Rhine Castle Question

[Floridiana]

notamermaid and others,

 

I am looking at a Middle Rhine day cruise right now + a visit to a castle. Our adult kids are with us and want to visit a medieval castle sitting on a hill overlooking the Rhine. Is Marksburg the one to see? We will probably stay in Boppard. We have only one day for the castle visit and the day trip on the river.

[notamermaid]

Hello Floridiana,

 

a Middle Rhine day cruise with a visit to a castle is certainly doable in a day. If you will indeed be staying in Boppard the Marksburg castle is the most convenient for time, but it is only one stop from Boppard! The village at the bottom of the hill is Braubach. Here is the timetable of the largest company offering day trips: https://www.k-d.com/fileadmin/schiffstouren/kd_timetable_2016.pdf The paddle wheeler Goethe is the nicest ship but I think the times will not work for you.

 

Marksburg is great as a very medieval castle, but there are others you can visit. They have been partially rebuilt and turned into restaurant, hotels, youth hostels and museums. Marksburg is the most authentic. There are regular guided tours in English during the peak season: http://www.marksburg.de/en/visitor-information/

 

Another option is to take a train one way and return on a ship or vice versa. That can be done on both river banks. Trains are sort of frequent, one per hour is standard. I will have a look at more castles later.

 

There are other companies with similar timetables.

 

Bye for now.

 

notamermaid

[JerseyGem]

Marksburg Castle is quite impressive with spectacular views of the Rhine below (well below!). It definitely meets your requirements for a medieval castle sitting on a hill overlooking the Rhine.

 

We had a guided tour (maybe one hour?); the interior rooms were very interesting, as was the history of the castle. I somehow recall that you must be on a guided tour to go inside, rather than just wandering around by yourselves.

 

The only negative to Marksburg Castle is that those with physical limitations (mostly walking issues) will not be able to fully appreciate it. The hill to enter is steep and uneven. Inside, there are very narrow and steep staircases; DH is a big, tall man and was uncomfortable squeezing up those stairs! But seeing the castle is certainly worth the physical challenges!

 

If you are to see only one castle, this is the one to see. Lynn

[notamermaid]

Hello JerseyGem,

 

Thank you for your impressions of Marksburg castle. Fully agree. Guided tours are around 50 minutes and if you cannot join the timed English tours you may be able to join (at their discretion) another group that has pre-booked or you are given a leaflet so you can follow along with a German tour.

 

Floridiana,

 

There is another boat company that has an English website (times in English are out of date, though): http://www.hoelzenbein.de/html/fahrplan.php

 

This website gives you an overview of boat traffic: http://www.romantischer-rhein.de/en/themen/schifffahrt/

 

For an overview of castles: http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/castles.php

 

Another nice one to go to if you like the romantic style of the 19th century is Stolzenfels near Koblenz: http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/castles.php

 

If you want to splash out on accommodation why not stay in a castle: http://www.schloss-rheinfels.net/start/

 

But Boppard is nice too! :)

 

notamermaid

[Floridiana]

Thanks to both of you. Very helpful information. I will look at all the links. I read that there is a small tram going up to Marksburg castle. Makes life easier. We have no problem walking up and down inside the castle.

 

Braubach is on the other side of the Rhine from Boppard. I hope there are frequent ferries. I will have to study those timetables.

 

I considered one of the hotel castles, but I came to the conclusion that a hotel in town is better with more flexibility for reaching ships and trains on foot. My husband would like to park the car and travel on that day without scrambling for parking in these small towns with narrow streets. Done that this summer in a different region of Germany. We had a large rental car without rear camera. Yikes!

Edited September 4, 2016 by Floridiana

[WarEagle76]

We are just off Viking's Rhine Getaway and stopped at Marksburg Castle. It is a well preserved Medieval castle from the 13th century. Not sure about logistics of visiting on your own as we were on a ship's tour. The castle itself has been set up so that you can really feel what life was like during Medieval times so tour was very educational. If you'd like to see pictures, go to this link and pictures 88-123 are from Marksburg Castle.

 

https://smengelt.shutterfly.com/4464

[nancyevans]

We took a cruise from Bacharach to Braubach. Took the little road train up to the castle. When you get off the ship, if memory serves me correctly, bear right towards the church spire. The tourist train office is there. We called the number on the window and it came and picked us up.

Marksburg is really very interesting and, when I visited in 2009, had the feeling of a well used structure. Not the polished pretty Disney look. The views are really very nice.

