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Help planning itinerary...Germany to Rome

My husband and I would love any help/advice about traveling from Germany to Rome. We are flexible on where we fly into, but our daughter is in Rome, so we'd like to finish up there.

We are in our 50's. Enjoy walking/hiking. Good food. History. And hope to discover small picturesque towns. We would love to travel by train and maybe river cruise. Some of the places that we were considering are....Rothenburg, Munich, Salzburg, Garmisch, Konstanz, Geneva, Cinque De Terre/Nothern Coast of Italy, Rome.

We were thinking 10 to 14 days with 2 in Cinque De Terre and 2 in Rome. We don't think that it is reasonable to visit all of these towns...and I would prefer a base then a few day trips . I have never been to Germany before, so would like to just get a taste of Bavaria and wanted to hear any thoughts and suggestions.
Thanks in advance,
love2travel

Posted by
635 posts

Here are some suggestions for great day trips from Munich without throngs of tourists.

My favorite is to take the S8 southwestbound to the end of the line at Herrsching. Walk a couple hundred meters to the lakefront and board one of the stately paddlewheel ships which cross the Ammersee to my favorite untouristed Bavarian village, Dießen am Ammersee. Walk through Dießen up to the baroque-rococo Marienmünster Abbey (1730). Return to Herrsching by ship and take a taxi or bus, or walk three miles up a forested trail, to Kloster Andechs, where Benedictine monks have been brewing great beer since the 15th Century. (Photos of Herrsching, Dießen and Andechs here)

Or take S1 about 20 minutes from Hauptbahnhof to Oberschleißheim, and visit the magnificent, colorful Schleißheim Palaces, summer home of the Bavarian royal family. Aviation history buffs will enjoy Flugwerft Schleißheim (aviation branch of the Deutsches Museum), a short walk from the Schleißheim Palaces.

If you have a free Sunday, go to the spa town of Bad Wörishofen, birthplace of naturopathy. Therme Bad Wörishofen is a wonderful spa/sauna/waterpark complex. Then go to the open-air cafe on the small grass-runway airfield on the north side of town and watch skydivers do their thing, while you wait for your 45-minute ride in a classic 11-seat, Russian-built Antonov An-2 biplane (advance reservation required; photos here).

Tourists have yet to discover Ingolstadt, a charming, friendly town about halfway between Munich and Nürnberg. There are many historic buildings in the old center, including the former Anatomy Building of the University of Ingolstadt, now the German Museum of Medical History. Gardens in the courtyard are made up of medicinal herbs and plants. The building was the setting for Mary Shelley's original 1818 novel Frankenstein. Tours are available of the Audi factory, just outside the old center. Ingolstadt self-guided walking tour available here.

Posted by
33852 posts

love,

Cinque De Terre

Just to let you know that the Cinque Terre is so named because it is 5 small villages all in a row, so collectively known as the 5 lands, or Cinque Terre. There's no "de".

When you are looking for information about, for example, train schedules, you will need to refer to the villages by their individual names. Searching Trenitalia for Cinque Terre won't bring any results....

It takes a good chunk of a day to travel the long distance from the 5 Terre to Roma. I take it that in the 2 days you have listed for Rome that one of those will be checking out of the Cinque Terre, getting the train to La Spezia, changing trains there for Rome (do you intend to side trip to Pisa on the way?) and finding your hotel in Roma, and meeting up with your daughter, and the second is devoted to getting to the airport and home?

Or are those two days in addition to the two short days looking around Rome?

It is your vacation and family reunion to plan and enjoy as you like. I just want to be sure for giving of assistance here, that we have the facts straight.