2-week German Itinerary by car

Having lived in Aschaffenburg and Wurzburg, here is a suggestion. First, do not rent a car in Frankfurt!! You will be sleepy, jet lagged, on unfamiliar ground, and Frankfurt is not the easiest place to start driving. Some people are not bothered by any of those things, others are really driving somewhat impaired, and still others should not be allowed near sharp instruments. Even a minor fender bender at the start of a trip will cast a bad cloud over the rest of the trip.

Take the train to Aschaffenburg and rent the car there. In Aschaffenburg there is a lovely castle named Johannesburg (sp?). There is also Pompeiigean (sp?) which is a replica a villa in Pompeii. If you drive the old road (not the autobahn) to between A'burg and W'burg, just south of Haibach which is just south of A'burg is the village of Messpelbrun. It has a fairy tale moated castle that has been in the same family for 5-600 years. In W'burg visit the Prince Bishop's Residence. Be sure to see the Hofkirche on one end of the Residenze. Easy to miss if you are not looking for it. The Marienberg Fortress is ok but if time is tight skip it. The view of it from the town is more impressive that the view of the town from the fortress. From W'burg it is a short drive from Rothenburg.

You should be able to google all the places mentioned and see if they hold any interest.

Thank you! This is exactly the kind of insight I’m looking for.

I agree with not driving on Day 1. Smart idea to take a train.

I guess I don't understand TC's suggestion that you ride the train to A'burg and (apparently) start driving later that same day from there - it's not as though you can predict the exact time jet-lag and fatigue will set in or when you will feel perky. You may or may not arrive at 7:30. Transatlantic flights are often delayed. If you are on time it is unlikely you will complete your terminal transit, get through baggage, and security, find an ATM, attend to your personal needs, etc., get to the terminal train station, buy tickets and arrive at a train platform prior to 9:00 or so.

Würzburg is a good destination and there are hotels within walking distance of the station. There are direct trains from FRA airport. Before you do any sightseeing at all, I suggest you head straight there and either drop bags or (preferrably) check in. At that point you have many good sightseeing choices, or you can choose to relax, freshen up, have lunch or whatever at/near your hotel. I think this is a better way to approach your first day than to have a rigid sightseeing plan. It's hard to imagine doing more than just Würzburg on this day if you ask me.

Pick up your car the following morning in Würzburg. Drive the Main river route and make a stop in lovely Sommerhausen. Scroll through the gallery of pictures here. You should have no trouble reaching Rothenburg by noon or so. An afternoon and evening is adequate for seeing Rothenburg - it's not a big town.

The Park Hotel isn't in Boppard... it's in Boppard-Bad Salzig, a neighbor town to the south that has been annexed. I suggest you book in Boppard instead.

KD Cruises end their regular schedule October 21. Demand and the typical weather conditions are the reason. Bingen-Rüdesheimer is an alternative company that continues for another week plus or so, but B-R can't change the weather. It would be wise for you to restructure your trip so that it BEGINS in Boppard, I think. You can take a train from FRA to Boppard quite easily and pick up a car in the area later. You could END the trip in Rothenburg/Würzburg (Würzburg is only 1.5 hrs. from FRA by direct train.)

I hadn’t thought if it heading the other way. So... take the train to Boppard the day we arrive so we can catch the river cruise season, and then onto Cochem by train after three nights, pick up a car rental somewhere after that, and continue the itinerary in reverse, ending in Rothenburg or Würzburg the night before we depart from Frankfurt? That could work! It would put us in Füssen on his birthday. Is there any nightlife there? Nothing crazy, but good restaurant/pub?

"...continue the itinerary in reverse..."

Right. As for the car, you can pick one up in Koblenz during your Boppard stay if you prefer (might be handy to have for the trip to Burg Eltz and Beilstein) or in Trier (not on your itinerary BTW but certainly pretty interesting,) or...?

I actually don't think driving as much as you have in mind to drive, for two weeks, is very enjoyable. (That said, I would do the whole business by train myself - probably get a German Rail Twin pass and let someone else do all the driving while DW and I just hang out together and watch the scenery go by. Very few of the sights you have named might require a car.) If I did any driving at all on the trip you have planned, it would probably be the stretch between Baden-Baden and Füssen only (good for seeing Hohenzollern for sure and perhaps around the Füssen area.) I would probably discourage you from going all the way to Hallstatt altogether (too far, pretty not much to do there, and Salzburg itself is surrounded by great scenery - Königssee Lake in Germany for example, the Salzach River around Werfen...) Hohenwerfen Castle there is open into November - it's a genuine castle with medieval roots (Neuschwanstein is a faux castle that was built around the time Chicago built its first skyscrapers.)

