Cologne to Nuremberg Road trip

Posted by norris.ben55 on 06/24/18 08:06 AM

Hello everyone! 1st post here!!

Me and my Girlfriend have booked a one way flight to Cologne for August where we will hire a car and finish up in Nuremberg. We have 10-12 days so that we are not rushed and can fit lots in!!

We like anything physical such as cycling and walks with magnificent views! Both of us are big foodies and would like to visit some traditional German cities, towns and villages on our route..

We would like to travel along the River Rhine, the Black Forest, Nuremberg, Regensburg and Munich (but where else can I include?) HELP!!
I am lost as to how to break the journey up..where do we stay? what do we do? We would like scenic routes if possible

Posted by sla019

Augsburg, Bavaria

06/24/18 11:04 AM

2351 posts

The Black Forest is far away from your main route which basically runs to the south east. To save driving time, you might consider replacing it by one of the other low mountain ranges, e.g. the Thuringian Forest and the historical cities north of it located such as Eisenach, Gotha and Erfurt or the Fichtelgebirge and Bayreuth / eastern Czech Republic.

Your main route could then lead from Cologne through the Middle Rhine Valley via Aschaffenburg / Mespelbrunn to Würzburg (many romantic little places in the area, e.g. Lohr, Karlstadt, Ochsenfurt, Marktbreit; or do a day trip along the northern part of the Romantic Road, which could include pretty towns like Bad Mergentheim, Weikersheim, Creglingen and Rothenburg o.d.T.), on to Bamberg and Bayreuth (or rather one of the small places in the Fichtelgebirge like Warmensteinach); possibly with a day trip to the Czech Republic, e.g. the nice medieval town of Cheb or the belle epoque spa of Mariánské Lázne and finally via Regensburg to Nuremberg.

Posted by Nigel

Northamptonshire, England

06/24/18 09:43 PM

32859 posts

When you arrive at Nuremberg if it is by autobahn try to avoid the rush hour and still expect plenty of construction delays.

I've just left there and you will have plenty of stau on all of the approaches - A6, A3, and A73. I'd be hard pressed to say which is worse, they are all pretty terrible.

Posted by ferrin

Nashville, TN, USA

06/26/18 05:29 PM

444 posts

Definitely stay 2 nights or so on the Rhine if you can. We were in Bacharach last month for 3 nights, it was great! Also look at Boppard and St. Goar. There is a ton of hiking and biking you can do there, castles to tour, river cruises. It is all really fun. We enjoyed Nuremberg also, very convenient for day trips to little towns/villages like Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Wurtzburg, Bamberg...so much to do there! Just google Franconia-it is the upper part of Bavaria.

edited to add: we took trains so I can't comment on the driving route