We are a group of 4 adults going for a meeting in Mainz late Feb. We will arrive at FRA airport ~6am and have one whole free day before meeting starts next day. We will take train to Mainz and drop our luggage at hotel Konigshof right next Mainz station. As we have nowhere to stay before check in is allowed, it would be a good idea to go for some leisure sightseeing. Have browsed thru tripadvisor forums and have the tentative plan:
1. Have a brief breakfast then take train to either Oberwesel or Bacharach and if time allows for a brief walk near station/dock
2. Get on a KD boat around noon and have a short cruise (hope %26lt;2hour) to Braubach; have lunch on boat
3. Arrive at Braubach, walk or take shuttle (if available to the Marksburg Castle), take a few photos and castle tour if available
4. Take train back to Mainz and have dinner there
However, I have some questions need help from local experts:
i) Is this plan feasible? or too rush or tough after a 13hr flight?
ii) I have difficulty in figuring the timetable at KD website so don%26#39;t know whether the cruise schedule in winter would be frequent enough to fit our time. Also, a worry is that arrival at Marksburg is too late for castle entry.
iii) Is Oberwesel or Bacharach a better town to get on board the boat with short walking distance from train station to dock and preferrably have something to see in between?
iv) Is lunch available at KD boat?
v) Is it better to have dinner at Marksburg or Braubach or back to Mainz? We like German beer and knuckles!!
Hilary
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I can%26#39;t answer your boat question, but here are a few tips for your trip.
Food on a boat is going to be more expensive and usually lower quality than what you will get at a restaurant in town.
While in Mainz, make sure to visit the cathedral there. It is a wonderful, 1000 year old church and in my opinion, more impressive then the cathedral in Cologne. There are several other churches in Mainz that are well worth visiting too, as well as some great Roman ruins, and the Gutenburg museum.
If you cannot find a boat going so early or that matches your schedule, consider buying a Laender ticket and taking the regional train that runs along the Rhein. You can then get on and off where ever you like and you get the same view as the boat, just at a faster speed.
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Thanks Bornhimgirl for your suggestion. We%26#39;ll have 2 more whole days in Mainz and will definitely visit the churches after our meeting program ends in late afternoon. Though personally I%26#39;m not much a church fans and 2 other group members have been there before...
Btw, have checked the website; guess the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket (Rhineland-Palatinate-Ticket) is the one you mentioned. Does the ticket cover Frankfurt airport to Mainz section?
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No, because Frankfurt is in the state of Hessen. You can can get a group ticket that will cover Frankfurt airport to Mainz for 14 euro I believe. This will be valid all day long in Mainz too and will be good for up to 5 people.
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Cruise boats don%26#39;t run in Feb. due to lack of demand because no one is crazy enough to freeze their little backsides off at that time of year.
Best bet is to stow your bags as planned and take the train north to Braubach to tour Marksburg castle - it%26#39;s typically open from 11 to 4 in winter. You%26#39;ll see many other castles along the way from the train window, so try to stay awake for one direction or the other, but you could certainly snooze a little bit in the other direction.
There are lots of places in Mainz to get traditional German food, but you%26#39;ll probably be in Braubach at lunch time, so you might try Bavaria Ben%26#39;s recoommendation there - the %26quot;zum Goldenen Schlüssel. Here%26#39;s the menu:
zum-goldenen-schluessel.de/63/Speisekarte.ht…
And here are some comments and photos on his trip to Braubach:
bensbauernhof.com/bb2005twoweeksmoselrhine.h…
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