I haven't stayed in Füssen for quite some time. Can't tell you about nightlife there but I wouldn't expect much at all.

I guess if you take a really short ride, it doesn't matter, but the Rhine flows northward past Boppard, and you would prefer to cruise in that downstream direction. The most scenic section is from Bingen to Boppard or St. G., and it doesn't take that long. The boat usually has a bar and snack bar. But we went in high season. Regarding Boppard by night: Night life is one thing, but remember that many businesses and museums in Europe keep strictly family-friendly hours. I'm sorry we missed the Gebruder Thonet museum.

Note that the trains are so fast and so frequent (I mean, compared to, say, American busses ... ) that getting to and from your boat ride is much more trivial than you think.

This newsboard is a big fan of Burg Eltz, so consider if you want to stop there on the Mosel day.

For a hike near Tuebingen, try the waterfall near Bad Urach. google ‘youtube ranier dornburg wasserfallsteig bad urach’ for a good video of the hike. It has been voted best hike.

I think Hohenzollern is best viewed from afar rather than actually going up and tourng it.

Ok, so about a 2 hr Train from Frankfurt Airport to Boppard, spend the day walking And slowly getting over jet lag. Spend the night somewhere in town (NOT the Park Hotel, thank you for that tip!) The next day, take a train to Bingen, river cruise to Koblenz, pick up our car rental there (much less hectic than Frankfurt), and head back for the night to Boppard with a 30 min drive. Spend the final next day in town, or visiting neighboring areas by car or train, and then drive on to Cochem the next morning (I like starting the trip with 3 nights in the same place, that is s much more relaxed start). That means we wouldn’t really start long drives until our 4th day there, which seems safer. And a fantastic hike in Tübingen, thank you! To make it work in this direction, I think we would have to spend just one night in Rothenburg, so that we are either in Frankfurt or within an hour of Frankfurt on the morning that we depart. Is 1 day/night in Rothenburg really enough? I’ve heard it is magical. Should I cut that night out somewhere else instead?

Take the train to Aschaffenburg and rent the car there

Russ / Sheila,

Oops! Meant to say stay overnight in Aschaffenburg and rent the car the next day.

I suggest you read about Rothenberg using the Search box top center, because opinions vary widely. Click the filter for Travel Forum after the search results appear, or look at Rick's notes that come up. Do you have Rick's book for Germany? I also recommend Lonely Planet.

Before you commit to boating to Koblenz, please download this year's schedule for the brand of boat you will be using. We used KD, but I'm sure that Koblenz (which I liked, more than some posters here) is a long, boring, un-scenic addition, north of Boppard. The reason I mentioned the speed of trains was so that (I though you had a car you had to get back to ... ) you wouldn't be tempted to think of the boat as a bus or train. I see the logic of picking up the car in a bigger city, and one worth visiting, but that part of the boat ride isn't worth the time spent aboard. I am an authority on this because we were staying in Andernach (even farther north) when we did our KD ride from Bingen to Boppard. BTW, there's a lovely wine bar across the street from the Boppard rail station.

If in early October, I would check for town square wine festivals. Wineries usually want reservations for tasting visits.

If you walk north along the wall from where you're staying in RodT you'll get some really nice views down the river valley. If you haven't been there it's worth the look, but a night or two is plenty.

The drive to Salzburg may take you longer. It can be very compelling to stop in some of the small towns or just look at the scenery. If you go to Munich you should plan on spending a night, as you'll never get out of there in time to get to Salzburg the same day.

You will like the hotel in Salzburg; I've stayed there. The square just a couple yards away has a really neat fountain with seahorses that they light up at night. Makes for excellent pictures. You may have to walk a couple blocks to park though. Ask the hotel staff, they can help with that.

I've done the castle tours around Neuschwanstein and they can be interesting. I preferred Linderhoff, but I saw that in deep winter with snow and there was nobody around.

