Hello,
My family of 5 adults will be traveling to Germany for the 1st time! We will be landing on Sept 21st and Flying out Sept 27th.
We want to experience Octoberfest and will be spending at least 2 days in Munich. My question is, should we fly into Frankfort and rent a car or take a train to Rothenburg spend the night and end up in Munich. Or use Munich as our home base and do day trips from there. I would like to see Neuschwanstein Castle and possibly the Alps. I'm already seeing prices for hotels in Munich are very pricey during Octoberfest and wondered if anyone had a recommendation of a location to stay close to a train but not to far from city center. I thought maybe staying a day or two along the romantic road in a smaller town might save some money.
Thanks in advance for all your help, I know your travel experience will help me immensely. Also if I am able to go a day early to Frankfort would anyone recommend running over to the Rhine for the day from Frankfort. I'm just not sure the best places to see , or how much we can get done in our allotted time.
Posted by
Paradise
6637 posts
For Alps, Rothenburg, N'stein, O'fest and Munich... fly into Munich. However, 5 days really isn't adequate for what you have in mind. It'll be a lot of racing around.
"My question is, should we fly into Frankfort"
Sure - if you want to visit the Rhine Valley instead. You'd have time for the nearby Mosel River Valley as well, and also for the wine festival that's happening that weekend in the Rhine town of Boppard - entrance is free, the renowned fireworks show is free, the wine flows freely but isn't too expensive, and it's a very enjoyable time, with street music every night.
From FRA the trip to Boppard takes less than 1.5 hours. Or stay in one of the other nearby towns and use the trains to visit Boppard and the other villages.
Mosel River towns: http://www.mosel-reisefuehrer.de/17-highlights/556-moselhighlights-englisch
Rhine towns:
Boppard wine fest: https://www.boppard-tourismus.de/files/001bopp_wf_piel.jpg
Braubach: https://www.romantischer-rhein.de/uploads/pics/Altstadt_02.jpg
Bacharach: http://www.radreporter.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/rodelbahn_steegradtour_016.jpg
Oberwesel: http://www.oberwesel.de/en/wandern0/stadtmauerrundweg/
The Rhine/Mosel is where the genuine medieval castles are - (N'stein has a fake castle exterior and isn't much older than the Disney Castle in Anaheim.) Rick Steves covers the best ones to visit here:
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/three-rhineland-castles
With several days you'd have time for lots more besides the castles...
River cruise: http://www.bensbauernhof.com/kdboat2010a.jpg
Boppard chairlift: https://www.boppard-tourismus.de/45-1-Sessellift.html
Boppard wine garden: http://www.deutschlandgourmet.info/bilder/gross/5710-Restaurant-Weinhaus-Heilig-Grab-Boppard.jpg
Boppard waterfront: http://schnuggel-elsje.de/upload/Bilder/IMG_0131.JPG
Rhine Castle trail: http://www.romantic-germany.info/index.php?id=2942
Posted by
Atlanta
4825 posts
Re "...fly into...and rent a car or take a train...". You might want to reconsider renting a car right away. Take the train to the first destination and rent the car there the next day or when you are ready to leave. Jet lag (no matter how well handled), lack of sleep, not being familiar with the local road system, can all be a problem. There are some that are not bothered by any of those things. Others think they are ok but are really driving somewhat impaired without realizing it. And some folks are complete zombies and should never drive on the day they arrive. Just something to think about.
Posted by
Germany
1117 posts
With such a short vacation, I'd recommend staying in one place, two at the most. Relocating will cost you at least half a day of your valuable vacation time.
And do try to get a flight to your destination right away so you don't have to waste more time on car or train rides than absolutely necessary.
So, either make Munich your home base - and yes, it's going to be expensive since what you have in mind (visiting the Oktoberfest) is the same thing many other people have in mind - , or focus on the Rhine Valley and go from there. In addition to the great Rhine Valley tips Russ has already given you, noteworthy cities like Trier, Speyer, Heidelberg, Cologne, Aachen are within day trip reach of there.
Posted by
Niagara, Ontario
1549 posts
If you have a limited time frame and your main objective is Oktoberfest, why are you flying into Frankfurt? Landsberg am Lech is a lovely town west of Munich, an hour by train and slightly less time to Fussen.
We stayed here once, on the outskirts of Munich: http://www.alte-post-holzkirchen.de Nice room, powerful shower, good breakfast, easy subway ride into Munich.
Posted by
OP
chicago, il, usa
30 posts
After your suggestions I do believe flying into Munich will be the best idea. I think if we stay just outside the city it can also be affordable. I would love some suggestions of places to stay, either near a train station, or maybe it would work out just as well to rent a car. I'm wondering if maybe having a car would make it easier to get to Rothenburg and Neuschwanstein. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by
Germany
1117 posts
Remember that the farther away from downtown you are staying, the more time you will be spending on getting there, even with good public transportation available. You will not only need to get there for visiting Munich itself but also for most day trips to other destinations, since the train station is probably going to be your central hub.
With only five days total, that can take up a large proportion of your vacation. I'd try to get as far downtown as you can within your budget, or at least get really close to a subway station.