A Rhine River Cruise from Mainz to St. Goar is a fun and relaxing way to see the sights of Germany’s Middle Rhine Valley, a UNESCO world heritage site. We met up with friends for an early morning 2-hour train ride from Stuttgart to Mainz, then took a 5-minute cab ride across town to the riverfront. The K-D ticket kiosk and boat is easy to spot, and we bought round-trip tickets for the highly recommended “Castles Tour.”
Mainz
Before the 9:00 am boarding time, we had time to explore a bit of Mainz’s central square and cathedral. It looks like a great city to explore.
Rhine River Cruise
We boarded the riverboat at 9:00 and were underway at 9:15. The top level of the boat has both shady and sunny sections, and we were lucky to get a table under the awning in the shade. You can order food and drinks on board, or bring your own. We enjoyed some brunch while admiring the views of the river, islands, vineyards, cathedrals, and cute riverside villages.
After about an hour into the tour, we start seeing the castles, one after another along both sides of the river. Some are high on a hill, or side of a cliff, and others are right at the edge of the river. Every twist and turn of the river revealed another amazing castle. You can imagine that any enemy trying to sneak up the river might have second thoughts!
Pfalzgrafenstein Castle was a toll-collecting castle built in the shape of a ship, now a museum. Two neighboring castles are Burg Maus (Mouse Castle) and Burg Katz (Cat Castle). Loreley Rock sits in a curve of the Rhine, and has been the cause of many a shipwreck. Legend has it that a beautiful enchantress sang from the rock to distract men so that they would crash their ships.
The scenery on the river cruise is stunning, like something out of a fairytale. Imposing, dark, grey rock castles loom over the river while trains run alongside the banks and disappear into tunnels in the hills. Intriguing small villages and vineyards along the river look like they would be fun to explore.
Recommended Itinerary
The Rhine River flows north, so the trip up to St. Goar takes about 4 hours, and the return trip south almost 6 hours. Although it’s nice to see all the amazing views twice, we think we would do it differently next time.
A better itinerary might be:
- Train Stuttgart to Mainz (high-speed)
- K-D riverboat one-way from Mainz to St. Goar or Koblenz or Bacharach
- Explore St. Goar / Koblenz / Bacharach
- Take a Regional Train back to Mainz (about 1 hour from St. Goar)
- Train Mainz to Stuttgart (high-speed)
Alternatively, it would be fun to drive a camper van to this region and enjoy some camping for a weekend. The campsites look inviting, situated on great spots right on the river bank. There are walking and biking paths, an easy way to explore the towns up and down this stretch of the river.
A Rhine River Cruise is a very special way to see all the incredible castles, the views from the river give you an idea of their military strategies in placement. On different days, K-D offers different tours that also cover the Upper Rhine River, up to Koblenz, which is also highly recommended.
Prost!
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