Koblenz Travel Forum

We will be visiting Koblenz at the end of April.
We missed the Deutsches Eck last time we were here and don't want to miss it again. We also want to drive the Rhine between Koblenz and Bingen am Rhein. If we only have time for one drive, would you suggest the left or right bank?

Well...I'm a sucker for Bacharach so I'd stay on the Koblenz bank :))) But I have yet to discover the other and would really love to go up the river Lahn valley almost opposite Koblenz one day too!

To be honest driving alng the Rhine isn't much fun. The villages and towns don't have a lot of room for development let alone adequate car parking. You get stuck behind a lot of tour buses too. It might be quieter in April but don't bet on it.Koblenz is well servd by Rhine Ferries and Cruises like K-D Line. I say go by boat. Koblenz to Rudesheim is about 3 hours 30/45, Bingen a little less.Rudesheim is a tourist trap in summer and St Goar and Bacharach are busy too. All have their merits. If you go by boat you'll soon learn your ABC. Another Bloody Castle! They're everywhere.

There should be no problem with crowds in April. As Sjalen said, do the Koblenz bank (the left one) Especially worth visiting are Boppard, Oberwesel, Bacharach and all those castles above and inbetween :) It can be done in one day, use the A 61 motorway for your way back to Koblenz. Side trip to the Moselle valley is also possible.

A boat trip would be very nice as well but car gives you greater freedom.

Win

Oh, and it might be very worth while getting up a bit earlier and drive to Maria Laach and the lake, if you haven't been there yet! The abbey is the most beautiful example of Romanesque building style in Germany, perfect in its proportions. The adjacent caldera-style lake sits on an active (!!!!) volcanic hot spot, watch out for carbon dioxide bubbles rising to the surface!

http://vulkanland-eifel.de/eng/vulkanpark/vulkanpark/vulkanpark.php

You can't go wrong with either side, but in this stretch perhaps the west, as suggested, and you can hit Bacharach- maybe my favorite town in this area as well.

You can always cross at a number of ferry crossings if something on the other side intrigues you (on the opposite bank, north of Bacharach is the Lorelei..)

A boat cruise a great way to see it, but you'll be fine with the drive. I've done this drive about 30 times (obligitory with our guests when living in the area on the river) and never experienced any major traffic/tour bus problems. If you do encounter, you can always pull over for a few minutes and let the traffic clear.

enjoy

30 years ago there was a road that ran on the boppard side of the river at less 40 miles both upstream and down from boppard . it ran pretty much parallel to the river but the distance from it to the river varried from lees than a mile in some places to 2 miles in other places. the road ran near the top of the hills that pretty much ran parallel to the river as well. there was a few small villages along this route . also there were many places were you could stop and look down on one or more of the castles on the rhine . the views are really great if you have a pair of field glasses.
i lived near koblenz for almost a year . i liked the views of the castles from the stops on this road much better than the view from a boat or ship on the river.

you might check and see of this road is still there