Germany Itinerary-any thoughts or suggestions?

Day 5-April 6 (Thursday)-Stuttgart to Munich direct 2hrs 11.15am (PURCHASED)
Intercity-Express (ICE) #593-11:15 Stuttgart Hbf, Please see ticket for seat and coach number, 13:13 Munich Hbf
Rick Steves audio guided walk of Munich 3-4 hours
Dinner reservation at Schiller Bräu 6:30pm Schillerstrasse 23 (5 min walk from hotel)
Overnight at Hotel Metropol-Double room w/balcony + breakfast included $616.14euros(paid) address; Mittererstr. 7, Ludwigvorstadt – Isarvorstadt 10 min walk from central train station
Arrived at the main railway station (called “Hauptbahnhof”) please take the exit towards "Bayerstraße". Cross Bayerstrasse, then turn right until you can walk to the left into Mittererstrasse. You will find our Hotel after 150 meters on the left side

Day 6-April 7- (Friday) Munich
Residenz palace (hours 9-5) just the Residenz will take almost 4 hours it's huge free audio guide
Dinner reservation at GoldMarie 6:30pm Schmellerstraße 23 (5 min walk from hotel)
Overnight at Hotel Metropol

Day 7-April 8th- (Saturday)-Munich
Get Your Guide Gourmet food tour of Viktualienmarkt paid GYGWZFG6R8X7 at 1pm Marienplatz in front of the the Tourist Information of the city of Munich in the Gothic town hall. Your guide has a yellow a3 sign with Bavarian Food tour in red letters.
Hofbräuhaus is open daily from 9 am to midnight 25 min walk from hotel or Haxnbauer next door
Overnight at Hotel Metropol

Day 8-April 9 (Sunday)-Munich
Egyptian museum Gabelsbergerstr. 35 (7 euros Tuesday 10-8,Wed-Sun 10-6) 20 min walk from hotel
(50 min walk between the two)
BMW museum & tour? too far to walk from hotel ( EUR 10.00 Tues-Sunday 10-6)
Rent an ebike from Mike's Bike tours behind Hofbrauhaus (weather permitting) and bike along the Isar River and head into the English Garden for beer at beer garden
Overnight at Hotel Metropol

Day 9-April 10th (Monday)-Munich to Nuremburg 1.15 hours direct 9:19am(PURCHASED)
Intercity-Express (ICE) #880-09:19 Munich Hbf, Please see ticket for seat and coach number, 10:29 Nuremberg Hbf
Walk the old town Nuremburg, Craftsman Courtyard
Overnight Hotel Victoria-standard double room + breakfast $276.00euros Booking.com address; Königstrasse 80, Mitt 2 min walk from train station
Dinner options; Behringer’s Bratwursthäusle — Schank und Speiselokal Lenz (from Mardee), Rathausplatz, 1 (in the Old Town, by Saint Sebald Church), Antipasteria da Gallo — Radbrunnengasse, 2 (in the Old Town, 5 minutes walk from the Hauptmarkt (Italian), Crazy Nate’s — Kirchenweg, 38 and Untere Zwinger Straße, 9 (both locations are 20 minutes walk away from the Old Town, Tacos), Wicklein Lebküchnerei — Hauptmarkt, 7 (right on the Hauptmarkt where Christmas market takes place, fresh baked ginger cookies), Globo Restaurant

Day 10-April 11th (Tuesday)- Nuremburg
2pm WW2 Art Bunker 16 min walk from hotel 9.50euros + German tour with english audio guide (Purchased)
Albert Durer house (English audio guide included w/tkt 6 euros about 40 min) hours 10-5
Toy Museum 10am to 5pm 6euros
Overnight Hotel Victoria

Day 11-April 12 (Wednesday) Nuremburg to Rothenburg
Afternoon Nuremburg to Rothenburg 11:42am 1.10 hours, hourly transfer in Ansbach & Steinach (PURCHASED)
Intercity #2068-11:42 Nuremberg Hbf, Unreserved seating, 12:06 Ansbach,
INTERCHANGE 5 minutes
Regional-Express #57026-12:11 Ansbach, Unreserved seating, 12:32 Steinach bei Rothenburg ob der Tauber
INTERCHANGE 4 minutes
Regionalbahn #58901
12:36 Steinach bei Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Unreserved seating, 12:51 Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Rick Steves audio guided walk of Rothenburg
Nightwatchman tour at 8pm, fee is 9 euros meet at Market Square, no reservation necessary
Overnight Hotel Markusturm-Classic double room booked through Chase, no charge address: Rödergasse 1

