Bingen Town

 

A day trip to Bingen from Darmstadt

Located 70 kilometers west of Darmstadt in the state of Rheinland Palatinate, is the beautiful and historical town of Bingen. It is located on the bank of the Rhine river opposite the lovely town of Rüdesheim. Famous for their beautiful vineyards, historical monuments, and castles, both the towns are popular tourist destinations. Due to their proximity to Darmstadt, many people make day trips to these towns. 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. 

We made 2 day trips to these lovely towns along the Rhine. I have already posted about our day trip to Rüdesheim. In this article, I am writing about our trip to Bingen.

How we reached Bingen?

We boarded the train from Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof. There was a changeover at Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof. From there, we took another train and reached Rüdesheim Bahnhof. The journey took about 2 hours. From Rüdesheim, we took a ship tour, through which we reached Bingen and explored the town. 

Tickets for the train journey can be purchased from:

https://www.bahn.de/

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 ( which is in Hessen). If you have a planned ship tour, it will make sense to use the ship to cross the river and explore Bingen. 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. 

You need to remember that Rüdesheim is in Hessen, and Bingen is in Rheinland Palatinate. These towns are on the opposite banks of the Rhine river. 

On this trip, we started by taking a ship tour by Bingen Rüdesheimer. Bingen Rüdesheimer is a ship tour company with multiple ship tour options on the Rhein. The one we chose took us to the town of Bingen and two castles - Burg Rheinstein and Burg Klopp. The tour also included audio on board that explained the places that we were visiting. 

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:

Here, I would urge my readers to check the different ship tour options available. 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:

The ship tour started from Rüdesheim. It sailed on the Rhein, and the audio guide explained everything a tourist might want to know on the trip. 

Ship Tour on the Rhine

We crossed 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. He was chased by a swarm of mice, found refuge at the top of this tower, and was eaten alive by the rodents.

Mouse Tower ,as seen from the ship

Then our ship stopped at the base of Burg Rheinstein, from where we started our climb to reach the castle. Burg Rheinstein is a medieval times castle built around the 14th century. In the past 30 years, extensive repair and renovation of the castle have made it accessible to tourists.

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. 

Burg Rheinstein

The lookout tower and the terrace of the castle offer an excellent view of the Rhine Valley and Assmannshausen.

A view of the Rhine from Burg Rheinstein

We visited the castle, stopped by for lunch at the restaurant in the castle, and then climbed down. 

It took us about 3 hours to explore the castle and have lunch there. 

Our next destination was the Town of Bingen. We walked along the Rhine, explored the lovely town on foot, and reached Burg Klopp.

Burg Klopp

Burg Klopp is another lovely castle on a hilltop in Bingen. It is a 13th-century castle and is yet another site worth visiting, primarily because of the lovely views of the valley.

A lovely view of Bingen town from Burg Klopp

After spending about an hour at the castle, it was time to climb down. A short walk along the Rhine was followed by taking the ship back to Rudesheim. We were back in Rüdesheim by 6 pm. We took the train and returned to Darmstadt by 8 pm. 

So, here are the top 5 highlights of our day trip to Bingen:

1. Ship tour

2. Burg Rheinstein

3. Burg Klopp

4. Walking along the Rhein 

5. Exploring the town on foot.

Click here to check out other destinations in and around Darmstadt.

Read more about our family holidays on the Holiday Page.

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