short trip klon to koblenz

Old Jul 1st, 2015, 04:10 PM
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short trip klon to koblenz

Hi
I will be going to Klon for a couple days the first of Sept. i am adding 5 days vacation to the trip and would like to visits some castles and vineyards on the Rhine. since this is a business trip, i will need to fly back home via Koln. can anyone give me ideas for this short trip?I know there are day Rhine boat trips, we can rent a car in Koln and drive or use the train. Should we stay in one place and do day trips? or rent a car and drive? finding places to stay as we go? any suggestions?
Thanks
Birgitt
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Old Jul 1st, 2015, 04:46 PM
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I would look into a stay in Boppard, an attractive riverfront town with lots of lodging and dining choices and one that is well located for outings by boat and train along both the scenic part of the Rhine (the part south of Koblenz between Boppard and Bingen) and along the Mosel River as well.

Marksburg Castle is your best Rhine Castle tour; cross the river (use the Boppard ferry,) walk into Filsen, take a train north 7 minutes to Braubach.

Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar (12 minutes south) is easy to reach as well.

Reichsburg Castle in Cochem can be reached after a train ride of 1-1.25 hours, including a change of train in Koblenz.

Burg Eltz: Same route and travel time as for Cochem, roughly, but get off at Moselkern and walk to the Castle:
http://www.bensbauernhof.com/burgeltzfrommoselkern.html

The 3-day VRM ticket (pass) on this page allows one person to use all local trains and buses to all these places and others as well for €37. If you have a companion it's €43.60:
http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...eisure-ticket/
Area-of-Coverage map:
http://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data...zplan_2015.pdf
(trains are black/white dotted lines.)

You will find wineries in Boppard, Cochem, and just about all the other towns. Don't just show up in a vineyard somewhere outside town and expect a wine-tasting tour as that typically happens at an in-town facility.
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Old Jul 1st, 2015, 04:51 PM
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KD day cruise boats: https://www.k-d.com/en/kd-scheduled-...imetable/#c572

Best way is to take a train from Boppard south to Bingen to start the cruise and cruie back to Boppard (2.3 hours) or shorten the cruise by getting off in St. Goar (1.5 hours) for Rheinfels Castle) and return to Boppard by train from there.

If you cruise in the other direction - from Boppard (or St. Goar) south to Bingen - you'll waste a lot of time since the cruise boat must struggle against the current and takes nearly 50% longer to cover the same distance.

Remember to show your train ticket at the KD kiosk in Bingen for a 20% cruise discount.
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 06:27 AM
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Hi
Thank you so much for this information. Very helpful. I am looking forward to this trip. Taking for granted I can get train tickets in Klon when we arrive? Or should they be ordered now?
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 06:58 AM
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Fussgaenegr's mplan does not make much sense to me. The downstream cruise is fater than upstream,. but altogether you'd pass the same stretch of river three times, which is boring, and in total this will take longer than the upstream cruise.

You can buy the tickets for both train and boat on the spot.

And beware of clones! ;-)
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 07:14 AM
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"Fussgaenegr's mplan does not make much sense to me. The downstream cruise is fater than upstream,. but altogether you'd pass the same stretch of river three times, which is boring, and in total this will take longer than the upstream cruise."

What are you talking about, quokka?

The only "plan" I suggested was for the cruise.

Train from Boppard south to Bingen. Boat from Bingen back north to Boppard, or north to St. Goar then continue north by train to Boppard. That means you see the same stretch of river TWICE, not 3 times. Can you figure out a way to go south to Bingen and back to Boppard without seeing the river twice? I can't.

If you cruise south from Boppard to Bingen, that's 4 hours instead of 2.3 hours in the opposite direction. The train ride takes exactly the same amount of time no matter which direction. How can it possibly be faster if you cruise from north to south?

If the OP chooses to visit Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar, she can do that either by train on the way south to Bingen or perhaps by boat on the way back - no reason to travel that stretch again on a separate day if she doesn't wish to.
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 07:25 AM
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"Taking for granted I can get train tickets in Klon when we arrive? Or should they be ordered now?"

The trip to Boppard takes 1.5 - 2 hours or so and costs €23 full fare if you use the regional trains. No need to pre-purchase.

