Extended trip to Germany - Insights for initial "vacation" and longer slow-travel day trips

Just one thought: If you start your journey in Berlin before October 15 the Festival of Lights might be enjoyable for you.

In general public transport is very strong in Germany.
DB journey planner helps to find and book bus and train connections: https://int.bahn.de/en

Flixbus and Flixtrain are also good alternatives.

Try to avoid Airbnb because they support illegal providers. This can end up for travelers that on arrival the apartment is no longer permitted for tourist rentals by local authorities and you stand there without accommodation although you have a prepaid reservation. Apartment hotels are a reliable alternative.

A couple questions - Could we get by without a rental car? It would be fun to see non-touristy sights in the Black Forest (and wherever else.) I don't mind getting a car, but I wouldn't mind skipping one either.

Sure, Germany is one of the better countries to rely on public transportation. I spent 4 weeks there in 2023, and got around by train the entire time. The one exception was when I stayed in Ostbevern (my dad's family came from there) and the train station (shared by another town) was 2 1/2 miles outside town. So I just rented a car in München for 4 days and that worked very well.

If you stay in the Black Forest, depending on the place, you will get a KONIG card from your hotel, which gives you free public transport all over the region. I stayed in Gengenbach (highly recommend) and used it to go to many different places in the area. The town is very charming with beautiful half-timbered houses (it's frequently called a "chocolate box" village) and has a beautiful Altstadt, with quite a few restaurants and cafes to choose from. Gengenbach makes a good base as it is right on the main train line, and gives you the options of some interesting day trips, including taking a day trip to Strasbourg, which is a quick 40 minute train ride across the border.

For the Rhine, I stayed in Boppard at the Bellevue Rheinhotel. I loved it there, and my hotel was right on the Rhine. You could walk out the door and straight down to the water in about 30 seconds. I loved the hotel, too, and many of the rooms have views over the water. They also owned a cafe where you could sit next to the river and watch the ferries go by. I also liked that Boppard had a quite a few restaurants, cafes and groceries there, and it's a quick 10-15 minute walk to the train station. You can take the train down to Bingen and from there, board a KD ferry heading back upstream, and get beautiful views of all the castles and ruins along the Rhine. It will take you right back to Boppard.

Just keep in mind that the days will be a bit shorter then. By the end of October, sunset is around 4:30 PM, which will cut into your sightseeing time. Also, I would consider having more than one base. If you just have one (i.e., Heidelberg) you will be on the train or driving a lot. For example, you could use Gengenbach to visit Strasbourg and the Alsace region, then head north to the Rhine and Luxembourg.

I would probably rent a car for a day or two to visit Schwabisch Hall, as that is difficult to get to via public transportation.

If you stay in the Black Forest, depending on the place, you will get
a KONIG card

Mardee is discussing the KONUS card. Towns that issue this free-travel card and further details here:

https://www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info/planen-buchen/konus-gaestekarte#googtrans(de|en)

Boppard accommodations issue a similar card, this one for free travel in the Rhine/Mosel VRM zone:

https://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets/tickets/leisure-tickets/vrm-guest-ticket/

My initial plan is to rent a car for the first week, visiting areas
too far west for day-trips from Munich...Is there a logical "western"
spot that would be good to base out of?

Neither Heidelberg - nor any other single base town - would work well for outings in tlahe Black Forest AND for the Middle Rhine Valley (where Boppard is located.) Trier, Cologne, and Frankfurt, your previous experiences, did not take you to the MRV other than possibly on a quick drive-through. So Boppard or elsewhere nearby could work as a base for that area. Gengenbach could work as a second travel base for outings within the Black Forest and to Strasbourg/Alsace. A few days in each place - that makes sense to me.

In November these places will be much quieter... not Strasbourg of course, but the nice old-world towns which the Middle Rhine and the Black Forest are known for. If you like places that aren't cluttered with tourists, it's a good time for both areas. Just be aware that some options won't be as available as in summer. The popular RHINE CRUISE period ends Nov. 2, the last day on the regular schedule of the Bingen-Rüdesheimer cruise firm. K-D ends the season on October 26 but after that has a one-boat-per day plan for stragglers who pre-register whenever a minimum passenger number is reached. CASTLES: Marksburg (excellent, intact medieval castle in Braubach) is open year-round. Rheinfels Castle (ruins in St Goar) will have some open hours. Burg Eltz (out in the woods near Cochem) is closed beginning Nov.2. That said, old-world wine towns within the scenic Rhine gorge (Bacharach, Oberwesel, Rüdesheim, Boppard, Braubach) will still be there for touring on foot and will not be without dining and lodging options. The trains that get you to all these places, the ferry crossings, and the walking trails along the Rhine should all be available and less crowded.

