Koblenz: Gateway to the Romantic Rhine

Koblenz is the perfect starting point or home base for a tour of the scenic Middle Rhine Valley.

In 2002, UNESCO designated the Middle Rhine Valley a World Heritage Site. In its announcement, UNESCO stated, "The 65 km-stretch of the Middle Rhine Valley, with its castles, historic towns, and vineyards, graphically illustrates the long history of human involvement with a dramatic and varied natural landscape. It is intimately associated with history and legend and for centuries has exercised a powerful influence on writers, artists and composers." This was timed in part to coincide with the 2002 bicentennial celebration of "The Romantic Rhine."

Don't worry if you missed the celebration. The Rhine will be there for your next visit. The question is: What's the best way to see it?

If you're in a hurry, an express train can make it from Koblenz to Bingen in 34 minutes. With 20 castles, that's an average of one every minute, 42 seconds, although the location of the track will keep you from seeing most of them.If you have a car, you can see the Rhine at your own pace, but with a few disadvantages. First, parking and traffic can be difficult. Second, you'll need to make frequent use of car ferries to see sights on both sides. Third, how can you see all the scenery and still keep your eyes on the road? So park your car for a few days, and enjoy the scenery and history.

By steamship, perhaps the most traditional way to see the Rhine, it's six hours upstream (Koblenz to Bingen) and four hours downstream. And you'll see every village and every castle - at least from a distance.

But seeing the Rhine, even from a ship, is linear. You see the front door of the towns and some of their rooftops, but you don't see inside. And, if you don't stay overnight, you miss some of the charm and character of these marvelous villages - and the ability to experience them in relative peace after the day-trippers leave.

For people who have at least three days, taking the steamship in stages provides one of the best ways to explore the region. For example, on Monday morning, leave Koblenz at 9 a.m. for Oberlahnstein, where you'll arrive at 9:55 a.m. Stroll the narrow streets lined with half-timber homes, climb to Lahneck Fortress, enjoy a leisurely lunch in town, and then board the 2:50 p.m. ship for the one-hour trip to Boppard, where you spend the night and part of Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday, board the 11 a.m. ship and head to St. Goarshausen, with a 12:10 p.m. arrival. Explore that town, and take the ferry across the Rhine to St. Goar, guarded through the centuries by the massive Rheinfels Fortress, and leave at 5:15 p.m. for the 70-minute trip (passing the Loreley) to Bacharach, your next port of call. After what will assuredly be a delightful evening and overnight stay in Bacharach, spend the morning exploring, and then leave at your choice of quarter past 11, 1, 3, 5, or 6 for the final 90-minute stretch to Rüdesheim, with Bingen a quick ferry ride across the Rhine.

These are just examples, of course, and your routes will depend on timing, interests and preferences.

(If you feel prefer staying in the same bed for more than one night, you can choose one or more towns as home base and head up- and down-stream from there. You'll do some back-tracking, but the views stand up to multiple trips, and sometimes there's nothing like starting the day without having to pack.) 
 
This and the following pages of the article appeared in its original form in Gemütlichkeit Travel Newsletter.