Valinda, sounds like you’ve got a great trip ahead for your group. I believe the car ferries should run most of the year since they also shuttle across local people/cars from one side of the river to the other. We only went inside the castle at Bacharach, which is a hostel, and it wasn’t particularly big. We didn’t go inside the others, but I can’t imagine they would be that time intensive. However, they may start to get repetitive so perhaps think about two castles in two days vs. four. You can spend the rest of that time wandering in the village streets or along the river.

I cannot find evidence of any boats running at this time except the 4 or so crossing ferries. I dont mind using trains, but would do a short ride if one was available.

We are centering in Bacharach. I also wondered if you went inside any of the castles. Would 2 castles per day be too much for 4 in 2 days? I have noted which ones are open on our dates. Did you have any favorites? I wondered which 4 might be the best considering I have 6 high school students.

Hi Ryan,
There are lots of well-marked pull-off areas along the roads that go along the Rhine River for views and photographic points. We also often would park the car in a public parking lot in a village and just walk around for the best views. Another suggestion is to take a boat trip to get the viewpoints from the water, either a round-trip or where you can return to your parked car by train.
Enjoy your journey to the Rhine Valley!

Garrett, the main boat service going up and down the Rhine is KD. You are right in that there are usually around 4-5 boats running per day but they don’t stop everywhere. What we did was we took a combination of boats and trains (when there wasn’t a boat for a while). Also, some of the towns have ferry service across the river so you could cross with that (this service runs throughout the day) and then catch a train.

Bacharach and St. Goar are relatively small towns, so I’d budget 2-3 hours in each if you’d like to do some walking around, grab a coffee or meal, and not feel rushed.

Enjoy your trip!

From what we saw on signs at hotels and bike shops, it seems like the standard price is €10-€15/day for bike rental. Don’t think that’s too high a price, but you could also check at the tourist offices to see if they offer a cheaper price.

The fees for renting a bike seem a bit steep though, or is this the typical price hotels ask for?

Thanks, Charles! We would like to return to this area to explore the Mosel region…and its wines. Thanks for the advice regarding your experience with the rental car. Often we assume that picking up and dropping off the car at the same place will be cheaper. It’s always a game to figure out what combination works best in terms of price and convenience.