7 Days in Germany

To answer your question: The only way to do this would be to fly to Prague and train to Berlin or bus to Nuremberg and train or car for the rest of the places. That would not fit my definition of best and certainly not cheapest, but it could be done if you want to spend most of the week on the road. Years from now your only memories will be of autobahns (glorified freeways) or trains. It is up to you, but I would recommend a more leisurely pace by train or driving within a 150-mile radius of Frankfurt. I could name places, but Jo or Lee would probably be better for that. Draw a circle on a map and look at all the great places to visit. Don't be a road warrior. Slow down and enjoy Germany -- and the time with your girlfriend.

Dustin This is a word for word duplicate posting like the one you have in the other area. Duplicate postings confuse the poster and the helper. You may be best off in deleting one or the other.

Sorry this is my first time posting so I figured this would help me to learn the proper spot. My intention was to delete the other once I got a response. Thank you.

Why is flying into Prague the only way to make this possible? From what I have found so far, I can easily fly into Frankfurt and take a bus or train to Heidelberg. From there I can get a bus to Nuremberg. From Nuremberg I can get a bus to Prague. From Prague I can get a bus to Dresden. I can get a bus from Dresden to Berlin... Berlin to Hanover... Hanover to Frankfurt... All of these things appear to be possible from everything I have found so far. I can expect 2-4 hours on a bus/train for each of them. The reason behind this decision is that I am flying to Frankfurt, she is in Heidelberg, and I have friends in Nuremberg. Those are destinations that I plan on making no matter what. From Nuremberg I thought I would love to see Prague which is only a couple of hours away. From Prague I figured I would just finish the loop. If it really isn't possible I will certainly have to come up with some alternatives. Thanks for your input.

I have also considered renting a car but I don't really want to deal with trying to park or pay for parking in the big cities.

"I can expect 2-4 hours on a bus/train for each of them." Add the time it takes to check out of one hotel, get to the bahnhof, the inevitable delay at some portion of your trip, getting oriented to your next city, finding your hotel, checking in, and unpacking... You can easily add 2-3 hours to each change of locations, which means you will spend far to much time on this trip in transit from one destination to the next.

"I am currently debating the best/cheapest mode of transportation...whether or not these would be the best places to visit if we only have a week, and what we might want to see..." I'm with the other posters. It IS possible to race through Germany as you are doing - trains are very efficient - but you can't really SEE very much in each one at this pace. How did you choose these cities, anyway? It seems like maybe you didn't read up on what to see and do, that your approach to planning is bass-ackwards right now. Figure out what you'd like to see first in these places, and then determine how long in each. And as Tom says, you'll need time for the routine tasks of traveling, and of just living. You'll need to find an ATM. You'll need to figure out the ticket machine for the U-bahn in Berlin, find a bathroom, buy some toothpaste, etc. And you're traveling with a woman. Let's just say that few of them enjoy curtailing their morning routines to race off without breakfast and catch a bus somewhere. Berlin is huge, the sort of place that most people schedule 4-5 nights for because there's so much there. You'll find that your destinations call for a stay of around 2.5-3 weeks if you are realistic about the time involved. 7 nights is about right for your first 3 places. 1 night in Heidelberg, 2 in Nuremberg and 3 in Prague and maybe 1 back in Frankfurt. But I would want to make a stop in the old walled town of Rothenburg on the way to Nuremberg, and in Würzburg as well to see the Residenz (palace), and I'd be tempted by Bamberg, a gorgeous old city with great brew pubs, and I'd want to visit the "beer road" private breweries to the west of Nuremberg, and I'd want to stop northwest of Frankfurt on the Rhine to visit a real medieval castle too. Your itinerary zooms you right past all this and more.

(cont.) Once you find out how much there is to see and do in these places for just 7 days, you can prioritize destinations, leave some for a future trip, and limit your travel legs on this trip, which makes your week cheaper. For cheap travel for two, read up also on the daypasses available in Germany: http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/prices/germany/happy_weekend_ticket.shtml http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/prices/germany/laender-ticket.shtml

I would fly in one city and out the other to save time not traveling back and forth to Frankfurt. With 7 days I would just stay in Germany and leave Prague for another time.

