My girlfriend and I are planning our Germany vacation and are considering departing from Koblenz late morning (around the 26th of August) and head south on one of the K-D boats to Rudesheim. We were hoping to visit Heidelberg the next day. From what I can see there is no convenient way to get from one of the cities at the end of the boat tour to Heidelberg that same night. So I%26#39;m wondering which of the cities near the end of that tour would be worth spending the night in and if we stayed the night would renting a car the next morning be an option in that town or would there be convenient train travel from that town to Heidelberg? I would like to not have to rush out boat ride on the Rhine and am thinking that if possible we%26#39;d get off at one of the stops for a bit and try to get on a later boat to continue the trip toward Rudeshiem.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers.
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It%26#39;s unwise to travel from Koblenz to Ruedesheim - it%26#39;s a 6+ hour trip, partly because you%26#39;re fighting the current , and longer than needed to enjoy the boat ride. The boats can be crowded and sweltering on hot days - there isn%26#39;t always room in the sheltered seating areas. Keep it short.
It would be wiser to stay somewhere else besides Koblenz - it%26#39;s okay, but it%26#39;s a larger, unremarkable city. Try a smaller, more attractive village like Bacharach; the next morning, there%26#39;s a 10:15 and an 11:15 boat that goes DOWNSTREAM and pulls into Koblenz at 1:10 and 2:10 respectively. Or just travel as far as Braubach, where you%26#39;ll get off at 12:20 or 13:20, and do a tour of the amazing Marksburg Castle (one hour): www.marksburg.de . Bacharach to Braubach lets you see the most attractive part of the gorge and includes many castles.
If you finish up in Braubach or Koblenz by 2 or 3, you%26#39;ll have no trouble getting to Heidelberg the same day. That said, it seems a shame to rush off to H%26#39;berg if you have spent only one night on the Rhine.
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schedules for trains and K-D boats:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
k-d.com/englisch/…fahrplan-rhein-peak.html
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Thanks for the advice. We have decided to stay 2 nights in either Cochem or Bacharach and only doing a shorter downstream trip on the Rhine around Bacharach. We have decided to skip Heidelberg after reading alot of negative comments in books and in the forums. We are now going to either head from the Rhine down toward Muncih/Fussen to see the city and Ludwig II castles for a couple days each or try to head to Freiburg for a day or two before heading to Bavaria. We might be able to meet up with a friend in Freiburg but it the area is not really worth visiting we can always catch up in the States.
So i guess I have 2 questions. Is Freiburg worth visiting?
And, if we head straight for Bavaria from Cochem or Bacharach is there a good spot to stop along the way for a night or 2 so that we can break the 6hr trip into a couple pieces and not spend a whole day on the train or driving. We are still up in the air on whether to rent a car for this leg of the trip or wait till we hit Bavaria. I guess it will depend on where we want to stop.
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Freiburg is okay but for a short visit I would definitely choose a visit to Rothenburg and/or Bamberg and/or Nuremberg over a visit to Freiburg. However, if staying several days in the Freiburg area, you can delve into the Black Forest villages to the east, or visit Colmar and other Alsatian towns over the border with France.
I would not opt for a car for any of these destinations. All are well served by rail. And it can be quite cheap. Bavaria begins a few miles east of Frankfurt in the town of Kahl - and you can travel from there all the way south to the Austrian border on a Bayern ticket (daypass for 2-5 people on regional trains) for just 28 Euros/day. Buy regular tickets for the Rhine-to-Kahl segment.
A similar daypass is available for journeys along the Rhine between Koblenz in the north to Mainz and all the way to Mannheim in the south; it%26#39;s the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket at 27 Euros.
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Personally, I enjoy Freiburg, esp. those little canals that run thru the streets. Plus the Black Forest nearby (or if you get ambitious, Baden-Baden and Alsace France, esp. Strasbourg nearby).
IMO, while Rothenburg (quite touristic), Bamberg, etc. are fine, they are not too different from what you will see on the Rhine. That%26#39;s why I emphasize the other places that are a bit different. Heidelberg is a good choice because it is more Baroque than to Rhine towns and nicely spread out along the Neckar River. Do the tourist park quickly (castle, etc.) and enjoy some back streets in Heidleberg. You also might enjoy a walk on Philosopher%26#39;s Way or the Odenwald walking paths near the Molkentur just above the castle (reach by tram up the mountain).
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