Good base in Germany for day trips

Have you considered Freiburg? It’s a small university city in the SW of Germany (the Black Forest) with easy day trips possible to Basel, Titisee, Colmar and Strasbourg. Train service is good and the city has a tram for getting about town. There are also nearby vineyards to sample local wines - spatburger (Pinot noir) is a specialty of the region. It’s accessible from numerous airports.

Here's a couple of suggestions. Nuremberg is an interesting place to stay with day trips to Bamberg, Wurzburg, and Regensburg. Another favorite choice of ours is Leipzig with day trips to Berlin, Dresden, and numerous other cities nearby. I hope your parents enjoy themselves. We are in our 70s also and frequently stay in the above places along with Freiburg. Have a great time.

Since you've seen a portion of Bavaria, let me suggest something else. Consider the area around Lake Constance, where Germany, Austria, and Switzerland all meet. It's an hour's train ride from Zurich (which you could fly in/out of), near Freiburg, Mulhouse, Colmar, and Fussen. You have the alps right there, Lichtenstein nearby, Mainau, Lindau, Meersberg, the Rhine Falls, the Black Forest, etc. all easy to get to. The weather is decent that time of year, the flowers will be out (see Mainau, plus the thousands of fruit trees around the lake), and the scenery is beautiful.

Ms. Jo will be able to tell you all about using Frankfurt as a base, which is good too.

And last, I'll suggest Trier. A beautiful city, close to Luxembourg, less than 2 hr by train from Paris, Metz is even closer, Saarbrucken 15-20 minutes away, the entire Mosel Valley right there, and all the history of that area.

What are main interests of the group or esp. your parents?

Hamburg is a part of Germany you missed so far. Day trips are Lübeck (old town), Schwerin (castle) , Wismar, Stade, Bremen and Bremerhaven, and some special interest destinations, e. g. WWII related.

Berlin has tons to offer for weeks plus day trips, e. g. Potsdam palaces and Oranienburg.

Erfurt offers day trips to castles and Thuringia destinations such as Weimar or somecastles around.

In Bavaria Nuremberg is also an obvious option to explore Franconian lifestyle and culture. Several possible day trips, e. g. Bamberg or Herzogenaurach.

Btw: in Germany we have "Switzerland"s too. Most these are mountain or hill areas which are unique for their region. Famous example is Saxon Switzerland (German: Sächsische Schweiz).

Btw 2: How about a river cruise which allows your dad to disembark daily at a different destination? Maybe after common journey; your parents will likely have more time available?

Well, I will make a push for Gengenbach in the Black Forest. I stayed in Gengenbach for 4 nights in 2022 and absolutely loved it. 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. There are lots of things to do there and it's very quick (and easy) 40 minute train ride from Strasbourg and other towns in the Alsace. One additional benefit is that if you stay in the town, each person is entitled to a KONUS card, which gives you free public transportation throughout the Black Forest region.

It's smaller than Rothenburg but with plenty of nice cafes and restaurants—and some were very nice. There is nice shopping and lodging as well. Plus it sits right on the main train line, so it's easy to get to places like Strasbourg in France, down to Switzerland and so on. There is plenty of lodging there as well. It's popular among Germans but most Americans have never heard of it so you won't get the American tourist crowds you get in Rothenburg. It's very walkable and there is an especially nice walk you can take that will get you above the town with some absolutely beautiful views of below. The hike ends up at a church called St. Jakob auf dem Bergle that sits above town. The TIC in town will have maps showing you how to get there. The views are just lovely!.

The town church (Saint Marion) is quite beautiful, and the historic medieval gates to the city are really interesting. The Benedictine Abbey is also worth a visit, and behind it are some cloistered gardens that were a joy to wander through. This was one of my favorite places. It was peaceful and inviting and I could have stayed for hours. There were little signs of inspiration scattered around, and some children from a nearby kindergarten playing on one side. Also don't miss a walk through Engelgasse and Höllengasse streets (near the TIC). Here you will find cobblestones and half-timbered houses, flower pots and cats resting on doormats and quaint dolls in the window. I felt like I had walked back in time when I strolled through these quaint and narrow streets.

