We spent a perfect three-day weekend on the Rhine River visiting the towns of Boppard and Bacharach, including viewing the many castles along the Rhine on a short half-day cruise between these two towns, and I wanted to share the plan with you in case you have the opportunity to visit this region, too. We arrived in Frankfurt on a Friday morning and traveled to Heidelberg on Sunday afternoon, staying two nights in Boppard. Boppard is a little over an hour from Frankfurt airport via direct train and about 90 minutes by car from Frankfurt airport. Traveling to or from Heidelberg is about two hours either via train or car. I have put together a two-night itinerary for visiting the region using Boppard as a base, but at the end of this post I have suggested an option for visiting the area if you can only spend one night.
3-Day, 2-Night Itinerary:
Day 1 – Frankfurt or Heidelberg to Boppard, Germany
Travel to Boppard
Ideally, try to travel via train or drive from Frankfurt or Heidelberg to Boppard in the morning, so you can have lunch in Boppard and still have time to explore the town in the afternoon. To access the train schedule in English and to book train tickets, check the official website here:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en
Boppard – Overview
Boppard is known for its medieval history, vineyards, churches, and beautiful promenade along the Rhine. It is situated in the heart of the Rhine where the river makes a loop through the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage region of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Learn more about the region here at the official UNESCO website here: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1066
Arriving in Boppard
If you arrive in Boppard via train, many of the hotels are within a ten-minute walk of the train station along the Rhine. The train station is point A on the overview map of stops on my self-guided Boppard walking tour route.
Recommended hotel – Bellevue Rheinhotel, Boppard
We stayed at the Bellevue Rheinhotel located directly on the Rhine (Point B on the Overview Map). Double rooms with a Rhine view start at about 100 Euro per night in low season. To walk to the hotel from the train station, walk on Heerstraße toward the Rhine River and turn left onto Bahnhofstrasse. Turn right onto Rheinallee at the river. The hotel will be on your right.
We paid extra to have a balcony room with a view over the Rhine. (Note – I do not receive commission from the hotel or any of the other businesses recommended in this post.)
Bellevue Rheinhotel
Rheinallee 41-42
Boppard Am Rhein
56154, Germany
Phone:  +49 6742 1020
https://www.bellevue-boppard.de/en/
Lunch in Boppard
Le Bristol in the Bellevue Rheinhotel – We enjoyed the lunch and the view of the Rhine from the hotel’s Le Bristol restaurant. Options include sea bass, salmon and steak choices and, of course, wines of the region. If your room is not ready when you check in, this might be an especially good choice so you can then, hopefully, get your bags to your room after lunch. Check out their menu on the “Gastronomy” tab of the hotel’s website.
Le Jardin Café outside of the Bellevue Rheinhotel – Between April and October, another Bellevue Rheinhotel option is Le Jardin outdoor café on the terrace overlooking the Rhine. The café offers light meals and snacks just outside the main entrance of the hotel.
Exploring Boppard
After lunch, walk and/or take the little Rheinexpress tourist train on a 30-minute round-trip journey around Boppard for an overview of the city. We took the train for the overview, and then we walked to see the sights in more detail.