My husband has driven in Germany before when we rented a car to get from Munich to Neuschwanstein. Now we're looking at checking out places in "Lutherland" and wondering if it makes more sense to have a rental car to drive between the locations or to take the train. We're now more than a decade older than the previously mentioned trip and I'm not sure if my husband wants to handle a lot of fast, busy traffic. Is the driving generally easier/slower in that region of Germany or is it busy/crowded/fast traffic? Thanks in advance for any info you have.
Posted by
Germany
226 posts
Depends from where you plan to go to Eisenach Erfurt and Wittenberg
Erfurt is a 2hrs train ride from Frankfurt for ex
Stay a few nights and rent a car in Erfurt
for ex https://www.avis.com/en/locations/de/erfurt
Go around the area as far west as Eisenach 1hr east as Weimar 30 min
So much to see and do in these 3 cities above
Take the train again from Erfurt to Lutherstadt Wittenberg 1,5hrs
With this you dont have to go on the Autobahn but can choose the Bundesstrasse with less fast traffic and speed (speedlimit 100km/h) but you are more independent and can see places off the rail connections.
You can also reach Eisenach and Weimar easily by train from Erfurt
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
8165 posts
You don't need to think of the car as your only (or best) transportation.
We took the train from Berlin to Leipzig, and after a few days there, rented a car for a few nights in Weimar, and then to Dresden, where we returned the car on arrival. It was convenient to drive to Erfurt, Eisenach, and Quedlinburg (the farthest.) We deliberately chose a modern business hotel with an underground garage adjacent, in Weimar. Also drove to Gartenreich UNESCO WHS. That trip to Germany was only to the former "East."
Posted by
Seattle
56 posts
We are looking at the same trip for next summer, based on my research it looks like those are all easy by train, which is what we're planning. With 3 kids we hate driving! But I'm interested to hear from those who have been there before.
Posted by
OP
16 posts
medesikaste wrote "We are looking at the same trip for next summer, based on my research it looks like those are all easy by train, which is what we're planning. With 3 kids we hate driving! But I'm interested to hear from those who have been there before."
In response to that I will say that after we read the Deutsche Bahn website large print announcement about their plans for major construction on both the physical rail tracks and the computer systems they use to run the lines we COMPLETELY re-routed our trip due the the understanding that some of the train rides in that area would be replaced with slower bus transportation due to the construction work. I strongly suggest that you go to the Deutsche Bahn official website before you get any further in your planning to see what they're planning for next summer. It seems to me that there's a map on their website which shows the routes with expected shutdowns due to construction and indicates which time periods in months and years that will be involved.
Just FYI - even after re-routing our travel to avoid problems we still had at least one major delay due to the train that we had reservations on being delayed because it had started in an area that was under construction even though our section of the route was not.
A special note - part of our re-routing was to add a few days in Augsburg to our itinerary and there we found an excellent museum called - in German - Museum Lutherstiege. It was very comprehensive including social, economic, and historic background that contributed to the Reformation in addition to information about Luther's life. This museum is found in the upper level of the St. Anne's Church which included a Carmelite monastery hundreds of years ago where Luther, himself lived.
Posted by
Schwerin
3526 posts
DB major construction around Erfurt shall be finished Dec 14:
https://int.bahn.de/en/booking-information/construction-sites/erfurt-eisenach
Link to major construction sites 2025 in this post:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/deutsche-bahn-published-major-construction-sites-for-2025
Posted by
Seattle
56 posts
Looks like it'll be fine by June when we go. So you already went! Did you make it to Erfurt or Eisenach?
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
2167 posts
I found the freeways there quite relaxing as long as you stay away from the fast lane. In general had no problem with the other roads too, but have to say this was 15 years ago.
You don’t mention Eisleben, where Luther was born. His birth place and death house are now museums, the church where he is baptized is just around the corner of the first. There is a railway station, however no idea how well connected Eisleben regarding train schedules is with the other places you are going to visit. Have you plans going there too?