Bingen is close to Mainz, and would require you to take the return journey on the same day as part 1. There is the possibility of train on the Rhine also, if you miss a return boat (train on both sides).

Lavandula

I see that lavandula has already given you some good advice.
Below are what I can contribute:

1. "There is no direct boat from Bingen to Koblenz." True, unless you want to cruise in the up-stream direction, Koblenz to Bingen, 9am ~ 3pm, 6 hours. Even if you were to get off at Bacharach, that is still 4h30m, too long in my opinion.

2. Between Boppard and Koblenz, the Rhine river is wider. The only impressive sight to me personally was when the towering white Marksburg Castle came into view. Therefore, if time is tight, I'd suggest to cruise from Bingen to St. Goarshausen, 9:15 ~ 10:45, for 90 minutes.

3. To compensate for a short Rhine cruise, you may consider taking train from St. Goarshausen to "Cochem(Mosel)" to visit the picturesque town by the Mosel River. (You'll have to change train in Koblenz.) Or, just train to Koblenz and spend the afternoon in Koblenz if that is what you prefer. Train back to your hotel at the end of the day. (See the attached map below with Cochem on the Mosel circled.)

4. Where to stay? You'll have to pick a town for easy transportation coming and going. Use Bahn.com to check train schedule/time on a few candidates to decide. I stayed at Bellevue Rheinhotel in Boppard, a beautiful property by the Rhine river, but I had 4 nights and was in a leisurely pace.

5. Prague or Berlin? Depending on which city is more appealing to you. You won't go wrong with either. Consider joining a walking tour (Sandemans or other companies') on the first day as an introduction to the city.

lavandula your are correct. There is no car returns in Wurburg, so it has to be Frankfurt.

Day 1 : Rent car in Fussen. castles tour and drive north on the Romantic road. Over night at Nördlingen
Day 2: Drive to Wurburg on the Romantic road. Night at Wurburg.
Day 3: Car return in Frankfurt. 2 nights in Bingen
Take train to Bingen Rhine valley. Boat Cruise - Bingen to St. Goarshausen
Day 4: Morning - Koblenz cable car, castle
Afternoon - Koblenz to Cochem train. Afternoon in Cochem.
Day 5 : Train to Prague
Day 6: Prague - City tour from Sandmans (reserved)
Day 7: Day trip to Dresden
Day 8: Train from Prague to Vienna
Day 9 : I have early flight from Vienna back home

Last questions :
1. I dont see a cruise from Koblenz to Cochem, except the panoramic cruise for 1 hr in Cochem. Is this correct.
2. Any wineries/wine tasting places you suggest?

Thanks again

My response to your "Last questions":

1) No cruise from Koblenz to Cochem. Mosel river merges into Rhine river at Koblenz. The 1-hr panoramic cruise from Cochem seems to be your only option from K-D. Your train track to Cochem runs along the narrow Mosel river lined with grapevines. Cochem is very pretty. Even if your timing cannot make an 1-hr cruise, the trip to Cochem will not be a total loss.

2) I do not drink wine, therefore have not paid attention to wineries. Hope someone else more knowledgeable in that regard can give you recommendations.

There are wineries all along the right bank of the Rhine. In particular Rüdesheim has tasing centres for people who do not have a lot of time, but there are places you can try the wine in most villages between Rüdesheim and Eltville.

I also have to warn you - you are making your trip a lot more difficult, unfeasible even, by adding Dresden without adding more days. You have no time left for Prague but have many added travel hours. Same by adding in wineries - you have no extra time for this. If you want to add in extra activities you must add in more days.

Lavandula

.... and while we are on the subject of time I will also point out that the Romantic Road's best feature is the fact that it connects so many pretty towns, but itself is not picturesque. You don't mention visiting any towns on the road so I assume you are just driving it. I hope you will not be disappointed, you have budgeted a lot of time for travel and driving and left no time for actually seeing most of the sights (unless you plan to see Würzburg overnight?).

Lavandula

I should add, there are wineries on the left bank as well but locals prefer the wine from the right bank because it gets more sunlight and is better wine. No comfort if you are in Rheinhessen, which is the left bank!

Lavandula

Thank you all for your help.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip!