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Cologne to Munich itinerary & trains

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We’re a family of six (kids ages 23, 23, 22, 19) spending 5 days in Germany this June (first trip there). Heading south by train from Amsterdam Tues. morning June 9 and trying to decide how to allocate our time until we fly out of Munich on Sun. June 14 at noon. This is our tentative (and hopefully not too ambitious) itinerary:

Jun. 9 –Morning train from Amsterdam to Cologne (store luggage at station) to see Cathedral (short visit). Back on train to Rhine Valley for afternoon river cruise (approx. 2 hrs.) and stay in area for night.
Jun. 10-Train to Rothenburg ObT and stay overnight

Jun. 11 – Morning train to Munich (3 nights accom. in Munich)

June. 12-13 – possible day trips to castles in Fussen and Salzburg

June 14 – noon flight from Munich to London

Questions:

1) For short Rhine river cruise what are best cities to start and end cruise that are convenient by train? Was considering Rudesheim to St. Goar to maximize seeing most castles in shortest trip. Even though we’re traveling south from Cologne by train it seems like cruising downstream makes sense as it’s less time, or no? Need recommendations (places and towns) for dinner and overnight accommodations after cruise. Also, can we bring our luggage onboard boat, and if no, that might influence where we start cruise and stay overnight. (Important note—prefer hotel to be fairly convenient to hop train next day to Rothenburg.)

2) Are three days adequate to see highlights of Munich, and day trips to Fussen castles and Salzburg? Any tips/recommendations for train travel and sightseeing are appreciated. As we’re heading to London and Paris after Munich, we were going to skip Munich museums. Our Munich hotel is within walking distance to Marienplatz.

3) Confused by train information I’m finding online for Germany and whether German rail pass makes sense for us and if not, do we need to book trips in advance. I started putting our tentative itinerary into DB site but as Rhine Valley leg of trip on June 9/10 still not finalized, I figured I need to decide that first. I’d greatly appreciate help in this regard and in particular, best train option to town where we’ll start Rhine Valley cruise.

4) Most important--are there any glaring issues with this itinerary?

Thanks!!

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7039 posts

  1. I think your choice of Rudesheim to St Goar is good, you could also do Bacharach to Boppard (which I did). It may just depend on where you decide to spend the night along the Rhine. You're right about cruising downstream, it definitely makes sense, then use trains in the other direction. Bacharach, St Goar, Boppard, Rudesheim are all good places to stay. You should get some recommendations for restaurants and hotels from others. I've only stayed in Bacharach and loved it there.

  2. One day for Fussen castles and one day for Salzburg only leaves you one full day for exploring Munich and there's a lot to see, but if you stay in the center near Marienplatz or anywhere near the center by a metro stop it should be ok. You'll have two evenings (after your day trips) to wander around in addition to the full day. I love wandering around towns in the evening.

  3. Can't help you much with trains but hopefully some of the German train experts will weigh in.

  4. I can't see any issues with the itinerary. Lunch somewhere around the main square and a visit to the cathedral should be enough in Cologne, but definitely visit the museum across from the cathedral if you have time.

Posted by
20181 posts
  1. You are recreating the itinerary Rick does on his "European Travel Skills Part 1" video. In that, he stopped in St Goar and took the boat upstream to Bacharach to spend the night. Hey, if its good enough for Rick, why not you? Yes you can bring you luggage on the K-D boats.
  2. Adequate time? With day trips to Fuessen and Salzburg you probably won't see much of Munich. But you can decide about day trips later.
  3. Apparently according to Deutsche Bahn, you had too many children! They have great day tickets for groups of 5, but 6 kills some of the savings since then you have to be 2 groups of 3 each. In Bavaria, you can travel on Bayern tickets that are 23 euro for the first traveler and 5 euro for each next traveler up to a group of 5, So two groups is 66 euro, still 11 euro per person per day is not bad. Travel after 9 am week days on local trains for the rest of the day until 3 am. So that covers Rothenburg to Munich and day trips to Fuessen and Salzburg.
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3 posts

Thanks Nancy and Sam for your quick and thorough responses! I'm glad we can fit in Cologne on way to Rhine Valley and I'll start checking out hotels near Bacharach, St. Goar etc. I'll also look for the "European Travel Skills Part 1" video and I just ordered Rick's Germany guidebook. And I agree that I have one too many children, at least when it comes to train discounts (and college tuition for that matter)!

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