I have been wanting to take a Rhine River Cruise since i seen that RTT offers them. The price through RTT is €69 for adults and €59 for children and I have friends that have tried it and enjoyed it but we aren't very good at planning ahead and spending that much on a day trip so I looked to see if there were boat tours directly and I found
http://www.bingen-ruedesheimer.com/rhine-cruise/ We paid €32 for all of us. The drive there wasnt bad, about 1.5 hours and all autobahn until you get into Rudesheim. We parked right behind the building where you get the tickets and the price for parking wasnt bad, probably about €1/hr. The dock to get on the boat was just across the street. Once you get on there is a waitress that takes your drink order, they also had some small food options. The ride up and to the
Burg Rhinestein was about 30 min.
We got off to explore the castle. It wasnt in ruins like most you tour in Germany. They have all the rooms set up as if everything had been left the way it was. The view from the top of the caste gives you a nice overlook of the river.
We strolled back down to the dock and waited for the next boat. The times were posted on a sign so when we got off we made sure to be back so we didnt have to wait too long. When we got back to Rudesheim we ate and walked around a bit. Surprisingly some shops were open even though it was Sunday. There was also a cable car ride up to the
Niederwald Monument, but we chose not to do it.
On our way home we took the scenic route and explored lots of wine country and even passed through a town with huge walls that we want to go back and check out. My German babysitter, Petra tells me that the walls are used to make salt
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradierwerk. Very interesting, definitely worth a drive to go check out.
