| The cruise boat landing stages in
St. Goar are only a stone's throw away from the tourist office and the old part of town on
the Rhine with its multiple attractions – and a cruise boat is still the best means
of transport for sightseeing on the Rhine. The boat landing stage from Bingen-Ruedesheimer (Gangway 1) is layed about 300 m south from the market place and the church, behind the car ferry landing stage. The Bingen-Ruedesheimer will take you south towards Oberwesel and castle hotel Schonburg, Kaub with its water castle Pfalz and castle Gutenfels, Bacharach and castle Stahleck, Assmannshausen (opposite castle hotel Reichenstein), Bingen or Rudesheim.
The statue is about 1 km before the Lorelei rock left on the end from St. Goarshausen on the tip of the Lorelei harbor wall in the Rhine. View from the Lorelei Rock into the Rhine Valley
On the Bingen-Ruedesheimer cruise boat, the route from St. Goar to Bacharach takes just over an hour and offers spectacular castles and medieval fortresses on virtually every bend of the Rhine, each with its own aura of romantic beauty. On some stretches you won't know where to look first, the views are so captivating. If you travel south from St. Goar to Oberwesel you will see the famous Ochsenturm (Oxtower) in the distance after three bends. As you approach Oberwesel, you will get an impressive view of the medieval town with its almost completely intact old town wall, the majestic 18 fortified towers and the strikingly red gothic Church of our Holy Mother (Liebfrauenkirche) beneath castle Schonburg, which overlooks the town from high up on the Rhine hills. If you're planning to spend part or all of your honeymoon in this area, castle hotel Schonburg can be warmly recommended – the choice is yours, depending on whether you want to honeymoon in more or less solitude! Oberwesel's gothic Liebfrauenkirche (Church of our Holy Mother) has the
largest and most tuneful church organ in the middle Rhine region. One thing definitely not to be missed in Oberwesel on the Rhine is a wonderful antique shop, which deals in original old steel engravings, copper engravings, wood carvings and etchings of the Lorelei rock and all the castles and towns along the Rhine and in the Rhine River valley. The shop is in the Holzgasse (a small side street full of old half-timbered houses) right in the middle of town, on the corner of Liebfrauenstrasse 41 – and within easy walking distance of the cruise boat landing stages (about 300 m) and the train station (about 400 m). This insiders' tip is well worth a visit! Castle Gutenfels – also a hotel – is further upstream in Kaub. Unfortunately, hot meals are only available by prior reservation and only for groups of 10 or more people. Wine is only sold in bottles, not by the glass, but they are all older than 8 years, many even older than 16 years. Beer is only sold in half-liter measures. The old amoury in castle Gutenfels with a generous lounge, with cosy corners and magical views into the Rhine River valley is today private used and not used from the hotel. The castle hotel Gutenfels contains 8 rooms, 3 of them have a view onto the Rhine River. One of these has a very small window looking onto the water castle Pfalz and two have a nice view towards Oberwesel with its 4-star castle hotel Schonburg. As you approach Kaub you will see beautiful water castle Pfalzgrafenstein (named Pfalz ) lying spectacularly on a tiny island in the middle of the Rhine. The next bend of the Rhine takes you towards the pretty town of Bacharach, full of medieval architecture and charm. If you're a keen rambler, walk through the town and up to Fortress Stahleck. The fortress itself cannot be viewed, but the view from the top is splendid, looking onto the vineyards scattered across the rolling hills of the Rhine valley and down to the pretty town. From here you can see the impressive Werner chapel, the Peterskirche, the quaint town gate (Steeger Torturm), the former cloister and the Nikolauskirche and, of course, the town walls along the banks of the Rhine with its Kranenturm tower and Market tower (Marktturm) and the market place with half-timbered houses. Stay in any of the numerous hotels or bed and breakfasts or apartments in Bacharach ... ... or continue with the
Bingen-Ruedesheimer
to Assmannshausen, Bingen and Rudesheim or
return to Kaub, Oberwesel, St. Goar or Boppard
(change to the Loreley
Linie in St. Goar). . Rhine cruise in 16 parts from Boppard (north) to Rudesheim (south): Part 1 south: start your river cruise in Boppard on the Rhine ... Part 2: Stay a while in Boppard before embarking on a boat. Part 3 south: Rhine River cruise from Boppard in southern direction Part 4: Stay a while in Kamp-Bornhofen before embarking on a boat. Part 5 south: Rhine River cruise from Kamp- Bornhofen in southern direction Part 6: From boat landing stages in St. Goar every 15 minutes with a miniature street railway to Castle Rheinfels Part 7 south: Rhine River cruise from St. Goar in southern direction Part 8: Stay a while in Oberwesel, climb on the town wall and the town tower Oberwesel has an old tradition in wine-making, wine-tasting is also available to single travellers, many wine cellars can be viewed and there are guided tours to the various surrounding vineyards Part 9 south: Rhine River cruise from Oberwesel in southern direction Part 10: Stay a while in Kaub and visit the water castle Pfalz Part 11 south: Rhine River cruise from Kaub in southern Part 12: Stay a while in Bacharach before embarking on a boat. Part 13 south: Half day Rhine cruise from Bacharach in southern directionPart 14: Stay a while in Assmannshausen before embarking on a boat. Part 15 south: Arrange for some wine-tasting at a winery, take the cable car to the Rhine hills opposite from Fortress Rheinstein Part 16 south: Just off to the northeast of the Niederwald monument, the next cable car takes you comfortably down to Rudesheim on the Rhine River.
|
On the southern Rhine River route, the
Bingen-Ruedesheimer boat soon passes the famous Lorelei Rock on the most narrow part of
the Middle Rhine and you can also catch a glimpse of the 
The Lorelei Rock is on the most narrow part of the Rhine,
which made it so dangerous in olden shipping days. At this point, the river is very bendy
and even the trains can't follow the Rhine all the time: if you are going to be travelling
by german rail, you will pass through several tunnels on this stretch: there are three
tunnels on the left side of the Rhine und two on the right. Train travellers going south
from St. Goar to Oberwesel on the left side of the Rhine will see the Lorelei rock on the
opposite side as they come out of the first tunnel. If you're coming from the south (from
Oberwesel), you will see the Lorelei rock directly after the second tunnel. However, if
you're travelling on the right side of the Rhine, you won't see the Lorelei from the train
at all, as the northern of the two tunnels between St. Goarshausen and Kaub passes through
the Lorelei rock itself.