Hello,
The first leg of our trip.
We will arrive in Nuremberg, but will travel to Wurtzburg for 2 nights, then on to Rothenburg for 1, before going to Regensburg for 2 and finally Munich for three before, Prague, Vienna and Flying out of Budapest.
We enjoy the scenery early and late in towns after the tours have disapated. Is this out of the ordinary or are there better options?
Well, it depends on what you want to see and do but I would choose Berlin, Munich, Cologne, and Hamburg myself. Nuremberg, Wurtzburg, Rothenburg, and Regensburg are nothing compared to Berlin, Munich, Cologne, and Hamburg.
Are there special reasons for staying in the towns you list besides their proximity to each other?
And for not staying 1-2 nights in Nuremberg?
Are you getting some special deal to fly into Nuremberg? Just curious about that.
By the way, if you are on the train, you will likely go back through Nuremberg on your way to Regensburg from Rothenburg ODT. That is the longest train ride.
I lived in Nuremberg for 3 years and only went to Würzburg for work-related reasons. I never went to Regensburg. I'd skip these 2 in favor of time in Nuremberg or Munich.
Würzburg and Regensburg are our two favorite towns in Germany, and two nights in each is about right for us. Your schedule looks good to me. Rothenburg is the only town where tours impact in a significant way.
We were stationed in Nürnberg (Nuremberg) and Würzburg about 1-1/2 years each. My wife went to college for two years in München (Munich). Preferring one town over another is a matter of personal choice. We have enjoyed all in recent years. We are visiting them again this spring. It is a wonderful area to visit.
Nürnberger small sausages are no comparison to the special sausages cooked at the ancient Regensburg sausage grill under the stone bridge. The whole atmosphere is great.
That said, on the square in Nürnberg with the sausages from the Rathaus is no slouch....
You might go Wuerzburg-Rothenburg-Munich-Regensburg. Regensburg is closest to Prague. I assume you will be traveling on a Bayern Ticket every day. You can try the bargain way to Prague by going from Regensburg on a Bayern-Boehmen Ticket, spending an hour or two in Plzen, then getting a cheap local ticket on the hourly train to Prague.
"We will arrive in Nuremberg, but will travel to Wurtzburg for 2 nights, then on to Rothenburg for 1, before going to Regensburg for 2...
You have planned to stay in 3 different cities when you could just stay in Nuremberg for all those nights, leave your bags there, and do day trips to the others. Do you really have more than a day's activities for Würzburg in mind? The distances are fairly short. It takes only about 1 hour to get there by direct train from Nuremberg. Regensburg takes about the same, and Rothenburg takes a little longer. A day pass to these towns costs between €18 and €28 for two passengers.
"Regensburg is closest to Prague."
It takes 4+ hours between these cities. It is less than 4 hours from Nuremberg to Prague.
We keep going back and forth about the above plan ( although the wife is leaning towards 2 night in bamberg instead of wurtzburg, with wurtzburg being a day trip as it seems there is so much more to do in bamberg. ) , or simply using Nuremberg as home base. The thing is, we have no interest in exploring Nuremberg this trip (or berlin, for that matter).
On last trips, we regularly did 2 nighters instead of , say, daytripping to bath from London day after day.
We like being "around the corner from the hotel" and not have to deal with train stations and making our way back to home base after a long day of exploring.
We are thinking about flying into munich instead and starting from there.
We may cancel our overnight in Rothenberg -making it a day trip and adding another night either in bamberg or Regensburg.
The planning drives me crazy!!!! Lol
Allow me to confuse your travel plans even further and recommend a trip to Coburg. Why? Well, it's a beautiful small city (former capital of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), but it has, in my opinion, what is Germany's best castle, Veste Coburg.
Youre killing me Tom!!! :) I wondered about visiting there as well. Day trip? Over night?
Jeezum. Then I get to go through all of this for 3 more countries?!?! Lol.
I swear, if I hadn't been to Europe a few times before, I would be insane right now!!!!
With mardi gras ending today, maybe I can actually pay attention to this more!
Planning can be crazy-making for sure, especially with little time to spend and too many options to see. Even with my fondness for Nuremberg and the other recommendations for making it a home base, flying into there when you have no interest in spending time there doesn't make much sense.
I'm assuming you have checked the routes, times, etc. for your travel (in all the countries you want to visit) on DB Bahn, but in case you haven't, here's the link -- http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en.
My almost favorite part of using this source is that you can choose the best departure, arrival, travel time option(s) for your trip, click on the red arrow and see all the stops along the way, where you will change trains, how long you will have to do it and more. But my absolute favorite is to click on the "show map" options to graphically see the route.
By the way, taking the bus from the Nuremberg HBF or Regensburg to Prague seems to be the fastest way to get there by about an hour. You can play with the scheduling to Prague from wherever you want to start using the DB Bahn search, too. It includes the bus connections. Except from Munich (where the bus is also the fastest option), you may find that many routes go to Nuremberg to catch the bus for Prague.
Rome2Rio -- http://www.rome2rio.com/ -- is also a great tool to use for how to get to places. A very detailed map will pop up with each transportation option. There are links to get to the places to purchase tickets and to get the precise schedules.
Once you get your Germany schedule worked out, and if you are only going to Prague, Vienna and Budapest, the rest of your logistics may be much easier.
We have visited all of the "bergs" you mention. With the exception of Rothenburg they are all easy day trips from a Munich base. (We did stay in Rothenburg, and the night tour was good but the rest was WAY too touristy. Bamberg is a much better choice.) Why not just stay in Munich, get a Eurail pass and hit all those small towns. Also, you can easily make a day trip to Budapest from Vienna.
We highly recommend the Torbreau Hotel in Munich for its excellent location for public transport and great value on room/amenities. We have stayed a few places in Vienna, but thought the Pertschy was a unique value and good location.
Given how efficient and well-connected the German train system is, you really don't need to pack up and move so often. You can undercut point-to-point travel significantly with the Eurail Pass, and be spontaneous about what/when/where you decide to go for the day.
The choice of day trips vs. moves is a matter of personal preference. We enjoy spending evenings in different towns: doing a little window shopping, seeing some sights under the lights, and searching out a cafe for late night dessert or wine. For us it is a good trade-off to move every couple days rather than take day trips. I can see how others would feel differently.
