Germany and surrounding area trip in December

Dear Greta,

You are attempting to fit 10 pounds of sugar in a 5 pound bag! Having lived in K'town, I know the travel that you are planning & it sounds like torture. I suggest staying in Germany & Austria- drop A'dam & Brugges ( both wonderful places to go the next time ) .

Way too much ground to cover in 15 nights, especially in winter, when the days are very short. I'd also drop Amsterdam and Brugges. They don't even fit the main itinerary. Dec. 23 sounds like a long day, about 5 hours of driving non stop in good weather.

Friday December 30th Back to Kaiserslauten

Back? When were you there before? Are you arriving in Frankfurt and immediately driving to Kaiserslautern, then driving the next day from Kaiserlautern to Rothenburg? Hardly worth the stay in Kaiserslautern.

You really have too much travel in this scenario and you are not really accounting for it. One day you're in Nürnberg, the next day you're in Ischgl, and somewhere along the way you visit Neuschwanstein. Another day you're in Ischgl, the next you're in Salzburg. (Do you have a contract with Scotty?) Another day you're in Kaiserlautern and the next day in Amsterdam.

Too many one and two night stands with too much travel in between.

If we don't do Brugge or Amsterdam, do you have any recommendations for where we should go? It is hard to know since days are short and it is so cold.
If we drop those destinations then we don't have to do the castle on the way to Ischgl.
We thought we would ski on Christmas Eve and Christmas since most everything else will be closed.
We choose Ischgl because it has a better chance for snow that early in the season.

Thanks for the help!
Greta

Kaiserslaten is where my daughter lives (she is new to Germany) and so we would stay with her and get acclimated.
Yes, I see your point , probably unrealistic.
"Back" is to my daughters where we would return the van.
The bus tour will drive through the night to Amsterdam so it would be our "hotel".
The kids wanted to see Belgium and I had heard so much about Brugge.
I totally understand. We should probably enjoy where we are and stick around that area.
Thank you

Has your daughter checked in with the travel service available on her base?

Yes, that is where the bus trip came from and we are getting plane tickets through them.

Consider Heidelberg for a day trip.

Are you picking up your daughter in Kaiserlautern on the 20th, then taking her with you for the trip? Then that makes more sense. If not, seems like awfully short visits with her.

Yes, she is coming with us and she has access to a van if we need it.

It is a fair drive from Frankfurt to KL especially when jet lagged from a flight from California. How are you getting to KL?

Haven't really figured that out yet. Hopefully my daughter can pick us up or I would look into a train. Our flights were very limited since we were trying to fly on the least expensive with 7 people.

or I would look into a train.

There are numerous regional connections from FRA to Kaiserslautern in just over 2 hours. If you go through Mainz, you can use 2 single trip RMV tickets @4.65€ each plus a 5 person Gruppentageskarte for 15,80€ to get to Mainz plus two Rheinland-Pfalz tickets, one for 4 persons @ 39€ and one for 3 persons @ 34€, or 98,10€ total.

These are non-train-specific tickets, so no worry if your flight is late.

Lee, Thank you for those specific details for traveling to Kaiserslauten. That is extremely helpful!
Bob, I will add Heidelberg.Thank you. Paul and Lee thank you for your input, I will re-think this packed schedule.

Nigel, thank you for bringing it to my attention that it probably isn't as easy as I would think especially with our jet lag.

Any "must see or do"? I am having a hard time with the winter dates. Ice caves are closed.

The Bundesliga (soccer league) goes on winter break from 21 Dec 2016 to 20 Jan 2017. 2nd league too. I bet it's similar in other european leagues. The players want to have time with their familes over Christmas, too.

I strongly recommend not to travel on 23 and 24 Dec, autobahn and trains are stuffed with cars and people. 25 Dec is a good day for your travel to Ischgl. Also check the hotel if they let you book single days between Christmas and New Year. A lot of people have the same idea (sking in the Alps for Christmas) and clog up all available accomodation for the whole week.

