Germany Two Week Travel Itinerary

We land in Frankfurt and have our home base in Trier. We want to visit the following cities while we are there: Luxembourg, Munich, Brussels, Nuremberg, Strausberg, Zurich, Lichtenstein, Vienna, Bratislava, Paris, and Cologne. Is this even possible?

Well, it's possible but why would you want to do that? I totally get that you want to see as many places as possible, but with only 14 days (which would include, I'm assuming, 2 travel days) that leaves you 12 days to visit 13 cities (including Frankfurt and Trier). With the amount of time you would spend traveling and checking in and out, it gives probably around 3-5 hours in each city—at best.

With only 2 weeks, I would stick with either one or at most 2 countries. You could visit Germany, since it looks like you have 3 cities from there, and also throw in Strasbourg in France, which is doable if you're in the Black Forest area. You could also potentially throw in Luxembourg as a day trip from Germany (or a quick 2 night trip), or add Brussels (although there are more interesting cities in Belgium, imo, like Ghent and Bruges).

If you would prefer Munich and Bavaria, leave off Strasbourg and Luxembourg, and add Zurich and/or Vienna. But omit Lichtenstein, Bratislava, Paris and Zurich. My opinion, of course, but honestly, your itinerary now will give you NO time to see anything of value.

As you suspected, you cannot comfortably travel to all these places in two weeks. 12 cities, 8 different countries, in 14 days? Only on a mostly drive-through bus tour. I strongly suggest that you learn to navigate the train system, since your desired places are all easily reached by train. I suggest either Germany and Austria or France, Brussels, and Luxembourg.

How big a family and what is the make up? Why 2 weeks in Trier? Relatives, friends, home exchange?

Trier is a bit out of the way to do extensive travels if you are talking about day trips. Stick to Luxembourg, Alsace, Rhine and Mosel Valleys. Anything further away will result in long train rides and an unhappy family.

Are you spending the whole time in Trier? Then I would limit to Luxembourg and maybe one other on your list--for December I would pick Strasbourg. You can also maybe hit places like Cochem or Mainz/Frankfurt as well. But explore locally and regionally, enjoy the markets, and if you are truly ambitious, maybe add Brussels. Or alter your thinking and don't use Trier as a base for the whole time; pick two or three places. Brussels and Strasbourg are ambitious day trips from Trier. You will have so much to see and take in just wandering around Trier!

We want to visit the following cities while we are there: Luxembourg, Munich, Brussels, Nuremberg, Strausberg, Zurich, Lichtenstein, Vienna, Bratislava, Paris, and Cologne.

For a parcel service of course.

My recommendation for manageable and for creating memories in two weeks: choose your top 4 and travel by train if you have no experience with driving at snowy oder icy conditions.

I understand the excitement that comes with visiting a new place and the desire to see as much as possible, but you could easily spend the entire 2 weeks in some of these places and not see it all. They may look close on a map but if you bounce around like the itinerary you are proposing, you won’t end up seeing much of any of the sites these places offer.

As others have recommended, and depending on which cities you choose, select 2-4 places that are grouped close together and hit those.

No, it isn't possible without spending all of your time in a car or on a train.

You can definately get to Luxembourg and Strausburg (longer trip) on day trips via train. Cologne may be just out of reach for a comfortable there and back. FYI all public transport in Luxemburg is free. Also, look into day trips to Metz and Saarbrucken. I assume you will be visiting during Christmas Markets, so check and see what is on offer in those towns when you are there.

Regarding Trier, I was there earlier this year. It is a very walkable city center and I recommend you visit the multiple Roman sites and museums. Two restraunts I enjoyed most were fruh bis spat (which serves fruh Kolsch from Dusseldorf) and Brasserie Zur Sim (they have outdoor seating with fire places). If you or your kids are in need of a burger, there is a Hans im Gluck located between the Porta Negra and the Hauptmarkt.

Train system is confusing to those of us who only know US trains. Download the DB app on your phone and visit their website. Use the trip planners to explore travel options and buy tickets. Use the DB app to store those tickets and get updates. You can use DB for all trips that start in Germany, including round trips.

Enjoy

If this is a crazy itinerary, what do you think would be more manageable?

You will use FRA for arrival AND departure, correct?

One very easy and inexpensive way for first-timers in Germany is to use the €49 month-long train pass called the Deutschland Ticket:

https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/deutschland-ticket

You can use ANY regional trains you wish at ANY time of day with the D-Ticket.

You mentioned Trier and Cologne... get you started, here's an idea for the first 4-5 days which would work well with the D-Ticket...

• Day 1: Direct regional train from FRA airport to Koblenz - a Rhine River city that is centrally located for outings to two of the cities you listed - for 4-5 nights. During your stay, see Koblenz and its Christmas market, and take some day trips by train...

Day trip to Trier and back by direct regional train
Day trip to Cologne and back by direct regional train
Day trip to Braubach (only 12 minutes away) and back by regional train for a tour of Marksburg Castle (open year-round)

Then proceed to a different base town for a 3-5 night stay and do something similar. Then repeat once more.

I would suggest looking at the Romantic Road town of Würzburg for one base town... with day trips to Nuremberg, Bamberg, and Rothenburg.

For a final base town, I would suggest Frankfurt itself. Numerous and easy day trips are possible from there... Mainz, Idstein, Marburg, Büdingen are all good choices.

The D-Tickets you purchase will cover the whole month of December and every train trip I mentioned, as well as public buses and trams and subways you might want to use within these cities. Super simple.

From Trier Luxembourg and Paris are doable. It's only 40 minutes to Luxembourg by car, and less than 2 hours to Paris. It's 4 hours to Strasbourg or Brussels, 4-5 to Munich or Nuremberg, 6+ to Lichtenstein or Zurich, and Vienna and Bratislava are flights. So, no, you can't do this in two weeks unless you just want to spend time traveling.

What do you HAVE to see? Figure that out, make the top 3 your priorities, and then figure out your itinerary.

Don't forget the roads are quite different here vs. the USA, even if you have experience with winter driving. the roads are narrower, and drive faster, than you are used to.

Trains are often a good way to travel, but you can easily spend half a day just getting from one place to another. And once you are there you need to plan on walking, a lot. (I took some family around a few weeks back and we averaged 15,000 steps daily.) That can be challenging in winter.

If you are planning on doing the Christmas markets (which I expect you are based on the list of cities) you also need to note that most will end 22-23 DEC.

KGC,

less than 2 hours to Paris

Can you check this? Google Maps has it at 439 km.

Trier to Paris is 3 hours, by train. Still doable.

Paris is a lovely city to visit. In fact, it’s one of my favorites and I know I’m not alone. That said, even though it’s possible to get to Paris from Trier via train in 3-3.5 hours each way, I am not sure I would recommend that.

I guess it all depends on how much time one is willing to spend en route vs on the ground sightseeing and what the visit objectives are. Also depends on whether this is a once in a lifetime vacation or whether the OP plans to return at some future time. I’ve been to Paris several times and still not seen even close to all that it offers. A day trip there would be fun but would not give the OP much of a feel for it.

My two cents.