Does anyone know the best way to plan the order to see these cities to minimize train time, the number of transfers and number of hotel changes? This is our first trip to Germany in the fall. We can fly to Frankfurt, Munich or Zurich and fly home from any of these. In Munich, we have friends there to stay with. We want to go to Rhine Valley (St. Goar/ Bacharach), Mosel River (Burg Eltz), Munich, Salzburg, Fussen , Rothenburg, and Würzburg. If possible, we would like to be in Munich for the beginning or end of Octoberfest for a day but not for our entire Munich stay. I have not booked anything yet. Thanks!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Zürich doesn't make sense in view of what you want to visit, so unless you get a fantastic price on airfare, forget it. So, basically, you have Bavaria and the Rhein Valley. Salzburg and Füssen can be easily done basing in Munich, either as overnight or day trips. You might want to stay in Rothenburg or Würzburg, and visit the other one as a day trip, on you way to the Rhein Valley. I'd stay somewhere on the Rhein and visit Burg Eltz as a day trip (there are buses from towns on the Mosel to Burg Eltz on weekends). For access to both Burg Eltz and St. Goar/Bacharach, I would prefer to stay in Boppard or Braubach.
So I would stay in either Munich, Würzburg/Rothenburg, Boppard/Braubach, Frankfurt/Mainz or vice-versa.
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8977 posts
Munich > Frankfurt makes sense. The Deutsche Bahn website will show you all the options connections and times, but for these relatively short trips train time might not make significant difference. What you might want to ask this group is what discount pass or card may be good to have.
The Oktoberfest activities don't impact the rest of the city so much. As long as you have a place to stay in Munich I wouldn't schedule around it. It is worth experiencing at least one day.
Posted by
OP
winchester
39 posts
All your advice is so helpful! I will try to figure out if rail pass makes sense and post if I need advice.Thanks.