A private half-day tour from Frankfurt Airport to Kaub and the Pfalzgrafenstein island castle covers 75 km via the A66 and B42, with a total touring time of approximately 5–6 hours.
A private half-day tour from Frankfurt Airport to Kaub and the Pfalzgrafenstein island castle covers 75 km via the A66 and B42, with a total touring time of approximately 5–6 hours. Fixed-price tours start from €131 for up to 3 passengers including the drive back to FRA or Frankfurt.
In the middle of the UNESCO Rhine Gorge, a stone ship rides at anchor: the Pfalzgrafenstein, a 14th-century toll castle built on an island in the river and never once conquered. This private half-day tour pairs that singular sight with the slate-roofed wine town of Kaub on the right bank and the Gutenfels castle above it — a compact, story-rich Rhine outing barely an hour from the airport, with no group and no timetable.
Kaub is a small wine town on the right bank of the Middle Rhine, its lanes climbing beneath Burg Gutenfels and its quay facing one of the river's most photographed landmarks. Out on a midstream rock sits the Pfalzgrafenstein, a white-and-red toll fortress begun in 1326 by King Ludwig the Bavarian and shaped, with later additions, like a ship forever sailing upstream — it levied tolls with a chain across the river and was never taken. Kaub is also where Field Marshal Blücher famously crossed the Rhine with the Prussian army on New Year's Eve 1813, an event the town's Blücher Museum commemorates.
Your driver leaves Frankfurt Airport on the A66 to Wiesbaden, then follows the B42 along the right bank of the Rhine past Rüdesheim and Lorch to Kaub — 75 km and around an hour through the heart of the gorge. The car waits in Kaub while you take the small ferry out to the Pfalzgrafenstein, explore the riverfront and, if you wish, climb toward Gutenfels. The return to Frankfurt Airport completes the fixed price.
Travellers visiting the region also book Bacharach & Oberwesel Private Tour and Rhine Castles Private Tour from Frankfurt Airport.
The island castle is reached only by ferry from Kaub, and the right-bank gorge villages are awkward by rail — which is what makes a private car worthwhile.
Door-to-door, ferry timed for you, flexible stops, no group
Above rail cost for solo travellers
Kaub has a small right-bank station
Sparse right-bank services, plus the ferry; slow to combine with other stops
Own route along the gorge
Riverfront parking in season, plus the FRA return
The Pfalzgrafenstein is unmissable from the road but reached only by a little passenger ferry from Kaub, and the gorge's right-bank villages are slow and fiddly by train — exactly where a private car earns its keep. Your FrankfurtRide driver times the visit around the ferry and the light, waits while you cross to the island, and has you back at FRA or your hotel inside an afternoon.
Spring to early autumn (April–October) is ideal, when the ferry runs reliably, the gorge vineyards are green and the island castle is open for interior visits. September and October bring the Mittelrhein wine harvest to Kaub and its neighbours. The Pfalzgrafenstein can close during winter high water on the Rhine, so from November to March we confirm access before you travel and, if needed, focus the day on the riverfront views, Gutenfels and the Blücher story.
FrankfurtRide private Kaub & Pfalzgrafenstein half-day tours start from €131 for up to 3 passengers — 75 km each way, riverfront stops and all waiting time inside one fixed price. The ferry to the island and castle admission are paid on site.
Available Vehicles
All vehicles include meet & greet · flight tracking · fixed price · 30 min free wait
After the island your driver returns you to Frankfurt Airport or your hotel along the B42 and A66 through the gorge. To travel one-way from Kaub to FRA on a separate day, see our Kaub to Frankfurt Airport transfer. The neighbouring Bacharach & Oberwesel tour makes a natural second outing.
Fixed prices · 24/7 pickups
Get your fixed price in 30 seconds — no signup, no surprises.
