Rhine River Cruise: Bingen to St. Goar

Cruise Through Castles, Vineyards & Wine Villages

This gorgeous stretch of the Rhine River, from Bingen/Rüdesheim to Koblenz, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley. This particular area is so special because of the sheer number of castles concentrated along a relatively short stretch of the river. Many of these castles were built to protect territories or control river traffic, as the Rhine was one Europe’s most important trade routes for centuries.

Today, one of the best ways to view the area is from the water, where the castles, vineyards, and charming Rhine villages unfold one after another as you cruise along the river.

One of our favorite ways to show visiting family and friends this beautiful part of Germany was to take them on a Rhine River cruise from Bingen am Rhein to St. Goar. This was one of those day trips we loved sharing with them because it gives you so much of what makes the Rhine Valley special in a single day—vineyard-covered hillsides, charming wine villages, medieval castles and castle ruins perched high above the river.

The boats operate much like a hop-on, hop-off cruise along the Rhine, so you can decide how much you want to see, where you want to sop and whether you want to return by boat or train. We would typically take the boat one way to St. Goar, spend time exploring the town, shop, have lunch and then take the train back to Bingen.

It became one of our favorite outings to do with guests, and even after making the trip more than once, the scenery never got old. There is always another castle coming into view, another little village tucked along the river and another hillside covered in vineyards.

If you are visiting Germany’s Rhine wine country, this is such an easy and memorable day trip to plan, and a its one of those places that really needs to be seen from the water.

Cruising the Upper Middle Rhine Valley

Bingen sits at the southern entrance to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. This is the Germany you picture in your head: steep green hillsides covered in vineyards, colorful villages hugging the riverbanks and old stone castles watching over the Rhine from above.

Once you leave Bingen, there is almost always something to see. Vineyards climb the hillsides, church steeples rise from the villages below and castles seem to appear around nearly every bend. For me, seeing this part of Germany from the water is what makes the day so special.

Rhine River Cruise Tour Companies

There are two main boat companies you will see when looking at cruises through this portion of the Rhine: KD, or Köln-Düsseldorfer, and Bingen-Rüdesheimer Schifffahrtsgesellschaft. They are both next to each other along the river in Bingen – and both are great companies. KD does have a restaurant attached to their ticket counter, where you can sit outside taking in the views while waiting for your boat, or just enjoy a coffee with a view. We used Bingen-Rüdesheimer each time we made this trip.

We boarded in Bingen and took the boat up the Rhine toward St. Goar. One of the things I really like about cruising this part of the Rhine is that you don’t necessarily have to treat it like a traditional round-trip sightseeing cruise.

The boats stop at several towns along the Rhine, allowing you to get off, explore and then catch another scheduled boat farther up the river. You could spend some time in Bacharach, Kaub or Oberwesel, for example, and then continue on toward St. Goar.

Or you can do what we usually did and purchase a one-way ticket to St. Goar, explore there and return to Bingen by train. I like having that flexibility because it lets you turn the cruise into a full day of sightseeing rather than simply staying on the boat the entire time.

What the Rhine River Boat Ride Is Like

The boats are comfortable and very easy for a day of sightseeing. There are tables and chairs inside, which is nice if you want to get out of the sun, wind or cooler weather for a while.

There is also a snack bar onboard where you can purchase food and drinks during the trip. But if the weather cooperates, I recommend sitting outside.

There is plenty of open-air seating, and the views are so much better without windows in the way. We spent most of our time outside because you have completely unobstructed views of the castles, vineyards and villages.

I also found myself moving from one side of the boat to the other depending on what was coming into view next.

As you travel along the Rhine, the sights are narrated onboard in multiple languages. You hear information about the castles, towns and landmarks you are passing, which makes the trip much more interesting.

Instead of simply seeing another castle on a hill, you begin to understand why it was built there, and how important the Rhine was to the surrounding towns.

The Castles You’ll See Along the Rhine

There are so many castles between Bingen and St. Goar. You eventually you stop being surprised when another one comes into view.

Almost.

Each one looks a little different, and many have fascinating histories tied directly to the Rhine. Some were fortresses. Others were used to protect territory or collect tolls from passing ships. Several fell into ruins and were later restored during the 19th-century Rhine Romantic period.

Here are some of the castles and landmarks to watch for along the way.

Mäuseturm — The Mouse Tower

Shortly after leaving Bingen, you’ll see the Mäuseturm, or Mouse Tower. It sits on a small island in the middle of the Rhine.

The little tower has become one of Bingen’s most recognizable landmarks.

Over the years, it was associated with Rhine navigation and customs collection. But it is probably best known today because of the legend of Archbishop Hatto. According to the story, the cruel archbishop was eventually chased into the tower by a swarm of mice.