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Day 12-April 13 (Thursday)-Rothenburg
Walk the Wall
Rothenburg Museum(6 euros 9:30am to 5:30pm), Medieval Crime & Punishment museum (7 euros 10am to 6pm), St. Jakob's Church(3 euros 9am to 5pm), German Christmas Museum(4 euros 10am to 5:30om)
Dinner options; Klosterstueble (from Mardee),
Overnight Hotel Markusturm

Day 13-April 14 (Friday)-Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Frankfurt 2 Changes in Steinach and Wurzburg 3:05pm(PURCHASED)
Regionalbahn #58906-15:05 Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Please see ticket for seat and coach number, 15:20 Steinach bei Rothenburg ob der Tauber
INTERCHANGE-13 min
Regional-Express #57226-15:33 Steinach bei Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Please see ticket for seat and coach number, 16:16 Würzburg Hbf
INTERCHANGE-8 min
Overnight at Motel One-Frankfurt-Romer, King room $123.00 Berliner Strasse 55, Zentrum-Altstadt
Dinner options; Fundus (3 min walk from hotel)

Day 14-April 15th (Saturday)-Depart Frankfurt for home at 2:05pm on Iceland Air (seats 19C&D) arrive Seattle 6pm
Depart Seattle at 8:40pm on Alaska Airlines #121 arrive Anchorage at 11:19pm

If you miss a train, you have a travel story. If you don't have a dinner reservation, you can spontaneously pick a place that smells good. If you find a local legend and want to know more, take the time to explore it. Find a pretty street to wander, then sit in a square with a coffee and watch people go by.

Basically, make sure you are allowing for that extra nap, the whimsy, the flexibility to decide that the place you picked for dinner doesn't smell as good as the one next door. Planning is great as long as, when the plan goes to pot, you can laugh about it.

Looks like you have done your homework, so you should have a good trip.

Wow Tammy! I thought I detailed my itineraries but yours goes beyond detailed to great. I bet you color code it too (I do).

Have a great trip! I can't wait for your trip report to learn more about Munich. I leave May 30 for solo trip to Munich, Vienna & Salzburg + RS Berlin, Prague & Vienna tour.
Kathy

Yes. I am a planner but I just pick one or to things for the morning and the evening. I hope this is just an outline. Don't be too rigid or you may miss agree adventure somewhere else.

I will also be in Germany in late April. The touristy-Berlin-Munich-Salzburg but I love taking European trains and mass transit. Splurged for first class on the ICE for 10 euros more as a single seat is worth it.

Tammy, I wouldn't worry about the trains. I spent a month there last year and took trains all over the place - both short and long distance, and the only trains I missed was because of Deutsche Bahn. And in that case, just grab the next train. That happened to me on a few occasions, and I was always able to get one fairly quickly.

Make sure you download the DB Navigator app if you haven't yet - they will send you notifications if a train is delayed or if it has moved to another track. That does happen - if you're on a platform waiting for a train and there is an announcement and everyone starts moving, check to see if the track has changed. In the larger stations, there will be signs that notify you as well as announcements, but not in smaller stations. You can always ask someone, too - they've usually pretty good about helping out.

For long distance rides, I usually got to the train station 20-30 minutes early but that's me. I would then grab a coffee or cappuccino and relax. Once the train comes in, you can start boarding early, which is nice.

Long distance train tickets and hotels were all I booked in advance. And I haven't been to any of the cities you're going to, so I can't help you there, but your itinerary looks very thorough! I'm impressed!

You should have a wonderful time - I love Germany and I'm sure you will, too!

