Alternative Route and Itinerary between Rhine Valley and Munich

Your post is a bit hard to follow, but let me see if I can address some of your questions.

1. It sounds like you are considering taking the train to Köln or Frankfurt and picking up the car from either, correct? Even though you wouldn't need to double-back coming from Köln, Frankfurt is actually closer to the part of the Rhine that most tourists like to visit, the stretch from Bingen-Rüdesheim to Koblenz (I would argue that most of the river north of Koblenz to Bonn and Rüdesheim to Wiesbaden are also very scenic).

"Which area actually comprise of Southern Bavaria & Western Tyrol?" Colloquially, it usually refers to the cultural area that roughly corresponds to the old borders of Bavaria when it was a duchy before the Napoleonic period. Roughly today, that would mean the administrative regions of Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria), Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria), and the southern portion of Schwaben (Swabia). It excludes Franconia, the Oberpfaltz, or Coburg. You can also tell by the style of the old buildings. If you see a lot of brightly painted stucco and chalets, you're in southern Bavaria. If you see a lot of Fachwerk, you're in Franconia or the Oberpfaltz.

Western Tyrol probably constitutes that portion of the state west of Innsbruck.

Any other itinerary recommendation between Rudesheim, Rhine Valley to Munich? I'd skip the Black Forest and Baden2.
The Black Forest is a far detour, so I wouldn't recommend it anyway. Just drive along the main Autobahn routes. A3 to A7 to A8 is the most direct drive, but not always the most scenic. Traffic on A3 between Frankfurt and Würzburg can also be pretty terrible. An alternative route that provides some pretty nice scenery is A5 to A6 to A7 to A8. See below for interesting towns along this route.

"If I proceed with Rothenburg Ob De Tauber, which other towns or villages worth to visit before Munich?" I usually say "don't go out of your way to visit Rothenburg odT" because despite all the attention it gets from the tourist literature, it just isn't nearly as unique as advertised. But it is pretty and it lies along your route, so go for it. If you decide to drive the second route I mentioned, some nice towns to consider are Heppenheim, Weinheim, Heidelberg, Bad Wimpfen, and Schwäbisch Hall. Particularly the last, as it looks remarkably similar to Rothenburg, but it's all but unknown to most tourists.

"Zugspitze --> if i've been to Jungfrau and Titlis, is it still recommended going here as I read of the reviews and it's very time consuming due to the queueing?" It isn't time consuming due to queueing, which is minimal. It's time consuming because it takes a long time to ascend the mountain. Whether or not it's worth your time is a question only you can answer.

"Hohenschwangau or Neuschwanstein?" Why not both, since you're there anyway?

" I think Neuschwanstein has prettier facade and surrounding but very crowded." Both are crowded, but your tickets give you a timed entry with a limited group size. So it doesn't matter how many people have gathered outside, there's a relatively small number of people in each tour group.

"What is the better time to visit Neuschwanstein? at first I thought early in the morning" Morning near opening time.

"But is it going to be foggier later in the afternoon?" Unpredictable. And fog would likely obscure your views of the surrounding Alps, not the castles themselves.

"If I just want to visit the exterior of Neuschwanstein, should I still buy the ticket?" Would you pay for a ticket to a museum or movie and not go inside?

"Is it worth it for the interior visit? I read lots of putting off reviews of how crowded, packed and short the tour is." It isn't long, but I think the tour is worthwhile. If you pre-read on the history of Ludwig II, the interior provides a fascinating insight into the king's mind (cont.)

" I read on one website that we could book the ticket online but do i still need to queue on the tix booth picking it up?" When I lived in Germany, just about every guest who visited me wanted to see Neuschwanstein (even though I didn't live that close...). I never reserved tickets, and the wait in the line at the ticket office was never longer than 10 minutes. What you wait for is the start of your tour, which is determined by how many people bought tickets before you. The most I think we ever waited was maybe an hour. But if you're visiting at the height of the summer tourist season or around Oktoberfest.

