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14-16 Day Itinerary for Germany/Holland Help!!

Posted by on

Planning trip to pickup our Volvo car in Gothenberg Sweden, then continuing into Germany and Holland and ending back up in Gothenberg Sweden to drop the car back off for shipment home. First time to Europe. Trying to plan trip to give us a "sample taste" so that in four years we can return with our children. Day number 4 would be leaving Gothenberg Sweden and driving straight to Berlin and staying 3 nights(2full days)..then head south to Nuremberg, stopping for a few hours to see a couple sights there. I want to visit Dachau while in the area and was thinking of staying a night in Munich as a base. Day 8/9th, then head to Berchtesgaden for a nights stay, also crossing over and going to Salzburg Austria(to say we been in Austria!)..Day 9/10th, see some keys sights on the Romantic Rd/Strasse as we work our way north towards Holland...spending two nights in Holland, then working our way back to Gothenberg. Any suggestions on what to see..what to skip...what would be some of the "highlights" to see. We know it is a "rush rush" trip, but we dont mind driving, since it will be in our new car!! Also realizing it is a "sampling of Germany and Holland"..as we could not even begin to cover it all...but want to hit some of the highlights..and perhaps if needed limit some areas over the others?

Thanks

Posted by
12040 posts

My initial reaction is that you're skipping all of north and central Germany. Although you have plenty of time to see some of the things in the south, Germany doesn't sudddenly get interesting or more historic once you hit the border of Bavaria. Before you commit to the overly-touristed and not-nearly-as-unique-as-touted Romantic Road, do some research on the Hartz mountain region, which you'll drive almost right past on your way from Berlin to Nürnberg.

Posted by
14507 posts

Hi,

If you do decide on going to Weimar, you'll be in one of the great cultural sites of Germany, and you can bet on seeing very, very few, if any, Americans. Both times there I only saw a couple. To get to the Buchenwald camp which was liberated by US troops, not the Soviets, you can take a bus from the Goetheplatz in the Innenstadt (the center).

Posted by
868 posts

"Germany doesn't sudddenly get interesting or more historic once you hit the border of Bavaria."

To illustrate Toms point... here is a map of Germanys highlights according to Baedeker, Germanys most popular travel guide:
Highlights of Germany

As you can see, Bavaria doesn't stand out. There are actually just as many sights on the Baltic coast, a region you cross from Gothenborg to Berlin. And the Harz mountains offer more notable picture-perfect small towns than the Romantic Road, which isn't even shown on the map. And on your way down to Bavaria you not only pass 8 or 9 World Heritage Sites but also the KZs of Ravensbrück, Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald, which are just as chilling as Dachau.

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