One other thing - if you're not sure which car to get in, you can check it out in advance at the larger stations (and some smaller). They will have a chart listed (usually paper hanging on a bulletin board) called the Wagenreihungplan - this will show the sequence of cars for your train, and also what direction the train will be traveling. So if you want to ride forward, just look at this. I used it a lot - it's also nice to know which cars are first class, which are second, if there is a restaurant car and so on. You can get an idea of what it looks like at this site - just scroll down till you get to the section called CAR SEQUENCE SIGNAGE (WAGENREIHUNGSPLAN)

@Horsewoofie (Kathy)-yes I DO color code! Unfortunately, this site doesn't have that feature.
I do think I have allowed time in this itinerary to wander, take a nap and enjoy our happy hour which we always have on trips!
@Mardee-thanks for the train tips. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly. This is the first trip we have done all by train and I don't want to miss any.

Why are you going to Fundus in Frankfurt? There are great German restaurants near your hotel that offer some atmosphere and great food. I had never even heard of it, so not a place that anyone I know goes too.
Look at Klosterhof, My Frankfurt, Das Wirthaus in the AltStadt, Schwarzer Stern, or Paulaner behind the Kaiserdom, Try the Frankfurt Grüne Sosse, or a Frankfurt Schnitzel.
Were you going to walk around Frankfurt at all? You are right by the Alt Stadt, the Römerberg, 3 medieval churchs, and the Main river.

I am leaving for the Camino the next day (train at 05:56), but I would be happy to show you around for a little bit on the 13th.

Ms. Jo I would love for you to show us around. I thought you would already be gone on your trip, but we would love a Frankfurt on Foot tour!

Wow - I always thought I'm a planner becasue I try to think where to go on a certain day :-)

@horsewoofie
I'm a Munich local and you could ask me as well to learn something about Munich. Happy to answer your questions.

@diveloonie aka Tammy
Same for Munich as for Frankfurt .... how did you pick your dinner place?

Schillerbräu: You do not want to spend much time near the Central Station because there is a huge construction going on for many years now. And in particular Schillerstraße is more with night clubs and lets face it no neighborhood where I would like to go.
But thanks for staying away from the big beer halls :-)

I have no idea about the RS giuded tour but I'm pretty sure it will lead you to much nicer neighborhoods and just pick a restaurant you like and go back for dinner.

The Residenz day sounds as you will have free time. Anything you are interested in? A good idea would be to do the English Garden on that day becasue you are near by anyway. On your way from the Residenz to the English Garden you cross by the Hofgarten. At the entrance there is a nice cafe (Tambosi) and as soon as the weather is ok people sitting outside looking towards the beautiful Odeonsplatz. I do this as well :-) On your way to the Chinese Tower beer garden make sure to visit the Eisbach Surfers
For dinner I would suggest as well just pick a restaurant you like and come back later for dinner.

Viktualienmarkt Tour is perfect :-) Any other plans for that day?
When you like strolling arround I would recommend to visit one of my favorite Munich neigborhoods Haidhausen. You could go by Tram (line 21) from the National Theater (48.13968727575088, 11.57953820444902 google maps) to the station Wörthstraße. From there just walk to Pariser Platz and get a coffee and a Croissant at Les Deux Messieurs. Well you are in the middle of Munich's French Quarter :-) You can walk to Wiener Platz (best beer garden in town is located there). Just go with the flow becasue a very nice area to walk.
Next landmark you will pass by is the Maximilianeum (Bavarian State Parliament), you will cross the Isar River and walk along beautiful Maximilianstraße until you are back at the National Theater.

The Egyptian Museum is loacted in a great neighborhood - The Kunstareal in Munich's district Maxvorstadt. With two major universities it is a very vibrant district of Munich.

BMW Museum and BMW World I like more becasue of its great architecture but really worth paying it a visit. Only some months ago I did it again. You could go there by subway or even by bike :-) And since you are close to the Olympic Park anyway you could just check that out. Either go on top of the Olympic Tower or climb the roof of the Olympic Stadion - or simply do both :-)

From there you could cycle to the Isar River by crossing the English Garden. From Max-Joseph Bridge (48.149242397345745, 11.598534959620284 google maps) you can go south (left side of the river when you are looking south) along the Isar River by bike as long as you want :-)

In case any further questions please just let me know.

And since it is easter weekend all shops are closed on Friday and Monday. Only open on Saturday.

such a planner!

