I am flying to Frankfurt in early April and would like to take the boat (tour) via Maine then Rhine to Düsseldorf or Köln (Cologne). Is that possible and where can I find info on it? I realize that there will be stops on the way but is it possible to do this in one day?
Thanks
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The part from Frankfurt till Bingen isn%26#39;t interesting or scenic. I dont think there are day tours along this stretch at all, but am not sure. It would make sense actually to go to Bingen or at least Mainz, and take a boat from there to Bonn, then a train to Köln. The river stretches from Frankfurt to Bingen and Bonn to Köln are rather flat and heavily industrialized.
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I fully agree with altamiro. The part between Ruedesheim/Bingen and Bonn is the most scenic part of the River Rhine valley, there%26#39;s not much to see between Frankfurt and Bingen and Bonn and Cologne. Furthermore, in early April, the Winter schedule applies with only a couple of boats running.
Check out this web page (scroll down for winter schedule which applies until April 30th):
koeln-duesseldorfer.de/englisch/schiffstoure…
As you can see, your options are leaving Ruedesheim on 9.15 to Koblenz and arriving there at 13.10 or leaving Ruedesheim at 16.15 arriving at 20.10 in Koblenz.
Ruedesheim is about 1.5 hours by regional from Frankfurt/Main.
But don%26#39;t worry, the River between Ruedesheim and Koblenz is by far the most beautiful part of it and should give you plenty to see. Koblenz is well worth a visit and a nice town, eben for a overnight stay or a sidestep into the River Mosella valley. From Koblenz you can easily go on with your journey by train back to Frankfurt (1.5 hours) or northbound towards Cologne (1 hour)
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Thank you very much! Exactly what I wanted to know.
Looks like I%26#39;ll be taking the rail from Frankfurt to Rüdesheim, staying overnight, then to Koblenz via boat the next day. From Koblenz again take the rail to wherever we want to go next.
Whats the boat dock and rail locations like? Best to use a taxi? What is the going rate for taxi%26#39;s?
First time to Germany therefore lots of questions.
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Correction! Take the rail from Frankfurt to Bingen instead as it is much quicker (around an hour) than Rüdesheim (over 2 hours).
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Agree with both posts above - there is nothing special about the view from the Rhine until you get to Bingen. At Bingen is where there are picturesque hills, valleys, vineyards, castles, and %26quot;sound of music%26quot; type villages along the river.
You can take the KD boat from Bingen rather than Rudesheim. That way you can stay on the same side as Koblenz - not that it really matters. The winter schedule KD boat leaves at 09:30 from Bingen. However, if you are arriving from Canada into the Frankfurt Main Airport that same morning, you won%26#39;t have time to get that 09:30 departure (Unless you arrive very early-06:00). Otherwise, you%26#39;re stuck with that night trip and there%26#39;s not much to see of the Rhine valley at night, except for the lit-up villages. From Frankfurt Flughafen(airport) to Bingen Stadt is a 1 hr trip (you%26#39;d get off at Bingen Stadt(city) and not Bingen Hauptbahnhof-Bingen hauptbahnhof is actually in Bingerbrück, which is just across the Nahe River and walkable to the KD boat landing, but Bingen Stadt is closer).
Take the boat from Bingen to Koblenz, as mentioned in the other posts. There are direct trains from Koblenz to Frankfurt flughafen which take 1hr %26amp; 11 mins.
Do you have a long layover in Frankfurt(what time are you arriving) or are you staying for a few days?
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Thanks for the great info! I am arriving in Frankfurt March 31 and plan on staying until Apr 4. On the 4th I will take the Rhine Tour from Bingen to Koblenz. From there take the rail to Dortmund to visit friends. Im actually staying in Germany until Apr 27 therefore starting to plan out my trip. This is only the first part of the trip so far. Later Im planning on going to Munichen for 7 nights to see castles and mountains.
Of course any tips/recommendations/advice is more than welcome.
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OK, no long layover. You can take the train from the airport to Rudesheim or Bingen and stay in either city. There is a passenger/personenfahre ferry that will take you between the two cities - round trip is 2,80 euro and about a 10-15 minute ride across the Rhine.
The KD boat, for your trip to Koblenz, will pick you up at Rudesheim or Bingen(aka Bingen am Rhein), which ever town you choose to stay overnight.
I%26#39;d probably choose Bingen. It%26#39;s more convenient, you at least get that extra 15 mins to get ready, eat, or whatever before catching the boat...And there is a KD office on the riverwalk where they can help you. There should be one in Rudesheim as well.
Once you arrive in Koblenz at the KD boat Landing, I suggest you visit(time permitting, are you leaving for Dortmund right away):
Deutsches Eck - it%26#39;s where the Rhine meets the Mosel River. There%26#39;s a large statue of Emperor Wilhelm I erected in 1897 and destroyed in 1945. A replica was placed in 1993. You can climb up to the top of it for a %26#39;bird%26#39;s eye view%26#39; of the Rhine and Mosel rivers.
Other sites to consider-Basilika St. Kastor(church), Liebfrauenkirche(church), Florinskirche(church), Rathaus(town hall-nice plaza to stop and have a break), Munz platz and Am plan (both nice plazas)- walk along the pedestrian streets of Lohrstrasse-Marktstrasse for shopping.
You can walk along the Rhine riverwalk to get back to the hauptbahnhof-there is a bicycle/pedestrian sidewalk all the way to Bingen along the Rhine. But walk to the street-Januarius-Zick and make a right - that will take you all the way to the train station/hauptbahnhof.
