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Day Trips from Dusseldorf/Munich/Nurnberg/Rail travel

Doing a 12 day trip in March and staying in Dusseldorf, Nurnberg, Munich & Fussen

Starting in Dusseldorf (3 nights) mainly to see a Dortmond soccer match,
Then Nurnberg for (2) nights- not sure of daytrips from here yet
Fussen (2) nights - for castles and a day to relax seeing the alps
Munich for (4) nights planning excursions to Dachau, BMW, Salzburg

Want to see Rothenburg ob der Tauber for the day and not sure what location is best of the above Nurnberg or Munich to do that. I hear it is fun to actually spend a night in Rothenberg after all of the tourists have vacated for the night?

Also not sure if I should extend the time in Munich as opposed to staying in Fussen to see the castles and just relax for a day. As Fussen could be another day trip from Munich.

Would really appreciate any feedback. Also like feedback on the length of time to get a rail pass as opposed to just purchasing local passes for some of the days.

Posted by
2089 posts

mainly to see a Dortmond soccer match

I recommend prior to check if you get tickets for this.

Zugspitze and Neuschwanstein Castle are typical destinations from Munich or Füssen. The German Alpine Road is getting through to Berchtesgaden. At current snow conditions I would not drive that. But weather and conditions can change until March.

Nuremberg: main and close suggestion is Bamberg.

Posted by
847 posts

The one time I had to stay in Dusseldorf (had to do with flights) I did day trips to Aachen and Cologne. I liked them both better than Dusseldorf itself.

Two nights isn't much for Nurnberg but two good day trips are Bamberg and Regensberg. We had three nights so did both those day trips and still had enough time for Nurnberg - but we had three late afternoon/evenings and a couple of mornings. With only two nights you'd have to choose one obviously.

Rothenburg is most definitely better as an overnight. We did one overnight - arrived late afternoon and left around noon the following day. It was wonderful after about 4-5 pm and before 10-11 am. Between 10 am and 5 pm it's a tour group zoo.

Given the amount of time you have I would base in Munich instead of splitting it up with Fussen, it will give you more options.

Here's the trip report from my trip last summer that included some of those places (the others I have visited on different trips).
https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/blog

Posted by
10178 posts

Düsseldorf for 3 nights.
Nurnberg for 2 nights.
Fussen for 2 nights.
Munich for 4 nights.

When you spend 2 nights somewhere you will only be there one full day. You won't have time for day trips. You want to take 3 day trips during your 3 full days in Munich. If you skip staying in Fussen and add those nights to Munich you will have 5 full days there. Can you just spend 2 nights in Düsseldorf ? You could add that extra night somewhere else. Rothenburg is better if you spend the night there. Maybe you could spend that extra night there.

Posted by
14482 posts

Good idea to stay in Düsseldorf to see the Dortmund game, I would too. Borussia Dortmund is my favorite team. You can avoid taking the train and maybe the crowds (but doubtful) going from Düsseldorf Hbf to Dortmund Hbf by taking the S-Bahn to Essen, then transferring. Not direct but another viable option.

Keep in mind there are tons and tons of Borussia fans, all decked out in their yellow. Most likely, you'll hardly be able to navigate amidst swarms of fans in the Dortmund Hbf.

The Düsseldorf fans, assuming if you see them, will be yelling "Fortuna" to which one replies with the rejoinder loud and clear, "Düsseldorf"

If you want to do a day trip as a get-away from Düsseldorf, I would suggest Neuss, just across the river on the regional train, terminus Venlo, Holland. Two more places are worth it...Kaiserswerth and Bonn.

If you want to see some esoteric museums on Prussian history still logistically doable from Düsseldorf Hbf, then I would heartily suggest Wesel am Rhein and Ratingen, especially if you have a good reading level of German.