Tammy, when you are in Stuttgart are you going to miss the home of Ritter Sport square chocolate?

Sounds like fun. I'd agree to get the DB app if you have data - it will make the train trips easier.

I don't know about the RS walking tour for Munich, but the one for Frankfurt is not very good. Hopefully a Munich local will let you know. There are good walking tours you can go on in Munich, like Radius perhaps? Get more out of your time there and you can ask your guide for dinner suggestions. Guides always know the good places to go. Do not ask your hotel concierge. They are often getting commissions.

Hopefully a Munich local will let you know. There are good walking tours you can go on in Munich, like Radius perhaps

You mean a Munich local should check the RS tour before? I could do that of course. My husband is just watching soccer anyway and I have time now :-) :-)

And talking about restaurants I of course could give some good info if necessary. No need to ask any guides :-)

I don't know about the RS walking tour for Munich, but the one for Frankfurt is not very good. Hopefully a Munich local will let you know<

Ms. Jo-I don’t see that RS has a walking tour for Frankfurt. As far as the Munich walking tour, we have done his walking tours in the past and really enjoyed them.

Tammy, when you are in Stuttgart are you going to miss the home of Ritter Sport square chocolate?<

Nigel, I love chocolate and have not heard of this, so I will be checking it out, thanks!

Wow - I always thought I'm a planner becasue I try to think where to go on a certain day :-)<

Mignon-Lol! Thanks for the Munich tips! By the way, we love to meet up with regular RS forum posters, if interested we could meet up for a beer, coffee or wine in a place of your choosing. Send me a pm if interested.
Also, would love to know your restaurant recommendations.

Just was listening to the RS Munich tour and yes it is quite ok. And Rick did mentioned some places I was mentioning too. Hofgarten for example.

Just one thing did change - they are mentioning Marienhof behind the city hall. Not a green park anymore ... more a huge construction area. No issue but might be just confusing :-)

They are visiting St. Michael church on this tour. On Good Friday a procession will start there after a mass hading to Marienplatz. Never joined so no idea when.

Maybe you will find some restaurants here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/restaurant-recommendation-in-munich-for-a-special-celebration

And would be great to meat up :-) I'm in Munich the whole Easter weekend so whenever you have time :-)

So in all my planning, I neglected to realize that April 9th is Easter. We have plans to tour the BMW museum and the Egyptian museum in Munich, which normally they are open on Sunday. Will they still be open on Easter Sunday?

Will they still be open on Easter Sunday?

Yes will be open

The Egyptian Museum is definitely open on Easter Sunday - https://smaek.de/en/ihr-besuch/

Not sure about the BMW but I would imagine it is. Usually most museums are open on Easter.

Frankfurt-if you can, book a tour with Ms. Jo/Frankfurt on Foot. We had a short stay in the city and she really helped us get our bearings, as well as learn about an often-overlooked city.

Munich-we found it easy to get from the city center to the BMW Museum using the U-Bahn.

Rothenburg-a second for Klostersteuble! Be sure to make a reservation. If you have time, look up "A Walk in the Countryside" in the RS Germany guidebook. You'll have a steep-ish walk to/from the main path along the river but it's not too bad. It leads to Detwang, where there's another Riemenschneider altarpiece. (If you want to see it be sure to check opening hours!) There is a small biergarten along the way (not sure if it will be open?) that makes for a pleasant river-viewing stop.

Definitely download the DB app. It is pretty easy to use, both for pre-purchased tickets and for purchases once you are in Germany.

As you know, Tammy, I'll be in Munich as well:) We're doing BMW on Easter and I can confirm it's open!!

LOL Valerie, we will be seeing you all over Germany it seems! Going to make this trip even funner (wait, is that a word), now I need to look. No, I think more fun is better.

When we visited Stuttgart in September, we used the Hop On-Hop Off bus tour as transportation to Mercedes and the pig museum. The HOHO bus stops right in front of both. While the S-Bahn stop is right across the street from the Porsche Museum, its a pretty good hike from the U-Bahn stop to Mercedes.

Also, if it fits into your schedule, get lunch or dinner reservations at Christophorus located in the Porsche Museum. Best meal of our 2022 trip.

I like funner. I really do. Please keep funner. Funnery fun. yup