Im stuck with round trip because that is the closest destination to my girlfriend and obviously she will have to head back to Heidelberg so fly in one place and out another is out of the question. As far as the original plan I will be heading east to Nuremberg no matter what to visit a friend for a day. I thought Prague looked amazing and after that I wanted to do Dresden... Berlin and Hanover were added because that allows me to just continue the loop and see two historic cities. I have debated just going Frankfurt Heidelberg, Nuremberg, Prague, and then just head back the way we came.

Dustin, I understood that you will be flying to Frankfurt from the U.S. I do not in any way, shape or fashion suggest that you fly to Prague, given a short time and a limited budget. But if you must include it in your itinerary, the cheapest and quickest way would be to find a cheap flight from Frankfurt Hahn.

When you estimate 2-4 hours from city to city, I think you mean actual time on the intercity train/bus. Are you taking into account getting from where you spent the night to the train station, then getting to your next lodging (to drop off your stuff) before sightseeing? With almost 1/2 day in transfering from place to place, that leaves you with not one day per stop, but maybe a little more than 1/2 day to "see the city" or the one or two bits that you have decided are of interest to you.

Dustin, my son and I did almost the same trip a couple of years ago with a few exceptions. We had our own car so we could set our own schedule, and we did this in 15 days, not 7. You can do all of this in 7 days, but you really won't have time to enjoy any of the cities you would like to see. I would suggest, if this is your first time, to concentrate on the area around Heidelberg, including Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Augsburg, Munich, Fussen, and maybe even Salzburg. These are areas you can see within 4 hours of Heidelberg.

Dustin, Prague IS amazing, but to give it only a partial day/night/partial day (maybe 24 hours) is doing it and you an injustice; you'll be spending a lot of money and really really wishing you had more time. Why don't you just do Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Nuremburg this time; there's lots to see in all three, and if you stay in Nuremburg longer you can visit your friend longer. After he/she takes you to a gasthaus and you drink some good German beer, you might not be waking up too early the next day! Ultimately it's your and your girlfriend's call but most of us on this helpline are experienced travelers and I think we're giving good advice. I've lived in Europe (Germany and Italy) almost 10 years now and I would NEVER do this trip, even if I had good friends in all the cities you want to go to. Good luck!

In one week, I'd stick to Bavaria, Munich/Salzburg, or Rhine area (and skip at least some of that). Spending all your time in transit wastes your limited, and valuable, vacation time.

I second others: your itinerary is too ambitious for the time you get. I guess some people might react with these comments with a "it is easy for them, who have seen these places, to say that", not saying that it is your case, but you should really consider the logistics of getting from your hotel to station, travelling, finding your new lodge etc. If you do a trip like that, which is your call after all, it will be more like a transportation-geeky schedule in which most of the time you'll be moving from a place to other place in a train/subway/tram or what else, and the most memories you end up getting are those of train station announcement and you both racing through the platforms. This said, if I had 7 nights only, I select only 3 cities at most, and enjoy my time exploring what is there. As for the "I'm passing so close to xyz place and I'm not seeing it", I guess that is just part of travel planning. I travel most of place by car, and have to "skip" highway exits to "amazing, unique and stunning" views all the time if I don't want to get stuck 1000km before my final destination.

Dustin, I have to agree with most the others: your plan is too ambitious for only 7 days. I'd tighten the circle, and concentrate on Heidelberg, Nurnburg (to see your friends), then circle back through Rothenburg ob der Tauber (ie. "The Romantic Road), Wurzburg, the "Romantic Rhine" then back out of Frankfurt (which doesn't have any appeal to me, other than a place to fly in and out of). If you rent a car at the airport, it's even better, because you can call your own shots. And most hotels and B&Bs will provide parking, or reasonably so nearby. And as RS often says, "plan to come back someday to see the rest."