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Itinerary Review Request: Germany and Switzerland Honeymoon

Posted by (Los Angeles) on

Dear All,

My fiancée and I will be going on a honeymoon to Germany and Switzerland next month, at the end of July, for just over 3 weeks. We're big fans of Rick Steves' shows, and have used this website and related episodes so help plan a bit, but neither of us have been to Germany or Switzerland (or the Netherlands -- were also going to Amsterdam) and are feeling a bit overwhelmed with the decision making. Our stops are below, and all advice is welcome, from transportation, changing/removing/adding cities/countries, sights to see.

We have round trip tickets to and from Copenhagen (we're starting there and staying with my fiancée's sister who lives there), but anything in the middle is a bit up for grabs.

  • Copenhagen, 2 nights, flying in from Los Angeles.
  • Amsterdam, 3 nights, flying in from Copenhagen. (Maybe a day trip to Bruges).
  • Bacharach, 3 nights arriving by train.
  • Rothenburg, 2 nights, arriving by train.
  • Munich, 3 nights, arriving by train.
  • Bern, 2 nights, arriving by train.
  • Lauterbrunnen, 5 nights, arriving by train.
  • Zurich, 1 night, arriving by train.
  • Copenhagen, 2 nights, flying in from Zurich, and then flying home to Los Angeles.
Posted by
5683 posts

Congrats on the marriage and honeymoon.
Europe is very crowded this year, and many have reported that lodging is expensive and in short supply. Finding a place to sleep at night may dictate some of your itinerary .

Just some thoughts-
Lucerne is much more charming than Bern, (which is a great city). I love Lucerne and keep returning, if you don't have an early flight out of Zurich, it's easy to get to the Zurich airport from Lucerne.
Keep Rothenberg, I was just there last year for the third time. I love it.
However, for the Rhine area, but I'd stay in Boppard, a transit hub and charming river town with a little buzz. Bacharach is charming but tiny, takes about half a day to explore the town and town walls. Visit Bacharach , but stay in a Rhine River town which more transportation access.
You wisely are spending five nights in the BO. I would recommend sleeping in Murren or Wengen, but you might not be able to find anything for July. But wouldn't you rather be IN the Alps, not just looking up at them?
I'd skip Munich and go to Salzburg instead.
You'll get a host of a varying opinions here.
Have a great trip!

Posted by
5522 posts

I would be very leery of flying into Copenhagen on the same day that you are flying home. Especially if these flights are on separate tickets, as they seem to be. If you miss that flight home due to cancellation or delay of your first flight, the airline has no responsibility whatsoever. You would have to pay for another ticket. I'd recommend going back to Copenhagen the evening before. Better yet, if you can change your return flight, fly back from Zurich.

Posted by
2607 posts

Looks o.k. I don’t understand the comment that Boppard has better transportation than Bacharach. Pretty much the same trains stop at both. I’ve spent about 20 days there with 6 more coming up. You might have trouble finding accomdations this late. In Bacharach, look at Irmgard Orth’s small 3 room b&b. It has only one room with private bath - that’s the one we get. The place I stay in Rothenburg is booked up until the end of the year.

Posted by
7120 posts

Boppard is a better town Rhine town than Bacharach on several grounds IMHO. As for transportation, it has a ferry crossing with access to trains on the opposite river bank for visiting Marksburg Castle and Rüdesheim. Bacharach doesn't. Also, train outings to Cochem or other Mosel towns, or to Cologne, become more doable; you have an additional 40 minutes of travel time on a round-trip outing starting from Bacharach.

Practically speaking, the 3-day trip to Munich is a nasty detour and probably not a good choice. A long trip there and a long trip afterward to Bern. The more direct route between the Middle Rhine Valley towns and Bern offers many charms and much less travel time. Options, some with minor detours, might include...

Mainz
Heidelberg
Speyer
Ludwigsburg
Besighem
The German Wine Road
The Bergstrasse towns (wine region... Heppenheim, Ladenburg)
Stuttgart
Gengenbach
the Black Forest
Freiburg

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