34-Night Itinerary Help: Germany

Is there a reason why you do not consider the Northern part of Germany, e. g. Hamburg, Schwerin (very beautiful castle), Lübeck, Bremen?

Since you want to drive a car in Germany I recommand to care for IDP for all possible drivers. Without you won't have valid driving permission for Germany.

Rent a car with winter tyres because in these regions at this time you can experience an unexpected late winter / frost weather. At these conditions winter tyres are mandatory by law.

Any ideas on an easy to get to destination (by train) for our first stop (for 2-3 nights)?

How about Stuttgart with car museums or Heidelberg?

Actually we'd prefer NOT to drive, but to see the Bavarian Alps area, like Fussen, Rick Steves says a car is much better - and getting from Frankfurt or Bacharach would be a huge pain by train.

I was basing our itinerary (with some minor adjustments) on Rick Steves "best" 21-day itinerary of Germany. That's why I picked that route and most of those cities. I'm sure there are lots of other interesting and beautiful areas, but we like to "slow" travel and not be rushed - so adding at this point to my itinerary isn't what I'm looking for.

Thanks,
Tracy

Hmmm- I’m not too keen on driving in the first place, but now that you mention the possibility of slick roads, that makes me more apprehensive. I may need to rethink that part.

I will check out the two cities you mention- thanks!

Slow travel is meaningful in Germany but 7 nights in Munich is imo extensive.

I find Rick's selection and choice of destinations misses parts of the German culture because Northern Germany and Sourthern Germany are very different - could also be two countries. And therefore I wanted to ask if you are interested to see also this other part of Germany.

From FRA to Fussen? Here's a couple of routes you can do by train:

1. Down the wine road to Karlsruhe, and from there to Konstanz. This gives you the small and medium sized cities along this portion of the Rhine; Worms, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Speyer, Karlsruhe, and the smaller towns surrounded by vineyards like Bad Durkheim, Freisheim, or Landau, and then you cut through the Black Forest to the shores of Bodensee and have all the stuff to see there; like Mainau, Lindau, Meersburg, etc. Once you get to Konstanz you probably want to take the train from Dornbirn (on the south side of the lake) to Fussen, as that's easier and has fewer required transfers. But you travel along the base of the Alps the whole way.

2. Go straight down to Stuttgart, and from there to Ulm and Augsburg on the way to Munich. There's a lot to see around Stuttgart, especially if your husband (or you) are into cars; both the Porsche and MBZ museums are very good. As is the zoo, the paleontology museum, etc. Ulm and Augsburg and attractive, historic cities also. It's a straight shot from Augsburg to Fussen on the regional train.

Those are the most direct, without you backtracking over them the rest of your trip.

An indirect route would be to go down the Mosel, from Koblenz to Trier, then from there to Karlsruhe, Neustadt (Winestrasse), or Mannheim, and from there to Fussen. If you're looking for wine, castles, and Roman history this may be worth the detour.

Just an idea but what about taking 3 nights from Munich , add to Füssen and the Alps and stay in a Holiday Flat (Ferienwohnung ) for a week?
When you have a car you can easily go to restaurants nearby for dinner and see if you can get Brötchenservice in the morning in your Holiday flat for breakfast

Here a link to a holiday flat near Füssen. There are many of it and enough to see and do outdoors

As you mention, it is probably best to avoid "multiple trains" these days as changing trains in Germany can often mean missing your connection (delays due to construction are common.)

Bacharach is about an hour from FRA but takes you further from Bavaria. Nuremberg would be a convenient mid-way base.

Sadly, Rick Steves' "best" tends toward the touristy. You can probably keep your intended base towns without adding to them. But I would plan to take some day trips from those bases to some additional destinations nearby if you want a better picture of Germany.