From Braubach we took the train to Kolbenz and then back to Bacharach. Study the German train website for tourist ticket information. https://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml

[notamermaid]

This is the little train: http://www.ruckes-reisen.de/about/about.htm

 

The info is also on the Marksburg castle website I have linked to. The train only operates in peak season, but one can phone them or send an e-mail for specific times or if you want to book for a group. With a bit of stamina you can actually walk to the castle. I have done it. But it is not recommended in 30 degrees or with any mobility problems.

 

Thank you nancyevans for the link to Deutsche Bahn. Train travel is easy around there, a round trip encorporating ship and train works really well. There is even a combined ticket, not sure how to get it, though, I think the K-D ship website might say.

 

notamermaid

[CPT Trips]

Floridiana, I just realized that you are a group of several people. If you don't already have train passes, you might want to familiarize yourself with the DB "state passes." Hopefully one of our German friends can offer the correct term.

 

I general it is a day pass for a small group, 4 or 5, that allows unlimited travel on the regional trains within one state, i.e. Bavaria. We used it a few years ago, and it was less expensive than regular tickets for two. Obviously, an even greater saving for four. One caution is that I couldn't conquer the kiosk in Hamburg and had to wait on line for the ticket office. But on our return our niece connected us with two other random people at the ticket machine and we split the cost 4 ways. Another caution, it is second class so don't sit in the first class car.

[Floridiana]

Thank you CPT, we'll ask for a group ticket.

[CPT Trips]

Thank you CPT, we'll ask for a group ticket.

 

Check the details, I wouldn't just assume it is cost effective. Also you might be going between "states"

[nancyevans]

Thank you CPT, we'll ask for a group ticket.

The ticket that CPT is describing is the regional day ticket (lander ticket). If you are traveling along the Rhine, the ticket you need is the Rhineland-Pfalz ticket as long as you stay within that state.

When five of us traveled in 2009 the terms of the ticket were much more favorable than they are now. You paid one flat rate and if your group was fewer than five people, it was easy to just include strangers you met at the station. Now, the online booking system requires that you state the number of people who will be traveling on the ticket and the ticket price goes up as the number of people goes up.

Carefully study the German train website. If you are only going a short distance or between states it may be cheaper to buy another kind of ticket.

[notamermaid]

CPT Trips and Nancyevans,

 

that is a good idea. The ticket can be a real moneysaver over 20 km. Shorter distances one has to check carefully. Here is the page: https://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/offers/national/regional/laender-tickets/rhineland-palatinate-ticket.shtml

 

You do not have to buy in advance, you can buy it at any machine, but if you cannot figure out which ticket it is, you must buy a single ticket or something similar. You cannot buy a ticket on a train and you must always have a valid ticket. The conductors are quite strict.

 

I have found the section in the German KD timetable now. It says that you can show your valid train ticket of Deutsche Bahn at a ticket office of KD and get a reduction on your fare on regular ship departures as stated in the timetable.

 

notamermaid

[CPT Trips]

The ticket that CPT is describing is the regional day ticket (lander ticket). If you are traveling along the Rhine, the ticket you need is the Rhineland-Pfalz ticket as long as you stay within that state.

When five of us traveled in 2009 the terms of the ticket were much more favorable than they are now. You paid one flat rate and if your group was fewer than five people, it was easy to just include strangers you met at the station. Now, the online booking system requires that you state the number of people who will be traveling on the ticket and the ticket price goes up as the number of people goes up.

Carefully study the German train website. If you are only going a short distance or between states it may be cheaper to buy another kind of ticket.

 

Lander ticket! That's it. We got ours at the station, so we knew the number of pax.

As I mentioned, I was confused by the machine. If you need a ticket agent, you might have a wait so plan accordingly.

[jpalbny]

We used a regional ticket (even cheaper version of the Lander ticket) for the two of us to get back and forth between Würzburg and Bamberg. Was way cheaper than buying two RT tickets - AND the DB's website offered me that option while I was planning the journey. The best part is that you can choose any train that you want. So we didn't have to plan how long we wanted to stay in Bamberg - we just left when we felt like it.

 

You can buy regional day tickets online as well, in advance, prior to leaving home. I signed up for an account on the DB's website, and downloaded their Android app. I've done e-tickets the past few trips which have worked well; I don't even have to print a paper ticket any more. The app downloads the ticket to your phone, so you can call up your ticket without a data connection, show the QR code to the conductor, and that's that. Excellent!