From Frankfurt to Prague on Thanksgiving

5:30 might be a bit optimistic, since the Frankfurt - Nürnberg leg of the motorway is always crowded. Besides, you will have to stop at the Czech border to pick up a motorway sticker (don't forget that, fines are hefty). Good intermediate stops are, e.g., Würzburg (impressive baroque palace, old Main bridge with nice pubs) and Nuremberg. Wuerzburg is done easily in 2:30, Nuremberg needs (much) more time. In Czech: Plzen or, with a certain deviation north, Mariánske Lázné.

I also find Nuremberg and Wuerzburg interesting - more interesting than Frankfurt. Wuerzburg is just 90 minutes from FRA by direct train. I'd spend my Germany time there and in Nuremberg (maybe an hour from W'burg by train.) From Nuremberg you take a direct German Railways Intercity bus to Prague (I know - why does a train outfit have buses? Because they're faster.) The trip takes less than 4 hours.

http://www.wuerzburg.de/en/visitors/must-sees/index.html

http://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/sightseeing/places-of-interest.html

http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/nurnpubs.htm

http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/wurzpubs.htm

Thanks for all the info. Wow. So much to think about. I know my husband would want to drive. So, we will probably stay a day in Frankfurt, then head over to Wurzberg and Nurenberg. Do you think we would need to get a hotel in Wurzberg or spend a few hrs there and head over to Nuremberg and stay there?

What are the stickers you are talking about for the Czech border? Like a pass? Where do we need to get these? Can we get them in advance (here, at home)? Do we need anu additional visas for Czech Republic?
Thanks, everyone.

What are the stickers you are talking about for the Czech border?<

In Czech, you need a motorway vignette (dálnice vineta). It costs 310 CZK (ca. 11.50 Euro) for 10 days. If you are catched on a motorway without a valid one (e.g., without having entered the dates of your license plate) you will face a 5000 CZK fine (see http://www.motorway.cz/).

"I know my husband would want to drive." Sounds like my dad. :)

When I studied abroad in Bonn, not too far from Frankfurt, we took a night train to and from Prague. Years later, when I lived in Mannheim (also not too far from Frankfurt, but on the other side), we drive 6 hours each way to Prague. The night train was about 1000x times better, and it would cost you less time and money too, considering it's travel and an overnight stay in one. Just my two cents!

When you make your reservation for your rental car, be sure the company knows you are taking it into the Czech Republic. My friend booked a Mercedes from a company at the Munich airport without notifying them of this. When they arrived and were asked their destinations, that put an end to the Mercedes (her kids had been looking forward to this). Luckily, the rental company had other cars available that they would allow to be taken into the Czech Republic.

Will your husband want to drive because he will want to drive as fast as he can on the Autobahn?

Or because he is worried about how crowded the trains will be on Thanksgiving?

If the first, has he read all the stories on this Forum about how much fun the Autobahn isn't (especially that chunk of the A6?). I was heading away from Nuremberg a few weeks ago and my Stau Finder reported a 3 hour - yes I typed that right, 3 hour - stau between the exit Nuremberg West and a point between Regensburg and the Czech border. I'd seen that same stau, both directions, for each of the 5 days I was staying in Schwabach just southwest of Nuremberg.

There is also the incessant construction on that Autobahn, pretty much for its entire length. It was so bad I just had to stop and have a rest, even though we should have been able to make my journey in a fairly short drive. All of a sudden we weren't doing 150 kph - at all, I never got over 145 on that trip, but we were often doing 60 to 40 kph for long stretches.

Does your husband know what we mean by Stau?

I wouldn't want to discourage him, but I would have found the train much easier and much much faster. No car that I know of outside of Formula 1 can regularly do 300 kph, the speed of an ICE train (some do 360).

Nigel, that was funny. But you got one thing right: he dreamt of driving on the autobann. LOL. On a more serious note, it is just the matter of convenience. Instead of carrying all the luggage here and there.
But thank you anyway. Looks like we changed our plans, though. We'll probably be going only to Prague and Paris now.

Or because he is worried about how crowded the trains will be on Thanksgiving?<

Well, there is non Thanksgiving in Germany and Czech ...

Hi Elina,

We were "stuck" traveling during Thanksgiving and the week after our last two trips. Just an FYI, you're traveling at the optimum time of year for Christmas Markets in places such as Salzburg, Innsbruck, even Munich and Frankfurt, IF these are of interest to you. Amazing time of year to visit these places.

http://www.frankfurt-tourismus.de/en/Discover-Experience/Events/Festivals-in-Frankfurt/Frankfurt-Christmas-Market
http://www.salzburg.info/en/art_culture/advent_new_years_eve/advent_christmas_markets/salzburg_christkindlmarkt
http://www.innsbruck.info/en/innsbruck-city/events/advent-and-christmas/christmas-market.html
http://www.muenchen.de/rathaus/home_en/Tourist-Office/Events/Christmas

Thanks, Paul. Oh, I know. However, I feel that Germany should be a separate visit altogether. I spent almost 6bweeks traveling through Germany and visitong other counties 20 years ago, so I feel that going there for 8 days (+2 days for flying) is simply not enough. That's why we are changing our itinerary to just 2 cities that my mom and husband wanted to see: Prague and Paris.
Thank you for the info. I will definitely keep it for our future travels 😊

No problem, just wanted to let you know.