From what it sounds like you will have luggage with you. After you arrive at the KD boat landing - I have no idea where to store your luggage except maybe at the Koblenz hauptbahnhof (lockers). There is a tourist info. office across the Bahnhof platz (Bahnhofplatz 17) where you can pick up a free city map of Koblenz.
You might consider visiting Marksburg Castle(Marksburg Castle is the only castle on the Rhine that has never been destroyed. It has been lived in for over 700 years). Winter hours until April 7 - 11am-4pm, first and last admission, guided tours(50 minutes) on the hour, admission is 4,50 euro.
http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm
You can take the KD boat from Bingen to Braubach, where Marksburg Castle is located. Then walk to the castle(uphill 20 mins) or take their trolley service there. Check the Marksburg castle website.
Or take a KD boat from Koblenz to Braubach-but I cannot find any timetables from Koblenz to Braubach - I%26#39;m pretty sure there has to be service, but still on their winter schedule and infrequent.
Bingen to Braubach(09:30-12:30) on the KD boat, tour the castle and sightsee Braubach. Then after that, I don%26#39;t see any other boats to take you to Koblenz. But you can take the train (or a bus) from Braubach bahnhof/station to Koblenz, which is a 15 minute trip by train. The Rhine scenery after Braubach just repeats itself on the way to Koblenz, if you wanted to fit in the Castle.
Since you are going on to Dortmund that same day as the boat trip(April 4), you can fit in your riverboat cruise from Bingen to Braubach, see Marksburg Castle, then take the train from Braubach to Dortmund with a change of trains in Koblenz. Otherwise if you want to see Koblenz, you would have to skip the castle - just trying to fit too much in one day and the KD winter service doesn%26#39;t make anything more convenient.
As for Rudesheim - go up to the Niederwald monument by using the seilbahn from the town and walk along the Drosselgasse(it%26#39;s the famous long, narrow street(alley way really) and very touristy.
As for Bingen - walk around Burg Klopp Castle(not available for tours), walk in the moat as well as down the terraced area/stairs in front, facing the downtown. Wander around the pedestrian areas. A nice local bar to have a beer or something to eat is at the Binger Sommergarten, right on the Rhine%26#39;s edge by the train track crossing. They do have an outdoor patio, if it is open at that time. The tourist info office is on the south side of the train tracks between the Bingen stadt stop and the KD boat office. If you do stay in Bingen, take the train to the Bingen hauptbahn stop and take a taxi to your hotel. Fares run anywhere from 3-5 euros to where we stayed(at a friend%26#39;s house), about a 20-25 minute walk from the hauptbahnhof station. There are no taxi%26#39;s waiting at the Bingen stadt station. In Bingen, you are either walking uphill or downhill...
You can check for hotel%26#39;s at Rudesheim city website.
A few hotel websites in Bingen:
www.nh-hotels.com - this is the largest convention hotel in Bingen and is right on the Rhine. I suggest you try looking here first for a room in Bingen. It%26#39;s convenient to everything.
www.weingut-hemmes.de
www.weinhotel-michel.de
www.hotel-krone-bingen.de
www.servicehotel.org
www.hotel-koeppel.de
City of Bingen am Rhein%26#39;s website-
www.bingen.de/tourist/englisch/index.php
Rudesheim-
http://www.ruedesheim.de/en/index.html
Bingen to Rudesheim ferry service-
bingen-ruedesheimer.com/rhine-cruise/index.h…
You can check DB for train timetables-
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
By the way I have a trip report of our stay, in the Bingen Forum. Here%26#39;s the link, if you want to read it. It%26#39;s long-
tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g198429-i6538-k334…
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Wow! Thank you so much for this info especially with the Hotel. I really appreciate it. I feel more at east now that I know what is going on. Thank you!
Perhaps you can also help with the second part of my (actually %26#39;our%26#39; trip, my wife and 2 year old son) trip. We would like to also see the Black Forest, Alps, Neuschwanstein and Salzburg if possible. We will start our vacation after visiting friends Apr 17 and will be flying home Apr 27. We dont really know where to start, what to specificly see or where to go around the Black Forest and Alps areas.
Any experiences/tips are glady welcomed.
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Sorry, we haven%26#39;t been to the Black Forest, Alps, Neuschwanstein and Salzburg. Hopefully, we%26#39;ll see those places next time. However, we%26#39;ve been to Munich and Innsbruck.
Go to the Munich forum and do a search for Neuschwanstein. You should also see Hohenschwangau castle.
Another %26quot;fairy tale%26quot; type castle is Lichtenstein, which is south of Stuttgart. You might check it out as it is on your way from the Black Forest to Bavaria.
If you have any questions about Lichtenstein or the Black forest, I%26#39;d post them in the Stuttgart and Black Forest forum, respectively. Use the search feature, if you want to read up on previous questions/posts.
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Three marvelous fairy tale-like castles in Germany are Neuschwanstein (by Fuessen), and Lichtenstein and Hohenzollern (Hechingen) not too far south of Stuttgart. The later two are on the nice cliffside scenery of the Schwaebische Alb. All three castles have one thing in common, they were created or rebuilt in the mid-1800%26#39;s when royalty had a nice appreciation for esthetics. (The Stuttgart newspaper had an article yesterday mentioning that Neuschwanstein Castle was the only Germany entry for one of the modern seven wonders of the world among twenty others worldwide.) Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria are also full of many wonderful old monasteries and churches. One of my favorite areas in Germany is Obenschwaben (Upper Swabia) between Ulm and the Bodensee (Lake Constance) with its myriad wonderul baroque monasteries and churches. Steinhausen south of Biberach has been often described rightly as the most beautiful village church in the world.
Ludwig II%26#39;s Bavarian palaces are all worth seeing: Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Linderhof with Swan Grotto, and Herrenchiemsee.
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