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.
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
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."