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Remi84
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Posted 5 years ago

Hello,

Living in the East of France, I\'m thinking of a weekend round rail trip starting in Strasbourg, France :
- day 1: following the Rhine river down to Koblenz
- day 2: up the Mosel river from Kloblenz to Trier, then back to Strasbourg via Saarbrücken
I\'m planning to travel using regional trains.

What route and stops would you suggest me to follow the Rhine from Strasbourg to Koblenz: left or right bank ? I was thinking of staying on the left bank and making a stop in Speyer. Any suggested stops or variants on the route back from Koblenz to Strasbourg via Trier/Saarbrücken ?

Thanks in advance for your recommendations. I love your well documented and inspirational blog posts.

Rémi

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Flo
Traveller
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replied 5 years ago

Hi Rémi!

I know only the route on the left bank and I would recommend it - you could maybe make a stop at Oberwesel, have a look around the town and take one or two pictures of trains passing by. From Oberwesel you also have a nice view on the trains on the opposite side with the sun in the right position (more or less behind you) during the day - this applies for most of the route, so if you want to take some quick pictures without having to face the sun, travelling on the left hand side might be more practial.
Also, you will find a train with an observation car here (EC 8 and 9). ;)

Your overall route is looking good, making a stop at Speyer is also a good idea (Worms would be an alternative but Speyer is ok).

Maybe you could travel part of the route on the right bank, then taking a ferry across the river to the left bank, this would be quite a nice experience I think. :)

The route back is quite straightforward; I really like the main route via Trier - Saarbrücken.
To get back to Strasbourg you could think about travelling via Neustadt - Landau - Wissembourg if you dont want to go back via Karlsruhe.
If you have more time for variations, I think the Nahe Railway from Saarbrücken via Idar-Oberstein to Bingen is quite nice; that would of course bring you back to the Rhine... ;)

Flo