"Which transportation mode is better reaching the castle? bus or carriage ?" Unless you're completely out of shape or arthritic, walking. It takes about 15-30 minutes, depending on your level of fitness. The carriage drops you off just below the castle, the bus just above.

I've visited Berchtesgaden, but not Kehlsteinhaus, so I can't comment about it.

Hi Tom,

Thank You for the thorough response. It's a long message , thanks for your patience reading it :)

*'Frankfurt is actually closer to the part of the Rhine that most tourists like to visit, the stretch from Bingen-Rüdesheim to Koblenz (I would argue that most of the river north of Koblenz to Bonn and Rüdesheim to Wiesbaden are also very scenic)' --> I double check with gmap and now find a quicker route direct from the Frankfurt Airport to Koblenz within 1 hour but it's through another route via Hofheim, Idstein , Hunstetten, Diez, Montabaur, Valendar then Koblenz. There's a roadwork on A3/E35 in Bad Camberg according to the gmap

1. 'You can also tell by the style of the old buildings. If you see a lot of brightly painted stucco and chalets, you're in southern Bavaria. If you see a lot of Fachwerk, you're in Franconia or the Oberpfaltz' --> thanks for making it easier for me :)

2. 'Traffic on A3 between Frankfurt and Würzburg can also be pretty terrible' i think i wouldn't have to pass this if i proceed from Bingen to Rothenburg ODT? Is it terrible due to commuters traffic?

3. 'some nice towns to consider are Heppenheim, Weinheim, Heidelberg, Bad Wimpfen, and Schäbisch Hall. Particularly the last, as it looks remarkably similar to Rothenburg, but it's all but unknown to most tourists.' --> this is what i am looking for :D i still will visit rothenburg odt as it's along my route. i understand about the touristy hype and try to avoid it as much as i could but this is my first time visiting such town in German and facilities in those tourist spots gives a good illustration more or less likely for the other similar towns.

4. Zugspitze query: 'It isn't time consuming due to queueing, which is minimal. It's time consuming because it takes a long time to ascend the mountain.' --> hmm i read it from reviews on websites and the comments are the number of the cable cars don't accommodate the amount of tourists plus the length of time ascending and descending the mountain. i also saw ppl comment about how packed and crowded the place is, well i come from a very crowded country so perhaps perception about 'crowd' could be different :D i do think i might skip this one due to time constraint and my similar experience on other places. it's just i'm going to go during summer so the weather should be a good pre-condition to visit Zugspitze. Last time I was in Jungfrau was during winter and the snow was wonderful but the visibility was the worst

5. "Hohenschwangau or Neuschwanstein?" Why not both, since you're there anyway? --> i might visit Fussen or other venue for the other half day and we have planned to visit castles along the Rhine Valley. I just hope not to get castled out as I experienced getting templed out in Japan lol

6. 'Both are crowded, but your tickets give you a timed entry with a limited group size. So it doesn't matter how many people have gathered outside, there's a relatively small number of people in each tour group.' --> i forgot to mention that i am going in july, it'd be end of july reaching there so perhaps it could be one of those high season all year round. i read reviews also that ppl got a lot of members in a tour group. it could be like 30plus ppl. i don't know if perhaps due to high numbers of visitors, the management tried to squeeze in more ppl into the group?? ohh well i just read a lot of complaints about how short, packed , rushed etc about the management of the castles but since i haven't been there and it's the Sleeping Beauty's image of a castle, well it's wonderful to fulfil one's child fantasy plus the history of Ludwig ii himself :D

thanks so much for your responses. i really appreciate it

Best Regards,

" i think i wouldn't have to pass this if i proceed from Bingen to Rothenburg ODT? Is it terrible due to commuters traffic?"

You can't really avoid heavy traffic going between the Rhine and Rothenburg, but because there's a massive restructuring of A3 as it passes through the Spessart mountains between Aschaffenburg and Würzburg, this would be the route to avoid. Your other options would be A3 to A5 to A6 to A7, or A61 to A6 to A7, but all of these routes can get congested in certain choke points.

Hi Tom,

noted that. Thank You