True or not, the little tower standing alone in the river is one of the first memorable sights of the cruise.

Rheinstein Castle

One of the first castles that really makes you reach for your camera is Burg Rheinstein.

Sitting high above the Rhine near Trechtingshausen, Rheinstein looks exactly like the romantic German castle you imagine finding along the river. The castle has medieval origins dating to the early 1300s. After eventually falling into ruin, it was purchased and restored in the 19th century during the Rhine Romantic movement.

Reichenstein Castle

Nearby is Burg Reichenstein, another castle with medieval origins.

Reichenstein has a history connected to the robber knights. They were who once controlled parts of the Rhine, and demanded tolls from passing traffic. Like many of the castles along this section of the river, portions of it were destroyed over the centuries and later rebuilt.

Its position high above the Rhine gives you an idea of just how strategic these castles once were.

Sooneck Castle

Another beautiful castle you’ll see is Burg Sooneck.

The original medieval fortress was eventually destroyed, and the ruins were later acquired by members of the Prussian royal family in the 1800s. The castle was rebuilt as a hunting residence and today looks especially pretty surrounded by forest above the Rhine.

Bacharach and Stahleck Castle

Bacharach is one of the towns I would consider getting off the boat to explore if you have extra time.

It is everything you want a Rhine wine village to be, with half-timbered buildings, narrow streets, vineyards and Stahleck Castle overlooking the town. Stahleck has medieval origins and once served as an important fortress above the Rhine.

Even if you decide to remain on the boat, the view of Bacharach from the river is beautiful. This is also one of the benefits of doing the trip as a hop-on, hop-off experience. You can choose one of these little towns to explore and then continue on a later boat.

Kaub and Pfalzgrafenstein Castle

One of the most unusual castles on the trip is impossible to miss. Pfalzgrafenstein Castle sits on a small island right in the middle of the Rhine near Kaub. Instead of towering above the river from a hillside, this one looks almost like a stone ship sitting directly in the water.

The castle was built during the 1300s as part of a toll collection system. Its position allowed the rulers controlling this section of the Rhine to monitor ships and collect money from merchants traveling the river.

High above Kaub you can also see Gutenfels Castle.

This makes the area around Kaub especially pretty. You have one castle sitting in the Rhine and another overlooking it from the hillside.

Oberwesel and Schönburg Castle

As you continue toward St. Goar, you’ll pass Oberwesel, another picturesque Rhine town surrounded by vineyards.

High above the town sits Schönburg Castle. This is one of those views that perfectly captures why I love seeing the Rhine from the water. You aren’t just looking at a castle. You see the castle above you, the historic town below it, vineyards climbing the hills, and the Rhine running right through the middle of everything.

The Loreley

Before reaching St. Goar, you travel through one of the most famous sections of the Rhine: the Loreley. The river narrows here between steep cliffs, creating one of the most dramatic landscapes along the Middle Rhine.

The Loreley has inspired German legends, poems and songs for generations.

The best-known story tells of a beautiful woman sitting high above the river combing her long golden hair and singing. Sailors became distracted by her beauty and voice, lost control of their boats and crashed into the dangerous rocks below. The story is folklore, but this section of the Rhine really was historically difficult for sailors to navigate because of its narrow passage, currents and rocks.

Seeing the Loreley from the river makes the story much easier to imagine.

Katz Castle and Rheinfels Castle

As you get closer to St. Goar, you’ll see castles on both sides of the Rhine. Above St. Goarshausen is Katz Castle.

Directly across the river above St. Goar are the enormous ruins of Rheinfels Castle.

Rheinfels dates to the 1200s. It eventually developed into one of the largest and most important fortress complexes along the Middle Rhine. The ruins are still impressive from the river.

With castles on both sides, vineyards climbing the hills and St. Goar appearing ahead of you, it is a beautiful end to the cruise.

Getting Off the Boat in St. Goar

On the trips we made with our guests, St. Goar was where we got off the boat and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring.

I really like doing the trip this way. You get several hours of incredible scenery and castles from the water. But then you also have time to walk around one of the Rhine towns rather than simply passing everything from the boat.

St. Goar is very walkable, with shops, restaurants and cafés close to where the boat lets you off. We would wander through town, shop and stop for lunch before heading back to Bingen later in the day.

And there is one stop in St. Goar that was always fun to share with our guests.

Stefans Wine and Christmas Paradise in St. Goar

There is one stop in St. Goar that was always fun to share with our guests: Stefans Wine and Christmas Paradise, located at Heerstraße 57, 56329 Sankt Goar, Germany.

It’s just a short walk from where you get off the boat and is one of those wonderfully German shops that seems to have a little bit of everything under one roof. Part wine shop and tasting room, part year-round Christmas shop, part souvenir store and part cuckoo clock shop, it was always an easy place to spend more time than we planned.

