Take your time - make a tour...

Frankfurt is the perfect starting point to make a tour through the Rhine Valley!
And the best: Most Eurorail Tickets are valid for the trains and even for the ships! Check it out before you start!

Here a few tipps:

Between Koblenz und Bingen, the Rhine carves deeply through the Rhenish slate mountains, meandering between hillside castles and steep fields of wine to create a magical atmosphere mixing wonder and legend. This is Germany’s landscape at its most dramatic – muscular forested hillsides alternate with craggy cliffs and nearly-vertical terraced vineyards. Idyllic villages appear around each bend, their neat half-timbered houses and proud church steeples seemingly plucked from the world of fairy tales.

High above the river, busy with barge traffic, and the rail lines that run along each bank are the famous medieval castles, some ruined, some restored, all mysterious and vestiges of a time that was anything but tranquil.
Most were built by a mafia of local robber barons – knights, princes and even bishops – who extorted tolls from merchant ships by blocking their passage with iron chains. Time and French troops under Louis XIV laid waste to many of the castles but several were restored in the 19th century, when Prussian kings, German poets and British painters discovered the gorge’s timeless beauty. Today, some have been reincarnated as hotels and, in the case of Burg Stahleck, as a hostel.
In 2002 Unesco designated these 65km of riverscape, more prosaically known as the Oberes Mittelrheintal, as a World Heritage Site. One of Germany’s most popular tourist destinations, the area is often deluged with visitors, especially in summer and early autumn, but it all shuts down in winter.

A C T I V I T I E S
Cycling
The Rhein-Radweg runs along the left (west) bank of the Romantic Rhine and along some sections of the right bank. It links up with two other long-distance bike paths, the Nahe-Hunsrück-Mosel-Radweg ( http://www.naheland-radtouren.de in German), which follows the Nahe River from Bingen southwest to Idar-Oberstein and beyond; and the 311km Mosel-Radweg ( http://www.mosel-radweg.de in German), which runs along one or the other banks of the Moselle River from Koblenz to the French city of Metz, passing through Bernkastel-Kues, Trier and Luxembourg.
Bicycles can be taken on most regional trains, making it possible to ride one way (eg down the valley) and take the train the other way.

Hiking
The Rhine Valley is a great hiking territory. Each tourist office can supply suggestions and maps for superb local walks.
Four long-distance trails passes the Rhine between Koblenz and Bingen, continuing downriver to Bonn and upriver to Mainz and beyond. Each bank has a Rheinhöhenweg (Rhine Heights Trail), which takes you from hill top to hill top – a bit away from the river – and affords spectacular views. Closer to the Rhine, along the riverbank or on the hillsides just above it, run the new Rhein-Burgen-Wanderweg (on the left bank, ie Bingen and Boppard) and the Rheinsteig (on the right bank, ie Loreley; http://www.rheinsteig.de ); the latter links Bonn with Wiesbaden, a distance of 320km.

Festivals & Events
Every river village holds at least one wine festival each year, with most of them crammed into August and September, just before harvest time. The Rhineland-Palatinate Veranstaltungskalendar (events calendar), which details all the festivals, is available from tourist offices.
During Rhein in Flammen (Rhine in Flames), the region’s most famous and spectacular festival series, castles, boats and the river banks, all swathed in glowing illumination, form the backdrop to gargantuan firework displays, best viewed from a boat ( http://www.rhine-river-lights.com for reservations). Events are held every year in five locations:
Siebengebirge (seven hills between Linz & Bonn): First Saturday in May.
Bingen/Rüdesheim: First Saturday in July.
Koblenz to Braubach/Spay: Second Saturday in August.
Oberwesel: Second Saturday in September.
Loreley Rock (St Goar/St Goarshausen): Third Saturday in September

Getting There & Away
Koblenz and Mainz are good starting points for touring the region. If you’re pressed for time, you can get a glimpse of the Romantic Rhine on a long day-trip from Frankfurt.

G E T T I N G A R O U N D
Boat
River travel is a relaxing and very romantic way to see the castles, vineyards and villages of the Romantic Rhine. A boat trip in one direction can be combined with a hike or train trip in the other.
Because of fast currents, shallows, narrow channels and the many passing barges (the Rhine is still an important trade artery), manoeuvring a passenger ferry is a very tricky business – and a fascinating one to see up close. Vessels zipping downriver have priority over those steaming slowly upriver.
From April to October (winter services are very limited), boats that are run by Köln-Düsseldorfer link villages such as Bingen, St Goar and Boppard on a set timetable.
You can travel to the next willage or all the way from Mainz to Koblenz (one-way/return €44,10/50,10, downstream/upstream 5 ½ / 8 ½ hours). Within the segment you’ve paid for (for example, Boppard-Rüdesheim, which costs €18,80 return), you can get on anf off as many times as you like, but make sure to ask for a free stopover ticket each time you disembark.
Many rail passes (such as Eurorail) will get you a free ride on normal KD services. However, you still need to obtain a ticket. Students under 27 get a 50% discount. Travel on your birthday is free. Return tickets usually cost only slightly more than one-way tickets. Several smaller companies, including Bingen-Rüdesheimer ( http://www.bingen-ruedesheimer.com ) and Rössler Linie ( http://www.roesslerlinie.de ), also run passenger boats up and down the Romantic Rhine.

Bus & Train
Bus and train travel, perhaps combined with minicruises by boat and car ferry, is a concient wa to go village-hopping along the Rhine, to get to a trailhead, or to return to your lodgings at the end of a hike or bike ride. All local trains take bicycles for no charge.
Villages on the Rhine’s left bank (eg Bingen, Boppard and St Goar) are served hourly by local trains on the Koblenz-Mainz run. Right bank villages such as Rüdesheim, Assmannshausen und St Goarshausen are linked every hour or two by Koblenz-Wiesbaden services. It takes about 1 ½ hours to travel by train from Koblenz to either Mainz or Wiesbaden.

Car & Motorcycle
The B9 highway travels along the left bank of the Rhine from Koblenz to Bingen, from where the A60 leads on to Mainz. On the right bank, the B42 hugs the river.