Good to know. I will look in to that immediately.

Are you sure that your daughter has confirmed leave papers in her hand? The military ( and, yes, I proudly served! ) has a way of messing up the best laid plans.

Bob, She has put in for it and should hear soon.

Thank you for your service!

Revised Itinerary...Any thoughts????
Tuesday December 20th Arrive Frankfurt 1:40 PM – try to stay up until 7pm stay in Kaiserslauten
Wednesday December 21st Heidelberg (All day drive for scenery/castles) stay in Colmberg
Thursday December 22nd Rothenburg/Nurmberg Stay in Colmberg
Friday December 23rd Munich stay in Munich (approx. 2-4 hour drive from Colmberg)
Saturday December 24th Salzburg Stay in Salzburg ( appox.2-3 hour Drive from Munich)
Sunday December 25th Salzburg Stay in Salzburg (Christmas markets open)
Monday December 26th Salzburg Stay in Salzburg
Tuesday December 27th Drive to Ischgl (approx.. 3-5 hour drive) stop in INNSBROOK
Wednesday December 28th Ski Austria Ischgl
Thursday December 29th Ski Austria Ischgl
Friday December 30th leave Ischgl Day trip to Neuschwanstein stay in ??
Saturday December 31st Trip to Zurich
Sunday January 1st Stay in Zurich
Monday January 2nd Freiburg ??? Stuttgart???
Tuesday January 3rd Spend night in Frankfurt
Wednesday January 4th Fly Home- Depart 6:55AM

List item

Revised itinerary....any thoughts?

So ... Colmberg. Do you mean Colmberg halfways between Rothenburg and Ansbach? Staying at Burg Hotel Colmberg? So be aware please that that C. is a romantic but tiny place, where there is nothing to do on evenings but sitting at the hotel bar.

And »Thursday December 22nd Rothenburg/Nurmberg«: is this both Rothenburg and Nuremberg on a single day? It may be doable but it is ambitious. Day light is limited in late December to approx. 8:30 to 16:30, so you should Rothenburg leave at noon for an arrival at Nürnberg around 1pm. Since outbound traffic will be very tense betweeen 4pm and 8pm, I'd suggest not to drive into the city but to leave the car in the car park (free parking) at the U-Bahn terminal in Röthenbach and to take the U2 or U21 from there (8 Minutes to the Hauptbahnhof opposite the main gate to the inner city). You will find the car park easily: coming from Ansbach along the B14 you will bypass the Faber-Castell pencil factory at Stein. After 1 km you will see the first blue signpost "U". Switch to the lefmost lane, and shortly afterwards you will see a sign at an U-turn left that leads you into the car park. The U-Bahn terminal is at the opposite end of the car park.

Colmberg... since your daughter is in the military and Colmberg is near Ansbach, I'm going to make the assumption that you have a free place to stay there.

Is the Zurich stop specifically for New Years? You may get comments from the Rickniks saying "No, stay in the Berner Oberland!", but this is a reasonable plan for a holiday, when the ski resort towns of the BO will be packed.

I know you already have more places to visit on your agenda than you have time, but ... I have travelled to Kaiserslautern dozens of times over the years (I worked for the Air Force) and one of my favorite places to visit was Trier for the Roman ruins. It isn't a long trip - just over an hour by car - but well worth the effort. Have either lunch or dinner at one of the many restaurants on the Platz behing the Porto Nerga.

Good call, Jack. Trier is a great one day trip from K'town. Perhaps you might save the Swiss places for your next trip.

Thank you Jack! That looks great and my family will love it. Definitely will fit that in.
I may have to change the ski destinations as there are no accommodations available. Not a surprise for this time of year.

Tom, we had heard the Columberg Castle was a nice place to stay but I think we are going to stay in Rothenberg instead.
Thanks for the help.. It is so appreciated.