Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to read this somewhat long post!
This will be our first vacation trip to Germany, not counting three days we spent in Cologne/Mainz a few years ago.
We will arrive in Frankfurt on May 5 or 6 and plan to stay there until May 10.
We will fly home from Frankfurt on May 13, 14, or possibly May 15. We have not purchased our plane tickets yet, so we still have some flexibility.
I am planning to rent a car on Monday, May 10 and move to a smaller town, where we could stay for several nights and take day trips to nearby towns, villages, castles, and other sights.
I have a school friend whom I have not seen in a very long time. He lives near Deidesheim, so I was advised to use Deidesheim as our base and take day trips from there to places such as Worms, Speyer, and Karlsruhe.
However, if I understand correctly, Deidesheim is in the Palatinate wine region and is particularly known for its wineries. We don't drink much, so I am wondering whether it would still be a good choice for us.
Another possibility I am considering is Boppard, as a base for visiting Koblenz, Eltz Castle, and other places along the Rhine and Mosel.
Alternatively, we could head southeast and use Michelstadt or Würzburg as a base for exploring the surrounding area.
We enjoy walking around historic old towns, visiting old churches, castles, and other landmarks. We are both over 60, and unfortunately I cannot walk long distances, so having a car should make getting around much easier for us.
Which of these areas would you recommend as a base for 3–5 nights? Are there other towns that you think would be better suited to what we are looking for?
We are particularly interested in beautiful historic towns and villages, castles, churches, and scenic areas rather than wineries or nightlife.
I would greatly appreciate any advice and suggestions. Thank you!
Posted by
Arctophilia (x-27), Northamptonshire, England
37226 posts
I don't drink and we love Deidesheim - and the goat auction.
That whole area is fab. Speyer isn't far, you are in the heart of asparagus country, Bad Durkheim is neat.
Posted by
OP
NYC- US
3 posts
Thank you!
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
2175 posts
Definitely stay near your friend. You'll get better recommendations from them than you can get on the Forum.
Posted by
Paradise
8379 posts
"We enjoy walking around historic old towns, visiting old churches, castles, and other landmarks."
Early May is a terrific time for this sort of travel, especially when you get outside the big cities. I enjoyed 9 days this past May doing pretty much what you have in mind as an add-on to my 73rd birthday.
The Palatinate - and several other wine regions that line up on the banks for the Rhine - all have popular wines and wineries, but there is no pressure to indulge. You can drink anything you like in all these areas, and there are lots of things to do other than wineries. I like wine sometimes but I didn't take a single sip on my trip.
One of my stays was at the Hotel Perle am Rhein in Boppard-Bad Salzig, which is a small riverfront suburb of Boppard a few kilometers upstream. I had a room with a view across the river of Liebenstein Castle and Sterrenberg Castle (the "Warring Brothers") and a terrific breakfast every morning in the hotel's restaurant, which offered great views of the river as well thanks to the big windows.
My plan wasn't to do much of anything in Bad Salzig but to visit other nearby towns in the Middle Rhine Valley, which was easy to do. In the mornings I'd walk about 5 minutes from the hotel to the station and hop on the next train, using the free Guest Ticket (train/bus pass) that comes free of charge with your Boppard hotel stay. Trains from Bad Salzig run every hour in each direction. The train pass took me to every little nearby town there is on the west bank railway between Oberwesel in the south and Remagen in the north - St Goar, Oberwesel, Boppard proper, Rhens, Koblenz, Andernach and Remagen. The pass also covers the entire stretch of railway from Koblenz to Bullay and Traben-Trarbach along the Mosel River... Cochem and Burg Eltz (+bus connection in Hatzenport) are easy day trips from the Boppard area. And you can also hit towns along the EAST bank of the Rhine as well... towns between Koblenz and Rüdesheim that are reachable with the Guest Ticket Braubach (near Koblenz) and Marksburg Castle, Osterspai, St Goarshausen, and others further south all the way to Rüdesheim. See the details on this pass below:
Note that if you stay in Boppard proper, there are two trains every hour in each direction, as the regional express trains also serve Boppard.
Bad Salzig and Boppard both are KD day cruise stops. You may want to include a river cruise between there and Bingen in the south.
As for walking around in these towns once you've left your room or the train station... Big places like Frankfurt, Koblenz and Mainz are going to wear on individuals with walking issues. They are also places that make driving difficult. The smaller towns like Boppard, St Goar, and Braubach are relatively small, and it's much easier to keep a lid on the walking that you will do. I am a little surprised that you have 4-5 nights in mind for Frankfurt.
The Deidesheim area is pleasant as well, though not as scenic as the Middle Rhine Valley. If I were you, with maybe 9-10 days, I might spend two in Frankfurt, then split the rest of your time between Deidesheim and the Middle Rhine.
Posted by
Northwest Arkansas
1269 posts
Really like Russ' suggestions.
unfortunately I cannot walk long distances, so having a car should
make getting around much easier for us
I'll add that the car may make getting around more difficult. When you take the train you arrive at a town's central transit zone. Generally, there is public transit to all major locations or those locations are within relatively easy walking distance. The same can't always be said for parking. And, if you've purchase a D-Ticket or other pass you have a public transit pass on your phone ready to be used. For me, there is a positive psychological effect of having an unlimited transit pass ready in that I don't question jumping on a bus or U-Bahn to go just a stop or two when I am tired, it's raining, etc.
Posted by
Paradise
8379 posts
"I was advised to use Deidesheim as our base and take day trips from there to places such as Worms, Speyer, and Karlsruhe."
The small-ish wine towns near Deidesheim which you might want to visit line up north to south along the "Weinstrasse" route pretty far from the Rhine River. I did some hiking outside of Neustadt-an-der-Weinstrasse years ago to take in Hambach Palace. It was a nice enough hike, but the scenery is not unusual for Germany and there's not much to see there. It was once a castle, destroyed, rebuilt, destroyed, rebuilt, etc. as happened to many castles. It's an odd-looking thing today. Marksburg on the Rhine and Burg Eltz on the Mosel are vastly more interesting, IMHO.
I am guessing that the cities of Worms and Speyer, which lie to the east on the Rhine, were recommended to you as places with important cathedrals. Of the two cities, Speyer is probably the more interesting for wandering around. Karlsruhe, with 300,000 inhabitants, isn't made for wandering around and doesn't seem like what you are looking for.
Posted by
OP
NYC- US
3 posts
Thanks a lot to everyone who replied to my post.
Since we have time nothing is set yet, except for the time in Frankfurt.
We can fly in on Thursday May 5 or Friday May 7, but we cannot leave Frankfurt until Monday May 10, because we have tickets to an opera on the 8 and to a concert on the 9.
I don’t sleep on the plane so need at least a full day to recover, plus on the day of arrival, by the time we check in, eat there is not much time left for sightseeing
I will consider spending a couple of days in Deidesheim and then move to Boppard area.
I am also considering going West towards Bamberg after leaving Deidesheim. Although Boppard area seems more attractive to tourists like us.
Thanks again