Tours of Rothenberg & Marksburg Castle

[tamadig2001]

We're cruising the Rhine & Main Rivers from Nuremberg to Amsterdam from Sept. 14 to 21 and two of the places which are not covered in the included guided tours are Rothenberg and Marksburg. The cruise operator is offering a "discount combo tour" for $139 per person which I thought was reasonable until I did more research on the web. It turned out that there is a daily guided tour of Rothenberg by a local historian starting from the Market Square for only 6 Euros per person. As for Marksburg, there are guided tours for 5 Euros p.p. every half hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. My question to those who have been there is whether these tours are conducted in English or in German only. Also, the nearest town to Marksburg Castle seems to be Braubach which I hope is where our boat will be docked, as there is a shuttle train going up to the castle from there. I'd really like to know whether these two places are doable on our own, which would save us quite a bit of money.

[JerseyGem]

We did those rivers with GCT, and both of those cities were optional tours. We did take the Marksburg Castle tour but not the one to Rothenberg (been there already). All of the guides at Marksburg (that we heard taking people around) spoke English. I assume a large part of the $139 fee is for transportation. Our river ship did not dock near Marksburg; it was a decent bus ride, plus that uphill walk at the end! Also, Rothenberg is not right along the river- taking the organized bus trip will be much easier on you, even though more expensive.

 

Will your cruise operator let you decide once you're on the ship? (On GCT, you sign up for optional tours onboard, after a slide show and talk about the tours.) If so, ask your tour guides (program directors, etc) how convenient it will be to do this on your own.

 

I do recommend Marksburg- a very interesting tour.

[CPT Trips]

Just my guess - you might be able to tell from your itinerary. The boat is not going to be docked in the same city at the beginning and end of the day that you make this tour. I'm going to guess that they let people off somewhere along the Main to catch the tour and then the boat continues heading downstream to the Rhein and then dock somewhere near Koblenz for you to get back on board.

 

Those who stay onboard may well have a "sea day" and the land tour will catch up with the boat. The two tour stops are, IIRC, not at all near each other - check that guess out on a map. I can't begin to imagine the logistics involved to do that day independently and still manage to catch the boat for dinner. I second the guess that transportation is a big part of the cost.

 

If you have not been to those places before, they are worth seeing! Only you can decide if they are worth the cost.

[Seabee]

Tamadig...I am on the same boat and board in Amsterdam when you get off...so please hurry!:D

 

I decided to book the combination tour after much investigating. Yes, the Rothberg tour puts you ashore at one port and picks you up at another; thereby avoiding a "sea day". My understanding is that getting to Marksburg Castle is not the easiest thing to do and you must have a guide to get in.

[tamadig2001]

Thank you guys for all your input. This is my first river cruise and I didn't realize that they would drop you off at one port and pick you up at another. The itinerary given to me is rather sketchy and doesn't give the docking and boarding ports or times at all, unlike the ocean cruises I'm used to. I totally agree that it would be impractical to try to do it on our own, given the constraints. I guess we'll have to go with the organized tours because we'd really like to see Rothenberg, and especially Marksburg Castle. Seabee, so you're also cruising with Gate 1? I read some negative reviews about them but hopefully they're only isolated cases.

[Carhut]

I didn't take the Marksburg tour because they warned about the hill and steps to climb. I don't do either well. But have taken the tour to Rothenberg. It was quite a distance away from the river. I know we traveled on the Autobon to get there. I really did enjoy that tour. Very picturesque walled city several centuries old.

[tamadig2001]

Thank you, Carhut. You've confirmed what the others said about Rothenberg not being on the river. I have decided to take the shore excursion and am really looking forward to seeing it.

[Seabee]

Tamadig...there was a guy on these boards awhie back that really trashed Gate 1. He went so far as to set up his pwn website just for people with complaints about them....it was so bad that I just ignored it. He obviously had a disagreement with them that wasn;t settled to his liking so he tried to influence folks not to use them.

 

The few reviews I have been able to find have all been positive so I think we will have a great cruise.

[tamadig2001]

I know exactly who you're talking about, Seabee, and you're right about there being many other positive reviews about Gate 1. The fact that they don't own the ships is not really a factor as long as they run their cruises well. Btw, is your itinerary as sketchy as mine because it doesn't tell us where and when the ship is docked each day, which was why I mistakenly thought we could do Rothenberg on our own..

[Seabee]

Tamadig...yes my itinerary is sketchy but I'm OK with that. I'm used to knowing what time we dock and then leave, etc. If you can email me during your trip with reports I'd appreciate updates and info as you go. hbwiii2000@yahoo.com

 

Have a great trip!

[CPT Trips]

Just a heads up about river cruising. As you have read this board, it might not be new to you.

I think on of the big reason itineraries are vague is because "stuff" happens! Rivers run high or low, docking space may be occupied, or a lock is out of service for a time and itineraries get varied. The tour company/cruise line will do everything they can to get you to the sights.

[steamboats]

tamadig2001,

 

Rothenburg is about an hour drive from the Main river. No way to get there without a car or bus. And usually they drop you off at one port and pick you up at another location (meaning the ship).

 

As for the Marksburg castle this is close to Koblenz. So your port will be Koblenz (and the landing is on the other side of the river). You might be able to do it with a cab. There´s a public transportation system at Koblenz which you may be able to use to get to Braubach. But your time is pretty limited.

 

All in all I think $139 is a pretty good price for two excursions you definitely need some sort of transportation for.

 

steamboats