Loved this trip even through we didn’t arrive in Konigswinter until 2pm. You don’t see any castles until you arrive at Konigswinter. Took the cog train up (follow the crowd off the boat!) to the ruins, had a quick tour of the castle (beautiful) grabbed an ice cream outside the the castle and walked back down into town. Took a quick look round the town and back onto the boat. We were back in Cologne just after 7pm, we had beautiful weather and enjoyed the day!

Not the most scenic cruise (no castles), but a relaxing day experiencing river travel along with local folks. The view from the overlook in Konigswinter was lovely. I appreciated other reviewers' report that we wouldn't have time in Konigswinter to do very much. We followed the crowd straight ahead from the boat dock to ride the cog railroad, enjoy the view, and then ride back down in time to enjoy ice cream and walking around the town before catching the return boat. The ride back to Cologne was much shorter, going downstream. We found the food service on the boat to be perfectly adequate, unlike some reviewers. The boat is a regular daily service from Cologne with several stops out and back, not a dedicated cruise. It works out that one can get off at Konigswinter, have a fun stop, see a good view of the Rhine, and say you have been somewhere before catching the same boat on its return trip.

A long journey to Konigswinter, there and back, made very pleasant by having ample food, snacks and drinks on sale, and all table service. A journey on the Rhine is always interesting, watching the mighty barges pass by, or the cruise ships travelling to their next drop off point. Journey was a little sad today, witnessing the effects of the drought on the height of the river, many beach areas are in evidence, perhaps at least 2 metres lost. On arrival at Konigswinter, we were allowed another 3 hours to explore, certainly long enough to get to the top of the Drachenfels, and to have a meal. All in all a very long, but very enjoyable day out.