itinerary check please! Ancestral villages in western Germany/eastern France

drive to Worms by way of Hassloch [ancestral village north of Neustadt]. Sleep in Worms.

Despite it's really long history, not much is on display in Worms. The city was leveled in WWII, and very little except the cathedral and a few other buildings remain from earlier periods. Unless you have specific business there, I would stay in Speyer instead. It also has a huge Romanesque cathedral, but it was barely touched in the war.

Sa Day 10 – free day!
Sun Day 11 – drive to Frankfurt airport by way of Pfungstadt; sleep at airport [early flight Monday]

If you have a little time, give Lorsch and Heppenheim brief stops. Lorsch has the remains of a abbey that dates from the Carolingian period, and a nice little Markt. Heppenheim has a grander Markt, an impressive church and a castle (but no shortage of castles in this region). Neither town takes particularly long to explore. And if you have even more time, give Bennsheim a look-see.

I quite like the sights in Worms, particularly the ancient Jewish Cemetery, Holy Sands and the ancient Mikwah. The Rashi House is interesting and the Synagogue next door are both worth visiting. Worms is easy to see in a half day though.

I wouldn't sleep at the airport. Hotels in the city are much cheaper and it gives you the option of dining in Frankfurt. Trains run every 15 min. and only take 11 min. to get to the airport. Unless you are at one of the 3 airport hotels, any other place you stay will take you much longer to get there.

The Auto Mechanic Messe in Frankfurt is from 12-17 Sept. and will make hotels pricey and scarce, including those in Mainz. Worms is rather close, so perhaps make that your first overnight and work your schedule in reverse?

In a similar situation but a later flight (2 pm) we stayed near the hauptbahnhof as just suggested. We had a free night certificate for the intercontinental, a short walk from the station and with a beautiful river view. We had a great evening stroll in a busy pedestrian party zone and had great hamburgers. Then headed east past the euro sculpture and kept going for the altstadt. Then walked back along the river bank to the hotel. A great send off and only took 3 hours including eating. Quite a nice, if modern, city. There are many companies at the hauptbahnhof to return rental cars, just watch the hours esp weekends.

Some comments about Germany: always have cash on hand in case credit cards not accepted, and ATMs less common than say UK, France, or Italy, and always indoors, check bank vestibules and train stations.

My daughter & I are going to Worms this year also to retrace family history.

I only learned a few years ago about some of the details of my great-grandfather Ludwig Ebert's paper factory in Worms . It was taken over by the Nazi's and became a work camp. It is now an education center and museum that recognizes my family in its memorial.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.projektosthofen-gedenkstaette.de/index.php%3Fpage%3D41&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.projektosthofen,ebert%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DfCa%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Dsb%26biw%3D1152%26bih%3D592

My dad and I are really in to our family genealogy and just got back from a trip to visit three places where his family was from. Bondorf (a village near Stuttgart), Ramstein, and Buchen in Odenwald. It was really great to see where our ancesters lived!

I had emailed ahead to all three of these places using the email that I found online on the towns website. The email did eventually land in the right hands.

I did make a huge mistake in Bondorf. I did not make an appointment to meet up with the person who I emailed back and forth with. We did a drop in and it was a disaster. The person I had been emailing was not in that day, and it all got mixed up in translation. So make an appointment. Also the regular Rathaus only had records back so far, the rest were in the archieves and church records.

I did make appointments for Ramstein and Buchen and had much better results. We found a ton of information.

If you are emailing make sure to include any information you have. Birth and death dates are important.

Also ask any questions you might have so the archieve person can do some research before hand. In Buchen, my ancesters owned a saw mill (which is now the location of a swimming pool) My contact was able to locate the drawings of the mill and the location. There is still a road named after the family mill there. She was also able to contact the Priest and get the church records for further back.

I know that these two situations might be out of the ordinary. But the two ladies in Buchen and Ramstein seems sincerely willing to help.

Good luck!!!

Thanks, all, for the helpful comments! Tom in Lewiston, I visited Speyer on a previous trip and enjoyed it - we'll see how this trip shapes up. I appreciate the suggestions of other towns to visit. Ms. Jo, thanks for the warning about the Messe in Frankfurt; we'll look at flipping the itinerary to start in Worms, if we have trouble booking a hotel in Mainz. I like to plan way ahead and will plan to book within the next month or so, which may help us regarding availability. And it's always nice to have the first night locked in before landing! I wanted to find a relatively nearby spot that we could easily reach by mass transit, so we get a good night's sleep before trying to rent a car and drive on unfamiliar roads.

Also appreciate the comments about staying in Frankfurt rather than at the airport, at the end of the trip. I was thinking that would make returning our rental car easier, as well as an easier start the next morning - but it sounds as if we could return the rental at the airport and get into town very quickly and simply for a more pleasant AND less expensive last night. Clearly, I need to get the 2016 RS Germany book; I've been waiting for the sale, which I hope is coming soon. It probably won't have much about Mainz unless his opinion has changed, but I would hope for more info on airport logistics and Frankfurt hotels.

And Susan, great tips on connecting with town historians before we arrive; I'll pass this info on to my husband, who is in charge of the family history part of the trip.

For rental returns in Frankfurt proper, check return at FRA Hbf and see what comes up. Most of the rental returns are under the station (Ms Jo may know for sure) but there is a Europcar on a lot by the Wyndham, https://www.google.com/maps/@50.1053457,8.6677153,3a,75y,185.11h,78.52t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s5zvfa7RLg7FJeDdjbFuG_w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D5zvfa7RLg7FJeDdjbFuG_w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D188.2933%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656
It will be cheaper most likely also not to return to the airport.

We also did an ancestral visit to the Sinsheim area some years ago. You might look at the Burg Ravensburg in Sulzfeld for a meal, glass of wine or a light treat. It is a castle setting overlooking vineyards and is quite nice. Their website will give you an idea of their hours and offerings. Nearby Eppingen has photogenic half-timbered houses. Any German you know will be useful, since the area sees fewer American tourists than other parts of Germany. The Musée Alsacien in Strasbourg is not particularly close to Lembach and Hirschland, but has a fine collection of traditional decorative arts that your ancestors would recognize. Enjoy your planning!

Clearly, I need to get the 2016 RS Germany book;

Unless he's substantially changed things up, with the exception of Frankfurt, to which he gives rather short shrift, the areas you plan to visit are completely absent from Mr. Steves' book.

Very good point, Tom! Is there a different guidebook you would recommend?

Pretty sure Rick still says not to visit Mainz for some unknown reason. If he would actually go there, he would discover some very fascinating spots to visit. The Isis Temple, the 1000 year old Dom, the new Jewish Synagogue, St. Stephens and the Chagall windows, St. Augustine, the Gutenberg Museum, St. Peters, etc.

See if you can return the car in the city rather than at the airport. Save yourself some time and money going back and forth.

Excellent source especially for small towns, are the forums on Trip Advisor. Lots of people there who are extremely knowledgeable about many of the areas and towns you are visiting.

Is there a different guidebook you would recommend?

Perhaps try the Michelin Green Guide. These are extremely comprehensive, but the disadvantage is that they list towns alphabetically, not regionally.

Wikipedia is actually one of the best resources out there for learning about a given town, especially if you can read the German-language version of the website.