It is possible that you might find some €19 tickets for Cologne-Boppard online - these include use of the high-speed IC, ICE and EC trains, but they are basically non-refundable (heavy fee) and can only be used for the trains you schedule at the time of booking. Probably not worth the minor savings, and you might want some flexibility. The full-fare regional ticket is good all day long.

The VRM pass for day trips can be bought on the spot within the VRM area - not in Cologne, however.

One more thing, your "L" is in the wrong place - it's not K-l-o-n. It's K-ö-l-n
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 09:37 AM
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South by train - back north by boat - back south by train. Theat's 3 times according to my maths.
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 09:46 AM
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"South by train - back north by boat - back south by train. Theat's 3 times according to my maths."

You don't seem to understand my suggestion. There's no second "south by train" in my suggestion, quokka. It's only two journeys. Here it is again:

"Train from Boppard south to Bingen. Boat from Bingen back north to Boppard, or north to St. Goar then continue north by train to Boppard."

Even if there were a 3rd journey by train, it would amount to 30 minutes for Boppard - Bingen... but using the northbound boat saves 1.7 hours.
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 10:15 AM
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If you want vineyards and a much prettier valley than the Rhine Gorge, which is pretty too and a picture postcard town to base in of your dreams think Cochem and the Mosel Valley:

Cochem
https://www.google.com/search?q=coch...=1600&bih=1075

Mosel Valley:https://www.google.com/search?q=mose...=1600&bih=1075

Id rent a car do motor along both the Rhine Gorge and up the Mosel Valley to Trier, one of the most historic cities in Germany and perhaps the oldest with stellar roman relics like the Porta Negra, a Roman town gate and theatre. The Mosel is one of the prettiest dirivng areas in Europe - bvery different from the Rhine Gorge - I'd do both by car - if train the same but I'd base in Cochem for the Mosel and towns Fussganger mentions for the Rhine.

For lots of good stuff in general on German trains and the Rhine and Mosel valleys check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

You can't go wrong some prefer the Rhine like Fussganger and others find the Mosel more appealing, like moi. I say do both either by car or train and boat.
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 10:55 AM
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"...some prefer the Rhine like Fussganger..."
I don't "prefer" the Rhine to the Mosel, Palenq. The OP asked about it so I addressed her question - and suggested the Mosel additionally. The Mosel is wonderful too.

The car is good if you choose accommodations that are well outside of town, but all these towns (Boppard, Cochem, St. Goar) are small enough that if you stay in town, you'll have a good choice of digs and still be able to walk to the stations for outings. Train service is day and night, very frequent, and very dependable, and train costs are very reasonable when compared with car rentals.
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 12:57 PM
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Sorry fuss about saying you favor the Rhine over the Mosel - yes both are great I do prefer the Mosel over the Rhine - especially on a motoring tour as going along the river by train is only possible really between Koblenz and Cochem.

I agree also that trains and buses are so so easy that if not wanting to explore the Mosel Valley up river from Cochem a car is by far the best - but for the Rhine I'll take the boats anyday - there are boats on the Mosel like the sweet Cochem to Beilstein cruise.
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Old Jul 4th, 2015, 02:26 PM
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Yes many folks only talk around the Rhine because they rarely hear about the Mosel - one reason I always add the Mosel into the factor if they do not know how awesome that valley is all the way from Koblenz to near Trier where it becomes a ho-hum river as the valley peters out.

As I mentioned before I too over 1,000 folks thru both the Rhine and Mosel on bike trips and most favored the Mosel more than the Rhine - they loved the peacefulness of the Mosel - the Rhine is much more busy and a workaday river (which I like but many seem not to) and with a major rail line running thru the Rhine's western bank and a minor one on the other side and busy roads on each side of the narrow Rhine gorge be sure to ask about your hotel's proximity to rail lines especially - a NY Times article not long ago I read said noise was a huge problem for Rhine towns and tourism - but there are manhy places not effected to but do your homework on that - the gorge is so narrow that the towns are squished between a rock and a hard place - the rocky gorge walls and the river.

Fussganger in the past has pointed out towns and areas immune to the day and night rumble of trains on the western side.

But again many folks just know the Rhine and never have heard about the nearby Mosel and dream places like Cochem which IME just do not exist on the busy boisterous Rhine. Cochem is one place everyone almost on our tours fell in love with - we had to add an extra day there due to suggestions.