I've taken a close look at how you might arrange a trip with the simplest train journeys. You can resolve the Bacharach > Füssen issue by making Nuremberg your first destination... and hitting the Rhine (Bacharach) after Bavaria... You are not in a hurry (slow travel) so I would suggest moves in this order:

Arrive FRA 12:30

1) DIRECT ICE train to NUREMBERG, less than 2.5 hours (13:35, 14:01, 14:35) with a day trip to BAMBERG and back (direct train, 50 minutes.)

2) Nuremberg to Rothenburg, 1.25 hrs, 2 changes of train

3) Rothenburg to Füssen (9 am) 3.75 hrs, only 1 change of train (Augsburg, ample 37 min layover)

4) Füssen to Munich (direct train) with possible day trips to REGENSBURG, LANDSHUT, and/or HERRENCHIEMSEE.

5) Munich to Bacharach (9:27 am) 5 hrs, only 1 change of train (Frankfurt, 17 min. layover; suggest extending your layover to 1 hr. 4 minutes, with lunch at Frankfurt station between 12 and 1 pm, with arrival in Bacharach at 14:20 (which should be close to check-in time.) Several good day trips possible, but easier from BOPPARD, a better Rhine base town IMHO.)

6) Bacharach/Boppard to Dresden, (7:23 am) 6.5 hrs, only 1 change of train in Frankfurt (42 minutes)

7) Dresden > Berlin

You had 11 nights scheduled for Berlin and Dresden. So I am guessing that with 34 days total, your stay on the Rhine would end on Day 23 of your trip when you leave for Dresden, meaning that for 3 nights on the Rhine you would arrive on Easter Sunday (April 20.) It would be my choice to add a night for the Rhine since there is so much to see and do there, which means a Saturday train trip. It is not hard to get a train on holidays. You just buy tickets ASAP and make seat reservations. If you will be using a RAILPASS, not a bad idea at all for your trip, you only need to buy the seat reservations.

Hitting the Rhine at this time is a solid move... Easter is typically when the small Rhine towns come out of hibernation and the weather is more enjoyable.

Suggest that you add a visit to Garmish and the Zugspitze, which are near Fussen. Take the cog train or cable car up to the top of the mountain.

Add Berchtesgaden and Salzburg to your itinerary, suggest 3 days for those places.

Thank you all for your great input!!!

Russ,
Thank you so much for taking the time to lay out a plan for us, with train info and all. I really appreciate it!

I mapped out your plan and it looks great, but now I'm wondering a couple of things:

Do you think we should include Salzburg? RS highly recommends it, but it seems so out of the way, and we've been to Vienna a few years ago (and loved it) . We do like the Sound of Music, but wouldn't be "into" all the SoM activities or sites.

Do you think we should incorporate some northern cities? I'm tempted to do so now, but concerned about that would impact our itinerary and the days in cities (don't want to jump around too much). That being said, I'm open to shortening Berlin and Munich a bit I suppose to gain some days.

Thoughts?

Thank you!!!
Tracy

It looks like your dates are set around the Easter holiday weekend in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. One idea I had was to flip your trip, north to south. Currently you have 16 nights before you stay in Ro o.d.t for 4 nights and then 14 nights after the Easter weekend. You might look at flipping the trip and fly into Berlin and out of Munich (or FRA). I say this because you may want to add some more days for another interesting near Dresden or to spend some days in Salzburg when you are near Munich. You’ve gotten some great ideas so far. I will add that even with some of the train delays we experienced this summer, I think your itinerary is very doable by train.

Mona,

Thanks for your input. We already have one way tx to FRA, so that's not changeable. I used miles and got a great non-stop from SEA to FRA, only costing $49. Great deal! But I appreciate your ideas!

Thank you for saying our trip is doable by train - that is reassuring!

Tracy

34 nights and never going north? I am all for slow travel, but this is glacial--AND you are missing some true highlights.

