Rudesheim - Rhine River

We decided that, before we left Germany, a river trip down the Rhine River was a must.

This trip is a good way to relax whilst enjoying some great scenery as the boat meanders its way from village to village.

KD Rhine has been offering tours of this wonderful river system that comprises both the Rhine and the Moselle Rivers since 1853. At this time, two river transport companies, the Koln company and the Dusseldorf company merged during a time of great competition on the river and the establishment of railway lines along the banks of the Rhine River.

When travelling along the Rhine (Rhein) or Moselle Rivers with KD Rhine, you obviously have a wealth of experience and knowledge of the river behind you.

The Rhine River runs through 4 countries between its source high up in the Swiss Alps and its mouth in the North Sea near Rotterdam.

The Rhine River is mentioned in much of the writings of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was considered to be the natural border between Gaul and the Germanic peoples. The first urban settlement was in the area that is now Cologne in about 38 B.C. It was recognised by the Romans in about 50 AD. The river was seen as an important natural barrier, and during its history there have been many attempts to take the lands beside the river.

This resulted in the construction of many castles along the banks of the Rhine, used by feudal leaders as a means of providing defence over the lands and for the inhabitants. A number of these castles were also inhabited by robber barons who were able to use their positions on the banks of the river and power to extract excessive tolls from boats using the river as a commercial route.

We boarded our KD Rhine boat at Mainz for a trip down the river to Koblenz. One of the advantages of travelling on a Eurail Pass that includes Germany as one of the countries for which the pass is valid is that the cost of tours with KD Rhine are included as an additional benefit of the pass. These free sailings include regular day tours of the Rhine River between Mainz and Koln (Cologne) and on the Moselle River between Koblenz and Cochem.

The river does have quite a current flowing. As a result, down river trips are much quicker than upstream trips. For instance, a trip from Mainz to Koblenz takes about 5 and a half hours, whilst a trip from Koblenz to Mainz will take 8 and a half hours. Remember to keep this trip time difference in mind while you are planning your vacation.

Once the boat leaves Mainz, the first part of the journey is a little industrial until we clear the area around Mainz and move down to our first stop at Weisbaden.

Once the boat departs from Mainz, there are 19 stops before its arrival at the wharf at Koblenz.

The scenery on either side of the river is ever changing, so that the travel is far from boring. Not only are there very many castles and other historic buildings along the way, but also many many vineyards stretching up the banks of the river, villages along the shores and a never ending variety of commercial river traffic travelling up and down the Rhine river.

River boat showing car on roof - courtesy Dan Beaudoin

One of the things that we have noticed about many of these Rhine river cargo vessels in that so many of them carry the master’s home with them, and sport cars, boats and other personal items above the living quarters, so that there is the opportunity to travel around once the boat is moored for the night.

The section of the river from Bingen to Koblenz is now a World Heritage Listed site. This particular section of the Rhine river is said to have the highest concentration of castles of any river valley in the world. Also in this section of the river you’ll find the legendary Loreley (Lorelei) Rock, a massive rock face rising from the river bank. This section of the river, which is the narrowest and most dangerous in the Middle Rhine, has claimed many boats, and is the source of the legend of the blond siren who with her singing and beauty lured many sailors to their death on the rocks below.

We found that our trip down the Rhine River to be a really worthwhile part of our tour of Europe.