And again stay in both if possible - St Goar is lovely and its castle overhead awesome. Don't miss Marksburg Castle, the only castle on the Rhine here not destroyed in wars - Burg Eltz to me is my favorite castle - it is a short day trip from Cochem by car, train or bike.
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Old Jul 5th, 2015, 03:34 AM
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Thank you for all this information. We would like to stay with the boat and train route, not renting a car if possible.
Question is taxi service available from train stations to B&Bs?

I would like to see both the Rhine and Mosel.
I think we could take the train down to Boppard, spend a couple days here, visiting areas down the Rhine toward Bingen. Then taking train to Cochem, spending a couple days here, visiting castles in this area.
I would like the flexibility to buy train tickets while there and also deciding if we want to stay in one place or the other longer.

Thanks again for all the information.
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Old Jul 5th, 2015, 06:20 AM
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"Question is taxi service available from train stations to B&Bs?" You shouldn't have trouble getting a taxi from the stations in Boppard or Cochem. That said, train travelers don't normally need a taxi since distances are so short and the walk to most places pretty easy. Got a rolling suitcase or a lightweight backpack? If you are mobility-impaired, that's a different matter, of course. (In that case you will also want to check carefully into the accessibility of the castles you plan to visit.)

Not sure what sort of B&B you're looking for. The Villa Vinum in Cochem is popular and quite close to the railway station:

http://www.villa-vinum-cochem.de/

Rademacher Winery-inn and Pension Gundert would be a short walk as well.
http://www.weingut-rademacher.de/en/index.shtml
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...alatinate.html

In Boppard it's a relatively short, flat walk into the old town zone and the hotels and B&B's near the riverfront.


"We would like to stay with the boat and train route, not renting a car if possible... I would like the flexibility to buy train tickets while there and also deciding if we want to stay in one place or the other longer."

Look into mini-group tickets (day passes or 3-day passes) from the VRM transit authority which cover local trains for most of the Rhine/Mosel region Cochem - Boppard, Boppard south to Oberwesel, and Cochem west to Bullay:
http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...eisure-ticket/

Note also the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket with a wider coverage area (for Trier, Bacharach-Mainz and south to Karlsruhe.)
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Old Jul 5th, 2015, 06:36 AM
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If you do a sightseeing cruise, the KD boat are handy and offer a 20% discount if you arrive at the dock by train. So from Boppard, take the train south to Bingen then cruise back. That covers the best scenery and a little more and means 2.3 hours on the boat. TRAIN: If you are covered already by the VRM mini-group ticket that day, you can get most of the way to Bingen, but you need to add on a standard Oberwesel-Bingen train fare of €4.40 each (this segment is not covered by the VRM ticket.) Or you can just buy a regular train ticket for that day to get to Bingen (€10 each,) or use a Rheinland-Pfalz ticket instead; the R-P ticket would only be worth buying if you are making other train trips this same day, however.

You can stop off by boat in villages like Bacharach and Oberwesel on the way, but the boat schedule is somewhat limited, so you may wish to stop off by train on the way to Bingen instead. Train service is hourly or better.

https://www.k-d.com/en/home/

The Oberwesel wine fest will be on from Sept. 11-14 and will impact room availability in all the nearby villages, so book asap. It's a fun event with street music, wine and food stands, and fireworks.

Oberwesel wine fest photo in the middle of the old town:
http://www.oberwesel.de/uploads/pics/P1060485.JPG
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Old Jul 5th, 2015, 07:54 AM
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If driving you may want to stay in a small village like Bielstein where a perpetual raved about small guesthouse there is the Haus Lippmann - http://www.hotel-haus-lipmann.de/ - Beilstein literally is surrounded by a sea of vineyards:

https://www.google.com/search?q=beil...=1600&bih=1075

but Beilstein is a small village lacking some of the amenities folks want in a larger town like Cochem.
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Old Jul 5th, 2015, 11:18 AM
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HR
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Old Jul 5th, 2015, 12:52 PM
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Right across the bridge in Cochem - in the town center is the Hieronimi Winery which has proper tours and sampling and vending direct from the proprietor:

http://www.hieronimi-wein.de/
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