My husband and I are taking a long-dreamed of 2-week trip to Europe. We've spending the bulk of the time in Switzerland, but will be taking a leg north or east at the conclusion.
We are very much drawn to the beauty of rural areas, (where we will mostly be in SWTZ,) so the charm of Rothenburg and the back roads of Germany's Romantic Road has its pull. But everyone raves about all the Vienna has to offer, so we're wondering if we should consider flying out of Vienna instead.
Thoughts?
From where in Switzerland would you be coming?
The views from the Romantic Road offer nothing particular special. It's just a normal secondary route that links together some old, attractive towns... which is also not particularly unique for Germany, other than the disproportionate amount of attention they receive from international tourists. The point of the designation "Romantic" is not that the route itself is the draw, but rather the towns along it. It also serves as sort of a back country route linking together two of Germany's most popular regions for travelers, the Mittelrheintal (Middle Rhine Valley) and southern Bavaria (although the northern ends begins well to the south of the Mittelrheintal). And it is only one of over a hundred officially designated "Fierenstrassen" in Germany, which more or less are themed or scenic tourist routes.
So... put it in that perspective when considering if the Romantic Road is worth your time.
Don't know where you will be in Switzerland, but given the fact that driving always eats up a lot of time, my suggestion is fly to Vienna and spend some time there. Rothenberg is a neat place once (or twice) but Vienna is a city that has enough to offer to warrant many visits. And you can fly from Vienna -- from R'berg you would have to drive quite a way to get to a major airport. TC
Hello jlgpublic. I think being at Switzerland and Vienna can be a very good vacation trip in Europe. Fly from an airport in Switzerland to the airport of Vienna. Vienna has something that you will not see in Switzerland : a huge Royal palace -- the Schonbrun palace.
Vienna will give you more variety in this trip and more "thrills-per-minute." I was surprised that www.skyscanner.com did not reflect a direct Zurich-Vienna flight on my test dates, but EasyJet has a direct flight from Geneva.
