Hello everyone. I'm planning a trip to Austria, and Germany. I will have two weeks to spend over there. I plan on Leaving 2 September. I live in Pittsburgh, and get a direct flight to Frankfurt.
My must sees are Berlin/ Potsdam, Vienna, Tyrol, and Salzkamergut. If possible I would like so the sight of the Nazi Rallies in Nuremberg, Monument to The Battle Of The Nations, and Westfalenstadion. If Bourussia Dortmund has a home game. I know its a lot. If you think that is to much to see. In that window of time. Please let me know. If you have any other advice, or recomwndations. Please let me know.
Posted by
New York, NY
1586 posts
Can you fly into Vienna and fly out of Berlin.
Vienna - Salzburg (Salzkamergut Region) - Tyrol - Nuremberg - Frankfurt - Berlin
Posted by
Stuttgart, Germany
3050 posts
September is my favorite time of year in Germany so this is a good time to go!
With the number of places you'd like to see, I'd look into a German Rail Pass. It covers a surprising amount of rail travel to places outside of Germany - like Salzburg - and gives you maximum flexibility. Since you pay per day, it's best used for long, otherwise expensive high-speed rail journeys and all the better if you can leave early in the morning, stopover for a quick visit to a place en route to your final destination.
It won't cover a trip to Vienna, unfortunately, but you could buy that ticket separately departing Salzburg.
It's a busy trip, but without checking train connections, it would seem to make sense to go from Frankfurt to Dortmund to Berlin, the Leipzig, then Nuernberg, Salzkammersgut, Vienna, then back through Tyrol and on back to Frankfurt.
That said, the outliers here seem like either Vienna or Tyrol. If you skipped Vienna you're keeping yourself a little more sensible geographically speaking. However if you skipped Tyrol you could end your journey flying from Vienna to Frankfurt for possibly a much cheaper ticket than train.
I don't know what kind of traveler you are in terms of energy but you will spend a lot of time in transit on a trip so I think eliminating one or even two destinations would enable you to see more and spend a little less time in transit. Berlin and Vienna are grand cities with a ton to do and I love them both, but you could easily spend two weeks just between the two cities.
That said, I understand your desire to see a Dortmund game - I did, and I'm glad I did it! And I'm only a mild soccer fan, but it was an experience.
If you were to go with my recommendation for a German Rail Pass, a great way to utilize it would be to leave Leipzig early en route to Salzburg, with a long stopover in Nuremberg (put your luggage in a locker at the train station), to see the Nazi Rally Grounds and a quick lunch and tour of the old town, for example.
If getting tickets to a BvB game doesn't work out but you still want to see the station, you could conceivably do that en route from Frankfurt to Berlin, although that would be a very long day, but absolutely possible (but really, if you want to see a game, you should just overnight and see the game).
Posted by
San Francisco
14915 posts
Hi,
You have a great travel itinerary, it would be even more doable if you dropped the Tirol.
You can do the Völkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig as a day trip form Berlin, take the early train ICE train from Berlin Hbf. From Leipzig Hbf or across the street, take the S-Bahn 2 or 4 to "Völkerschlachtdenkmal." It was refurbished in 2013 for the 200th anniversary of the battle, where Napoleon being obsessed with re-capturing Berlin allowed himself to be caught in a concentric battle by the Allies, Still, the first day the Allies, in spite of their numerical superiority, lost.
The stop is across the street, I've been to it a couple of times. See the battlefield museum too. Keep in mind that when the Americans got to the site in 1945 and received sniper fire (idiotic), they didn't bother, US troops just turned artillery on them, sort of like using a hand grenade to deal with a mosquito.
The Nazi rallies area was called the Reichsparteigelände, I went there once, my first time in Nürnberg in 1973, it took forever walking from the hostel.
Posted by
San Francisco
14915 posts
You might want to consider this option if not choose it outright; between Vienna and Berlin is a night train connection run by NJ...depending on your travel style and if you stick with going to Vienna. No problem for me doing that night train, stretches your travel days too. The Austrian commander who lost the first day at Leipzig to Napoleon is featured in the Army Museum in Vienna, the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (HGM) plus a square (Platz) in the city.
On Borrussia Dortmund the Westfalenstadion is located in Dortmund. Take in a home game if it's possible for you. Borussia Dortmund is my favourite team, with their yellow combination jerseys.
If you're going to Dortmund anyway and want more historical sights, I can recommend them too if you're interested. Definitely try their beer if you drink beer, such as DAB. Lots of varieties of Dortmund beer...good stuff.