I am planning a trip to southern Germany and surrounding countries for next spring and am trying to narrow down places to visit. We have 15 days for actual travel in Europe as I am allowing 2 days travel to and from the U.S. We will fly into Frankfurt and head down to Freiburg to see our son who has just moved there for work. I need practical advice as to what we can accomplish in those 15 days to really have a great experience. I do not want to try to cram in too much and not experience the people and culture. This is what my thoughts are the far: We arrive in Frankfurt and may stay one day with friends there. We then head down to Freiberg where we will spend 2 to 3 days there with our son. We are extremely close to the Swiss border so I thought we would go from there to Lucerne then travel back into southern Germany, maybe into Austria, finishing in Venice Italy and flying back to the U.S. My inquiries are: 1. Is that too many countries to visit and if so, suggestions appreciated for which country to cross off. 2. Here are my cities of interest. Feed back requested as to which are worth while or not to bother and any must see specific points of interest - Germany: Frankfurt, Bacharach, Beilstein, Trier, Baden Baden, of course Freiberg our main destination, Garmisch, Munich, Augsburg, Rothenburg. Switzerland: Lucerne. Austria: Innsbruck, Saulsburg, Vienna. Italy: Venice.
3. Suggested modes of travel car, train, fly (like from Austria to Venice, Italy). Thanks to all who respond.
Posted by
Paradise
6637 posts
"I do not want to try to cram in too much and not experience the people and culture."
Good.
1 night in Frankfurt.
3 nights in Rhein/Mosel region incl. day trips to castles and Trier (Bacharach is a bad base town for visiting Trier so base elsewhere and visit Bacharach instead.)
4 nights in Freiburg incl. day trip to Luzern (2 hrs. each way) and other day trips (Colmar, Black Forest villages.)
4 nights in Munich incl. day trips to Salzburg (2 hrs from Munich) and Garmisch (1.5 hours) and maybe see Augsburg on the way to Munich.
3 nights in Venice at the end.
That's 15 nights. This would work well by train. If you rent a car you'll want to drop it in Germany before traveling to Italy by train or you'll pay hefty drop-off fees.
Drop Rothenburg, Vienna, Innsbruck, Beilstein (not much there,) Baden-Baden (you could maybe stop here on the way to Freiburg from the Rhine.)
Posted by
Mahone Bay, Canada
328 posts
Russ' suggestion is really good, although my personal preference would be to rent a car and stay out of the larger centres and stay in the countryside a little more. Maybe start in Frankfurt, end in Munich ... drop Venice and spend the extra time exploring Innsbruck/Salzburg ... that way you avoid drop off fees and can spend time in the big cities at the start and end of your trip without worrying about where to park a car.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8942 posts
I would drop Baden-Baden and Rothenburg. If you want a "bath" experience, you can find that in Wiesbaden, Bad Homburg, Bad Soden or Bad Nauheim. All close to Frankfurt. Near Frankfurt is Büdingen, which is a walled gem of a town that Rick hasn't been to yet, and right next to it is Gelnhausen. Both are beautiful towns filled with half-timbered houses, ancient churches, and both are older than Rothenburg, just without the tour buses and souvenir stores. Heck, even Frankfurt is older than Rothenburg and has a church that was consecrated in 850!
Posted by
1 posts
I am a new traveller planning to come to Germany this year for a vacation. Can someone tell me how the German travel experience is like?