One more point: You do NOT have to stay major cities like Cologne or Munich to take day trips to other places of interest. If you did book a week in Boppard, it would be quite easy to day trip from there to the other Rhine towns or to cities like Cologne, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Koblenz, or Bonn. A small town that is well-located is often a much more convenient travel base town - smaller towns mean smaller stations to find your way around in, smaller distances between the station and an affordable hotel room, etc.

Schwäbisch Hall: consider routing yourselves through this town in between Munich and the Rhine or the Black Forest. Spend a night or whatever you need.

Mardee is discussing the KONUS card.

Ha ha, oh my gosh, I can’t believe that typo! I was actually doing some German language exercises today that were about the Märchen (fairy tales), and there was a king featured in one. The German word for king is König.

I guess it just got stuck on my head, and so I substituted KÖNIG for KONUS. :-)

Thanks for catching that, Russ!

I don’t understand the reasoning for staying in Munich and making all these trips. For Strasbourg/Alsace/Black Forest, Gengenbach is a good choice. You can easily visit Strasbourg/Colmar as day trips from thete. To get out to the wine villages, a day’s car rental might be a good idea. Stay a few days at an apartment. I can recommend ferienwohnung Kienlzer.

Stay in one of the Rhine villages. I stay in Bacharach at privatzimmer Irmgard Orth. The Franconia area around Nuremburg has lots of possibilities. I like staying in Rothenburg but have also spent several days in the much quieter Lichtenfels. Tuebngen ( south of Stuttgart ) is another area where I have spent several days and highly recommended. A car could be helpful there.

Trains are a good choice for most visits, but there may be times when it is much easier to rent a xar.

What Mark said about Airbnb is true for not only Germany, but in other countries too..
Look for apartment hotels or a Ferien Wohnung.

For the Rhein, I like Eltville. You are right in the Rheingau with a lovely promenade walk along the Rhein, only a few minutes train ride to Rüdesheim and the ships and not a long train ride to Wiesbaden or Mainz for longer distance trains. Eberbach Monastery is a short bus ride away and the basilica there is stunning. Lots of nice hotels and great food as well as lots of wine.

“ I don’t understand the reasoning for staying in Munich and making all these trips.”

My wife wants to spend time in Bayern. Since I’ll be working remotely Mon-Thur each week, Munchen seemed like a good choice for her to have things to do during the day (libraries, museums, etc.), and evenings together. Then we have every Fri-Sun. to travel around. The first week is vacation, so I’m completely free to travel farther. That is why we’d go up to the Rhine then. If there are locations other than Munchen to consider in Bayern that she could wander around daily for a few weeks (without long train rides to and from), I’d reconsider our rough plan.

Thank you so much for the info on riverboat calendar! We’ll definitely need to go to the MRV first if we want to travel on the Rhine.

I will make some adjustments and see what that rough plan looks like…more to follow!

A week isn't very long. I recommend you stay a few days in Schwabisch Hall and the rest of the time in whatever city or town in Alsace your family is associated with. I can't tell you whether a car is needed because I don't know what heritage sites you want to see.
Four weeks in Munich?! If you're working remotely, why not spend some time in another city?
I don't want to get into a whole thing about AirBnB, but I believe these complaints are only applicable in large cities with high housing demand. Munich may well be one of those. Users can protect themselves by reading reviews, looking for permit numbers in the listings, not making payments or communicating with hosts outside of the AirBnB platform, etc. In the off season, you're not likely to get stranded by AirBnB if your host turns out to be a scammer.

My first take is you will be in the Nebensaison in Bayern your last week/s near ski areas. You could possibly see some snow when driving. I would suggest a rental and train itenerary. You need to plan for accomidations in Bayern and Baden-Württemberg. You coulld dip down into Ausrtia too. Maybe stay overnight/s outside Munich with a rental.

From my side I would suggest you to have a look at this hotel in Munich, where I had a great stay couple of months ago. Excellent value for money!

If there are locations other than Munchen to consider in Bayern that
she could wander around daily for a few weeks (without long train
rides to and from), I’d reconsider our rough plan.

"Bavaria" is too huge to explore from a single base without long train lines.

It's unclear what interests your wife may have beyond museums, but to the north is Nuremberg, a city with all kinds of museums in addition to excellent nearby satellite-town destinations (Bamberg, Iphofen, Bad Windsheim, and others) that are reachable on short day trips by rail. Unlike Munich, Nuremberg's old town is blessed with an extensive pedestrian zone which makes most of Nuremberg's sights and activities reachable on foot without ja lot of metro/tram/bus hassle.

https://inuremberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/nuremberg-city_map-1.jpg

https://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/discover/museums/

Iphofen: https://www.stadtbild-deutschland.org/forum/index.php?thread/2985-iphofen-galerie/

Bamberg: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bc/4d/c1/bc4dc191b3a25c5d084fd1e60e5aea84.jpg