I prefer Garmish-Partenkirchen to Fussen, but it's a hour or so away. Fewer tourist groups and some nice walks, plus the Zugspitz (better than the castles in my opinion).

It's been a while since I was in Baden Baden, but the Casino used to have a dress code. You might want to check that and plan accordingly.

Have fun!

"The next day, take a train to Bingen, river cruise to Koblenz"

It will be simpler to just cruise back to Boppard. But before you do that, hop off that morning train in Bacharach for a few hours, take a walk around town, see the sights, and have lunch. Bacharach town map: https://www.bacharach.de/stadtinformationen/stadtplan/

Sample schedule:

9:16 Train to Bacharach (9:35.) Buy ticket to Bingen Rhein Stadt station - €10.80 each - and just hop off and back on any regional train after Bacharach.
13:20 (no later than this anyway) Train to Bingen (13:56)
14:30 Cruise from Bingen to Boppard (16:50.)

"Spend the final next day in town, or visiting neighboring areas by car or train,"

I suggest you pick up the car on this day instead of the previous day - the suggestion that follows has you going into Koblenz anyway...

Spend a couple of morning hours in Boppard as you planned. Catch a train into Koblenz (€6 each) for your car (I once picked up an Autoeurope car at a location near the main station - very convenient.) The car will be very handy if you visit Marksburg Castle in the old-world town of Braubach, which is just south of Koblenz on the opposite river bank; the castle is high on a hill above town. Marksburg is the only never-destroyed Rhine Castle in this area and has a very good tour; contact them in advance to see if there might be a tour in English on that day. You can take the German-language tour with a pamphlet in English if not.

https://www.marksburg.de/en/
http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/city-cities/braubach.php
https://www.romantischer-rhein.de/uploads/pics/Altstadt_02.jpg

After that you can drive south along the eastside river bank to visit more towns if you like. Rüdesheim is at the southern end of the scenic part. There's a ferry there, in St. Goarshausen, and a couple of other towns as well for crossing back over to the Boppard side.

Rhine area map: http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/city-cities.php

Rothenburg:

Rick Steves calls it a "fairy-tale dream town" but he's also said, and I quote, that it's "..well on its way to becoming a medieval theme park..." I don't see anything wrong with visiting Rothenburg as long as you understand that it's ONLY about tourists and tourist needs - not a real German town any longer where people do other things besides cater to tourists. It has 11,000 inhabitants but accommodates 2.5 million tourists (and these Euro-dropping folks hold sway - English is the lingua franca pretty much.) Rick sort of misleads readers a bit when he says "Rothenburg is still Germany's best-preserved walled town." There are a good number of original buildings. OTOH nearly half the town was demolished in WW II. That part looks pretty nice today but I would call it "restored" - not preserved.

Here's a map of Rothenburg - the area of interest is not especially big. Coming from Nuremberg, you could spend some of the morning of the 26th there and the rest of the day and evening there. That sounds adequate to me.

Next morning (27th) drive to Würzburg via Sommerhausen and spend a final night in W'burg. Rather than fuss with the car and possible traffic on your final day, arrange to catch one of the direct trains from Würzburg to FRA airport (takes about 1.5 hours.) You can drop your car in W'burg when you arrive on the 27th (stay at a hotel near the station for convenience.)

Rothenburg is a must see and while bombed a bit in the war, compared to other German cities it was not bombed severely. The bombed building were restored to Medieval accuracy. Still, you only need one day to see the city.

I love the Romantic Road, which runs through Rothenburg. Dinkelsbuhel is another preserved medieval city on the road, closer to Munich and it is not as touristy. It is still just a town where people live. There are other interesting cities on the road, like Donauwurth, bulit in a meteor crater, Augsburg and of course Oberamergau and Fussen in the south.

Thank you Russ, these are great ideas to bookend the trip!

I have decided to add a 2nd night in Rothenburg since we probably will not arrive until the evening of the first day, and that will give us a full day to explore the area without having to check out another hotel and hitting the road. We will do our final night in Würzburg, we will drop off the car and then take the train to Frankfurt in the morning.

Does anybody know if paragliding in the Rhine River Valley still available in October?

And I am worried we are trying Squeezin too much travel/sightseeing in the four nights between Baden Baden, Tübingen, and Fussen. Of all the castles around Tubingen and Fussen, which are the MUST to tour? Would it be better to do one night in Tubingen and 2 in Fussen before driving to Salzburg?

