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Bingen Town
A day trip to Bingen, Germany |
The beautiful and historical town of Bingen is located in the state of Rhineland Palatinate in Germany. It lies on the bank of the River Rhine. While Bingen is on one bank of the Rhine, Rüdesheim-another lovely town lies on the other bank. This town lies in close proximity to important cities like Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Wiesbaden, Mainz etc and can be visited on a day trip. Famous for their beautiful vineyards, historical monuments, and castles, both towns are popular tourist destinations. Here, I would add that one day is certainly not enough to see and experience these towns with all their attractions. You can either plan multiple day-trips or a two- days holiday ( minimum) to completely see and experience Rüdesheim and Bingen.
Since we stay in Darmstadt, which is just 77 kms away, we have made multiple day trips to these lovely towns along the Rhine. I have already posted a Guide to Visiting Rüdesheim am Rhein. Do check it out.
Now, let’s start with exploring Bingen!
How to reach Bingen?
One can reach Bingen by 3 means- By Train, By Road or through a rive cruise from Rüdesheim. Lets me explain all three:
By Train:
The train station in Bingen is called Bingen Hauptbahnhof. It is well connected and you can reach using Deutsche Bahn, the train service provider in Germany.
Tickets for the train journey can be purchased from:
Since we live in Darmstadt ( a city south of Frankfurt), we boarded the train from Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof. There was a changeover at Mainz Hauptbahnhof. From there, we took another train and reached Bingen Hauptbahnhof.
You can use the website mentioned above to check the connectivity from your location.
By Car:
Bingen is well connected through road too. The drive is lovely and offers lovely views of the river and the adjoining fields and vineyards. Check Google Maps to find the best route from your location to Bingen.
From Darmstadt, it is a short, under 1 hour drive to Bingen.
By River Cruise from Rüdesheim:
The third option is to take a river cruise from Rüdesheim. Please note that Rüdesheim lies on the opposite bank of the Rhine river. You can reach Rüdesheim either by car or train. Then from Rüdesheim, you can take a river cruise and alight at Bingen. Basically, you can use the ship to cross the river.
The ticket station is in Rüdesheim town. You can find it diagonally opposite Adlerturm ( a white tower) next to the railway tracks. The Adlerturm looks like this:
The location of the ticketing office is here. It looks like this:
Tickets for the Bingen Rüdesheimer ship tour can be purchased at the ticketing counter or from their website:
https://www.bingen-ruedesheimer.de/home/
A note for my readers who plan to reach by train :
You can reach Bingen directly and explore the town, OR you can get to Rüdesheim and use a ship tour to cross the river and reach Bingen.
Let’s say you live in Hessen and have a Bahn ticket for the state of Hessen; you can take the Bahn and reach Rüdesheim Bahnhof (in Hesse). If you have a planned ship tour, using the ship to cross the river and explore Bingen will make sense. After visiting Bingen, return to Rüdesheim and take your return train to your destination from Rüdesheim Bahnhof.
If you live in Rheinland Palatinate and have a Bahn ticket for the state of Rheinland Palatinate, it would make sense to land in Bingen directly and explore the town. After visiting the town, take the train from Bingen Hauptbahnhof to return to your destination.
Remember that Rüdesheim is in Hesse, and Bingen is in Rhineland Palatinate. These towns are on the opposite banks of the Rhine River.
How to Explore Bingen?
There are multiple ways of exploring the town. You can walk around the town, explore its vineyards and castles, etc. or combine it with a river cruise.
On our various trips to this town, we always took the river cruise by Bingen Rüdesheimer. Bingen Rüdesheimer is a ship tour company with multiple ship tour options on the Rhein. We usually choose the one that starts from Rüdesheim and stops at Bingen. It stops at Bingen town, where you can explore the town and Burg Klopp.. It also stops at Burg Rheinstein ( More details about the river cruise are below). The tour also included audio onboard explaining the places we were visiting.
Here is the link to the tour that I am talking about:
https://www.bingen-ruedesheimer.de/linienfahrten/linie/burgenfahrt
A note for my readers:
Here, I urge my readers to check the different ship tour options on the website mentioned above. Apart from Bingen Rüdesheimer, there is Rössler Linie and Köln-Düsseldorfer too. You can check their websites and decide on the tour according to your time and budget. We found the tour offered by Bingen Rüdesheimer appropriate for our day trip and hence chose it.
Now, let’s start with the places we visited and the things we did in Bingen:
Top Experiences in Bingen:
The river cruise starts from Rüdesheim. It sails on the Rhine, and the audio guide explains everything a tourist might want to know on the trip. It is the best way to enjoy the scenic beauty of Bingen with its lovely river, vineyards and castles.
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| Ship Tour on the Rhine |
While on the cruise, you cross the Mouse Tower. The tower looks simple, but the story behind it is fascinating.
There is a legend about the karma of a cruel ruler, Hatto II. He, apparently, burnt his hungry peasants alive and compared their screams to a mouse’s squeak. Later in his life, he was chased by a swarm of mice, found refuge at the top of this tower, and was eaten alive by the rodents.
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| Mouse Tower, as seen from the ship. |
Then, the ship stops at the base of Burg Rheinstein, where you can alight. Start the climb to reach the castle. Burg Rheinstein is a medieval castle built around the 14th century. In the past 30 years, it has gone through extensive repair and renovation, which has made it possible for tourists to access it.
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| Burg Rheinstein, as seen from the ship |
The architecture, the restored glass windows, the garden, and the looking tower are worth seeing. It also houses a restaurant.
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| Burg Rheinstein |
The lookout tower and the terrace of the castle offer an excellent view of the Rhine Valley and Assmannshausen.
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| A view of the Rhine from Burg Rheinstein |
You can visit the castle, stop by for lunch at the restaurant in the castle, and then climb down. You can try local food and the famous Riesling Wine at the restaurant.
You can easily spend about 3 hours here if you explore the castle fully and also stop for lunch.
The official website is: https://www.burg-rheinstein.de/. Read it before your visit to learn about opening timings, parking place etc.
After coming down, you can explore the town of Bingen. Walk along the Rhine, explore the lovely town on foot, and head for Burg Klopp.
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| Burg Klopp |
Burg Klopp is another lovely castle on a hilltop in Bingen. It is a 13th-century castle and is a site worth visiting, primarily because of the lovely views of the valley.
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| A lovely view of Bingen town from Burg Klopp |
After spending about an hour at the castle, you can climb down. Take a short walk along the Rhine followed by taking the ship back to Rüdesheim ( if you started your trip from Rüdesheim).
Where to stay in Bingen?
If you stay close to Bingen, you can do multiple day trips to the town. However, if you stay far, I highly recommend spending at least one night here. You can book a hotel/Bnb or Campingplatz ( wherein you stay in a tent or a caravan). For hotel/Bnbs, check out the options here.
For Camping Area, check out this website: https://www.campingplatz-marienort.de/. I have personal experience of staying here and would recommend it.
So, here are the Top Experiences in Bingen:
1. River Cruise
2. Burg (Castle) Rheinstein
3. Burg (Castle) Klopp
4. Walking along the Rhein
5. Exploring the town on foot.
6. Local Food and Wine.
Click here to check out other destinations in and around Darmstadt.
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