The Christmas section is open year-round, so you don’t have to visit during Germany’s Christmas market season to shop for traditional ornaments, wooden decorations and other Christmas pieces. You’ll also find beautifully detailed cuckoo clocks and plenty of German souvenirs, making it a great place to pick up something special to bring home.

One of our favorite parts, though, was the wine and brandy tasting. Stefans offers tastings of local wines as well as a variety of brandies, including brandies made by the family. It’s such a fun way to experience a little more of the Rhine wine region while you are exploring St. Goar.

And if you find a wine or brandy you love, you don’t necessarily have to carry it around for the rest of your trip. They can arrange to ship purchases to the United States, which was especially convenient when we brought family and friends visiting from home.

Between the Christmas decorations, cuckoo clocks, German souvenirs, wine and brandy tastings, Stefans Wine and Christmas Paradise became part of our St. Goar tradition whenever we made this Rhine River cruise with guests.

Take the Train Back to Bingen

After spending the afternoon in St. Goar, we would take the train back to Bingen instead of cruising back down the river. Depending on the river current and direction of travel, the boat ride back can sometimes take longer than it does coming to Sankt Goar. And after spending several hours seeing the Rhine from the water, I liked switching things up and taking the train home. This actually became our favorite way to end the trip. The train follows the Rhine Valley for much of the journey. So you still get beautiful scenery, but from a completely different perspective.

The train station in Sankt Goar is located at Oberstraße 32. You can also get tickets for the train at the kiosk right there at the platform, or you can use the DB app if you have that on your phone.

For us, the day usually looked something like this:

Cruise from Bingen → see the Rhine castles → arrive in St. Goar → shop → wine and brandy tasting → lunch → explore town → take the train back to Bingen.

It was such an easy day, which is one of the reasons we repeated it with different guests over the years.

Or Make It a Hop-On, Hop-Off Rhine Day

If you have more time, you can create an entirely different itinerary by getting off the boat in one of the other villages along the route. Bacharach, Kaub and Oberwesel are all possibilities depending on the current boat schedule. Just ask the attendant at the ticket window, and they can help you plan an itinerary. Just make sure you study the schedule before you get off. This isn’t like a city sightseeing bus where another one comes every 15 minutes. You’ll want to know exactly when the next boat is scheduled so you aren’t left waiting for several hours.

Tips for Cruising the Rhine from Bingen

• I recommend starting your day relatively early. Especially if you want plenty of time to explore St. Goar or get off in one of the other towns.

• Check both the boat schedule and train schedule before leaving Bingen so you know your options for the day.

• If the weather cooperates, sit outside. The open-air seating gives you the best unobstructed views for photographs.

• Bring a light sweater or jacket, even during warmer months. It can feel cooler and windier once the boat is moving along the river.

• Keep your phone or camera nearby because the scenery changes constantly.

• And don’t feel like you have to get off at every stop. There is so much to see simply cruising from Bingen to St. Goar. The boat ride itself is a big part of the experience.

Is a Rhine River Cruise from Bingen Worth It?

Absolutely. There is a reason we did this trip more than once. In one day, you can cruise past medieval castles, see hillside vineyards, travel through centuries-old Rhine villages, explore St. Goar, shop for German Christmas decorations, taste local wine and brandy, enjoy lunch in town and then take the train back through the countryside.

And even though we had seen many of these castles before, cruising past them never really got old. There is something completely different about seeing these enormous castles from the river they were originally built to overlook and control.

For us, taking the Bingen-Rüdesheimer boat from Bingen to St. Goar, spending the afternoon exploring with our guests and then taking the train back became one of those experiences we were always excited to share.

If you love castles, vineyards, wine country and picturesque German villages—or simply want an easy way to experience one of the prettiest stretches of the Rhine—this is a Germany day trip I would not miss.

More Europe Travel Inspiration

If you are planning more time in Germany, be sure to read my Munich, Germany Travel Guide: Best Things to Do & See⁠. Its another one of our favorite German destinations.

And if your trip includes more of Europe, you may also enjoy my guides to The Netherlands and Exploring Brussels, along with my Europe Travel Essentials: What I Never Leave Home Without After Visiting 25 Countries⁠ for the things I’ve learned make traveling through Europe much easier. 

Before you start packing, you can also read How to Pack a Suitcase Like a Pro⁠ for my favorite packing tips, especially if your trip involves European trains, cobblestone streets and moving between several destinations. 

Have you cruised the Rhine or visited any of the towns along this route? I’d love to know which castle or village was your favorite. And if you’re planning a Rhine Valley trip, save this guide so you can come back to it when you’re building your itinerary.