The Vogtsbauernhof (Black Forest Open Air Museum) is located a short train trip away, which is an open air museum that is definitely worth a visit, and it's easily walkable. I think your parents would really enjoy it. Gengenbach is also on the scenic Black Forest Railway line (which you can ride for free with the KONUS card). This takes you through the scenic Black Forest and through some very charming small villages like Schiltach and Haslach.

Munich, at the center of a sprawling rail network, might appear to be an obvious choice. But the Bavarian destinations near Munich that are most popular with tourists - Salzburg, Füssen, Neuschwanstein, the Zugspitze, the Eagle's Nest - huddle at the Austrian border and are actually quite far out - and require too much travel time for a round-trip outing IMHO. Landshut, Herrenchiemsee (Palace) and Augsburg would qualify as "easy transportation options" from Munich's main station.

To explore the Alps I would have a look at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a good springboard town for outings. G-P lies in the Werdenfels region, which is well served by railway and bus and has its own ticket option for getting around and for transport to/from Munich: the Werdenfels ticket:

https://zugspitze.com/en/service-info/arrival-and-transport/werdenfels-railway

There is also a guest-card program here to cover transport: https://zugspitze.com/en/service-info/guestcard_neu

This ticket broadens your travel zone to include Innsbruck: https://zugspitze.com/en/service-info/arrival-and-transport/regio-ticket-werdenfels-innsbruck

Close by G-P:

• The Zugspitze
• The Partnach River Gorge
• Mittenwald (20 minutes by train; Alpine vtillage + Karwendelbahn cable car lift, Leutasch- and Geister- Gorges)
• The Fraundorfer Inn's "Bavarian Evening"

Map of the local rail and bus networks showing connection to Munich and outing options

Further out:

• Reutte (1 hr train ride on the scenic "Außerfernbahn" railway into Austria; things to see/do
• Oberammergau
• Ettal Monastery
• Linderhof Palace
• Seefeld and Innsbruck, Austria

It is possible with a connecting bus from one or more of the Außerfernbahn stations to reach Füssen as well.

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate all of the suggestions and replies.

To clarify and answer some questions, my parents would be most interested in cute towns and pretty scenery. We aren't big museum people but we all like to try new foods, so a good restaurant scene would be nice. Shopping isn't important.

My husband and I don't mind going back to places we've been already. We have good friends who live in Munich so we will be back there in the next year or so. I'm more interested in gathering ideas, but letting my parents decide where they're most interested in going.

most interested in cute towns and pretty scenery

In this case I want to add Harz mountains with Goslar and Wernigerode.

Also woth mentioning is Rüdesheim with Upper Mid Rhine valley and wine regions Rheingau and Rheinhessen wlthough not the best travel time.

https://weatherspark.com/m/56241/3/Average-Weather-in-March-in-Freiburg-Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg-Germany

Going to northern Europe is not like going to Disney World for American school vacations ...

You didn't say if they like museums and can STAND for long periods. Dresden and Berlin have many days of attractions, including suburban daytrips. I think you have a slight aversion to "big bad cities", but that is a conflict walking-ability in romantic rural towns; We loved our day (by car) in Traben-Trarbach, but certainly walked four or five miles on the day, some uphill and on dirt trails.

It's important to me to have a lot of things to do where I wake up, unless we happen to have a car. Sometimes in Germany we have chosen a banal business hotel on the outskirts, to get free, easy parking to come and go each day. (Weimar, Frankfurt). Cologne is an exceptionally walkable city, with a lot to do. But it's also cool in March. You can walk to the banal, business Hilton from the Cologne HBF, but also to many other hotels.

I agree that Germany has exceptional train options. But it remains hard to do more than two stops in one day using trains.