Just a few places you are missing in Germany that are highlights:
Stuttgart and surrounding area (this includes Baden-Baden, Heidelberg, Stuttgart itself, and the myriad beautiful towns there)
The Black Forest / Freiburg / Lake Constance
Saxon Switzerland / Bauzen / Bad Muskau and other small sites in the region
EVERYTHING in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (see the many great posts from people like MarkK)
EVERYTHING in Niedersachsen
EVERYTHING in Schleswig-Holstein
The Harz region (Braunlage, Goslar, Wernigerode, Quedlinburg)
And of course the amazing city of Hamburg.

All so you can spend 4 nights in Füssen and another 4 in Rothenburg?

Many of these small towns are SMALL. Füssen is lovely, but four night is excessive for what could also be a day trip from Munich. You might be better off staying in a place like Oberstdorf, where you have the jumping off point for all sorts of hikes and adventure sports. Rothenburg is often a one night stay. You could instead see it plus Würzburg, Regensburg, Bamberg, AND Nuremberg in the nights you have allotted for just RodT and Nürnberg. If you aren't sold on Bacharach, why spend three nights there? And seven in Munich is a lot if you aren't doing day trips (since you are doing so many of those places separately).

I think four nights in Dresden is great IF you are including Saxon Switzerland. Berlin can be 7 nights, though that depends on how much you like museums. It's not the city where you sit in a cafe and enjoy a beer while the world goes by.

One thing you haven't considered is being able to see Easter traditions. Rothenburg isn't known for this, but you COULD travel to a place that is known for its Easter fires. Furthermore, on such a holiday everything is closed, often all weekend--especially in smaller towns. You are far more likely to have things like Easter concerts, the odd museum, etc. in a larger city. So I would consider spending Easter itself in a larger city--maybe attend an Easter service in the Frauenkirche in Dresden, for example.

Rick is known for being biased toward Germany's south and towards tourist destinations. Don't fall into that trap--remember, his recommendations are for people who don't have the kind of time you do. Also, remember Germany is not THAT big--you can drive or train from Munich to Hamburg in 6-8 hours. So you can see a lot in 34 days, even taking it slowly.

I would consider what YOU like (not just what Rick says), maybe play around on Google Maps and get some ideas, and go from there.

HowlinMad,

Thanks for all your ideas and input. I agree that I'm now thinking of somehow incorporating the northern cities too!

One reason for our "glacial" pace is that I get migraines, typically 1-3 a month, that are debilitating - therefore, I am very reluctant to schedule one night anywhere - or even two nights - because then, if that happens to be a migraine day, I'm screwed as far as seeing a thing in that location. That's why I always build in at least two days, three nights in most locations. Also, that's why I usually book us for 2-3 nights in our first location. Being a migraine sufferer, I know that bad sleep is a trigger - and we're flying on a red eye, so I almost "plan" for a migraine in the next day or so - so give myself a little extra time in our first location to recuperate. Is it a hassle and a drag? Yes, it is...but I'm just glad I can still travel and that I have a patient husband!

I appreciate your notes on the north and will be taking a look at a new itinerary!

Tracy

Hi, T-T. I basically gave you some train/organization tips to streamline your visit to places that YOU (with Rick's heavy hand) have chosen to do PLUS a couple of good side trips (like Bamberg.) It would probably not be my personal 34-day dream-trip, but I think you will have a nice time.

For more personal input from me on your destinations... Shrink your time in Rothenburg and Füssen... Add time to the Rhine (and Mosel) Valleys. Rick Steves - the Mosel is especially great for slow-travelers. An acquaintance of mine took his family to Cochem for an entire MONTH and reported that he could have used more time in this area.

https://www.mosel-inside.de/en/travel-guide/mosel-villages.html

Since you have so much time, and you are worried about migraines forcing unexpected changes…

Keep your plan loose. Reserve your first hotel as well as any destination that’s particularly high demand. Then just follow the sketch of your itinerary making new hotel reservations the same day or night before? You’ll have time on trains to research and book. Why not take advantage of your long timeframe to build in real flexibility. If you’re bored in a city, move on. If you’re feeling a migraine coming or want to spend time in the current city, just extend. It’s springtime so you’re not gonna be fighting hoards of summer tourists.