I don't see anything wrong with visiting Rothenburg as long as you understand that it's ONLY about tourists and tourist needs - not a real German town any longer where people do other things besides cater to tourists.

Please don't take offence, but that's a rather bold statment. According to the Rothenburg Chamber of Commerce, tourism contributes about one third to the economy of the city +). Of course, it's true that the historic center is dependent on tourism. But that's the case everywhere with the smaller historic cities in Europe, be it Rothenburg, Salzburg or Carcassonne; Tourism is what keeps the historical cores alive. Rick Steve's does not seem to me to be an authority in such matters; he probably just didn't explore the areas outside the historical center.

+) Exact figures for 2016 are provided by the Statistical Office of the Free State of Bavaria: by 31 December 2016, there were 2,125 people employed in tourism and commerce and 4337 in other occupations.

Here is what the revised itinerary looks like:
Sunday, Oct 13: Memphis to Frankfurt, arriving by 8am on 14th.

Monday, Oct 14th: FRA Frankfurt airport (NOT Hahn airport) train to Boppard approx 2 hrs.

Monday, Oct 14-Oct 17th: Rhine River Valley
Stay in Boppard at Bellevue Rhinehotel (request river view). Relax day 1.
Parking 9 Euro/day
Nice wine bar across from train station.
Is paragliding still available in October?
Tuesday, Oct 15: Take morning train to Bacharach for a few hours, take a walk around town, see the sights, and have lunch.
Bacharach town map: https://www.bacharach.de/stadtinformationen/stadtplan/
Sample schedule:
9:16 Train to Bacharach (9:35.) Buy ticket to Bingen Rhein Stadt station - €10.80 each - and just hop off and back on any regional train after Bacharach.
13:20 (no later than this anyway) Train to Bingen (13:56)
14:30 Cruise from Bingen to Boppard (16:50.) KD cruise.
Oct 16th: Spend a couple of morning hours in Boppard. Catch a train into Koblenz (€6 each) for car (Autoeurope at a location near the main station -$290-400.)
visit Marksburg Castle in the old-world town of Braubach, which is just south of Koblenz on the opposite river bank
Marksburg is the only never-destroyed Rhine Castle in this area and has a very good tour; contact them in advance to see if there might be a tour in English on that day. 50 min tour. You can take the German-language tour with a pamphlet in English if not. May be required to stay with tour.
Or Visit Stolzenfels Castle (15 min from Boppard, May see it on the way to Cochem). No English tours. Self-paced. Worth it anyway!
After that can drive south along the eastside river bank to visit more towns if you like. Rüdesheim is at the southern end of the scenic part. There's a ferry there, in St. Goarshausen, and a couple of other towns as well for crossing back over to the Boppard side.
Rhine area map: http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/city-cities.ph
Alternately, paragliding!
Thursday, October 17th: Drive 1 hour to Cochem. See sites around Koblenz if haven’t yet.

Thursday Oct 17- Saturday, Oct 19: Cochem and Moselle Valley
Spend two nights Oct 17-19. Hotel Villa Vinum Cochem. Free parking. Ask for nonsmoking and river view.
Thursday 17th: Cochem by day. May visit Beilstein (walk promenade 15 min from Cochem, 40 from Burg Eltz) and/or
Burg Eltz Castle (9:30-5:30)
guided tour is good: 10 Euro, leaves q15 min and takes 40min
Take the footpath from lower car park (15 min hike) for great views!
or spend the day in Cochem (see castle there: English tours at 12:00 and 3pm; daily 9-5; restaurant with view of valley open 10-6pm).
Friday 18th: do whatever we didn’t do yesterday!
Saturday, Oct 19th: Grab early breakfast, and try to start driving by 8:00am. Drive 2hr 45 min to Baden-Baden.

Saturday, Oct 19th: Into the Black Forest. Overnight in Baden-Baden.
Spend the day exploring. See article “36 hrs in Baden-Baden”.
Hotel am Markt paid parking, very close to spa, casino, old town.
Dress up for casino night Or just tour the casino. Budget for casino night just in case.
Sunday Oct 20th: Friedrichsbad Spa opens 9am. Coed on Sunday (single sex on Sat). Takes 3-5 hrs. Start as early as possible.
Just try to be on the road by 3pm.
Drive 1.5h to Tübingen.

