Please sign in to post.

Berlins plus which: Rhine Valley or Munich/Fussen for First Trip to Germany

My wife and I will travel about 10 days in September for first time to Germany. We will spend 3+ days in Berlin to start. We are trying to decide whether to go next to Munich with sides trips to Fussen and surrounds (returning through Munich), or to Cologne-Koblenz-Rhine River-Baden/Baden-Black Forest for the second half of the trip (returning through Frankfurt).

Any suggestions? Does overcast weather figure in to the Fussen/Alps area or the Black Forest in early September?

Thank you.

Posted by
8377 posts

Two things to take into account: September is wine harvest time and the Rhine valley area will be having festivals etc. Munich in September is Wiesenfest (Oktoberfest) time, so pick which interests you most. If it were me, my first time, and especially, leaving from Frankfurt, I'd pick the Rhine. Weather is too unpredictable to be decision-maker. I think September is generally the best time to go in either direction.

Posted by
6590 posts

"Cologne-Koblenz-Rhine River-Baden/Baden-Black Forest"

I'd go with this option (roughly.) You'll get lots of variety here. You'll also be in Germany's premiere castle-zone - the Rhine Valley is a UNESCO-World-Heritage site and has 40 genuine-article castles and castle ruins in just 40 miles of river. (In Füssen you'd be looking at late 19th-century palaces, not real castles.) And there'll be much less ground travel time and expense if you're leaving from Frankfurt.

I would probably dedicate 4 nights minimum to Berlin. Then a lengthy train ride to Cologne and maybe 2 nights there. That leaves 4 more. Hmmm. I'd probably discourage you from bothering with Koblenz (dull,) Baden-Baden (casinos, spas, high-end shops) and the Black Forest (pleasant but just too far.) If you spend 4 nights between the Rhine Valley and the adjacent Mosel Valley (which meets the Rhine in Koblenz,) you will have more than enough on your travel plate. I'd look into the destination options below:

Mosel options: Trier (Roman history,) Cochem (castle, falconry show, river cruises, chair lift) Burg Eltz Castle (and if you're dying for a spa, try Bad Bertrich.)
Rhine options: Marksburg Castle (Braubach,) Bacharach, Oberwesel, St. Goar (Rheinfels Castle,) Boppard, Remagen (WW II museum,) Linz am Rhein

In September there are local wine festivals every weekend in one Rhine town or another - lots of fun, often with fireworks on Saturday night. These small towns book quickly for these weekends - so book asap.

I would probably base in St. Goar on the Rhine (easy coming and going from there to all Rhine destinations) and in Cochem on the Mosel (from there, outings to Trier and Eltz are easy.) But other towns might work well too.

Cochem
Cochem Castle falconry show
Rheinfels and St. Goar

Depending on the time of your return flight, you may wish to spend your final night in a Rhine village or closer to FRA in Mainz (25 minutes by direct train to FRA.)