Sunday, October 20th- Tuesday, Oct 22nd: Black Forest
Stay two nights in Tübingen.
Ambiente Hotel La Casa $500 for 2 nights (paid Parking & good location).
Get info from hotel on private spa/Hamam night.
Monday, Oct 21st: Can do hiking in the Black Forest,
For a hike near Tubingen, try the waterfall near Bad Urach. google ‘youtube ranier dornburg wasserfallsteig bad urach’ for a good video of the hike.
OR visit Hohenzollern castle (30 min from Tübingen, open daily 10-5:30pm) Or hike to Zeller Horn overlook of castle.
Check dates for Golden Autumn weekend at Hohenzollern. Also can check for private evening tour.

OR/and Liechtenstein castle (35 min from town, open 9-5:30 daily; 30 min non-English tour with English brochure only way to see. 8 Euro plus 2E parking. Castle Tavern near parking for food).
40 min drive between castles.
Tuesday, Oct 22nd: Josh’s Bday! drive 2.5 hrs to Fussen, hit the road after breakfast.

Tuesday, Oct 22nd: Fussen
Try to Arrive by lunchtime.
Hotel Sonne: speak with them directly to select room. Get room with balcony.
Special bday dinner? Ask hotel for recommendation.
My review of castle from Mary’s bridge.
Neuschwanstein Castle: reserve tix in advance or buy in village of Hohenschwangau (same day only) where you must park; 30 min guided tour required. Check if renovations being done. Open 10-4pm. 13 euros, or 25 if same day combo with Hohenschwangau Castle.
Hohenschwangau castle: 35 min tour in English 9-6pm.
Of castles near Tübingen and Fussen, which are most beautiful/interesting to tour? Worry we are packing too many castles into only a few days.
Wed, Oct 23rd: Drive 2.5 hr to Salzburg, Austria.

Would it be better to stay 1 night in Tübingen and 2 in Fussen?
Wednesday, Oct 23rd- Saturday, Oct 26th: Salzburg, Austria
Leisurely drive. If haven’t explored Fussen yet, walk around first. Or tour last castle.
Arrive in Salzburg by 6pm. Wander Salzburg by night after dinner at/near hotel.

Boutique hotel am dom, great location but parking not convenient.
Spend 24th exploring Salzburg.
Friday, 25th: keep exploring Salzburg or take dray trip to Hallstatt. Serendipity!

Saturday, Oct 26th- Monday, Oct 28th: Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Saturday, Oct 26th: 4-5 hour drive to Rothenburg Ob Tauber.
Stop along the way in Augsburg, Regensburg, Donauwurth or anywhere that enchants.
Arrive by dinner time. Explore town by nightfall. Night watchman tour. Do on the first night, if we arrive in time.
Stay 2 nights Hotel Klosterstuble
Sunday, Oct 27th: explore town and surrounding villages. Night watchman tour if missed 1st night.

Monday, Oct 28th: Würzburg. Turn in car.
Monday: Leave Rothenburg after breakfast.
Stop and sightsee along the way (Mespelbrunn, Sommerhausen) or go direct and spend day exploring Würzburg.
Drop car off after checking into hostel.
Babelfish hostel - private doubles. Kitchen so can eat before heading out. 3 min walk to train station.
Taxi/shuttle to station. Direct trains from Würzburg to FRA airport (takes about 1.5 hours.)

Tuesday, Oct 29th: 11am fly home from Frankfurt.

Oct 28th: Würzburg. Turn in car.
Monday: Leave Rothenburg after breakfast.
Stop and sightsee along the way (Mespelbrunn, Sommerhausen) or go direct and spend day exploring Würzburg.

Sheila, Please note that Rothenburg is south of Wurzburg while Mespelbrunn is north of Wurzburg. Going to Mespelbrunn and then Wurzburg will involve backtracking and losing some time. If you want to do both Wurzburg and Mespelbrunn, consider stopping in Wurzburg, going to Mespelbrunn, going on to Aschaffenburg and turning in the car there. Your can still great train service from there to Frankfurt. If you are in a time crunch, skip Mespelbrunn and spend the time in Wurzburg.

Oh good catch, thanks!