Itinerary Help

It would be helpful to know when you were doing your trip as there may be events happening in those cities that would be fun to attend.

Also, we don't know where your flight is originating from and frankly, the idea of sitting in a train for another few hours after a long trans-Atlantic flight seems less than ideal. Consider staying overnight in Frankfurt and get some sightseeing done there, then you could book an early morning train for the next morning. This leaves you more refreshed and you can get a budget train tickets now for that date. With your flight coming in at 1100, you would need to leave a good cushion of time between landing and flight. If your flight is on time, you get to sit at the airport twiddling your thumbs or you also risk being delayed and not being able to use your train ticket. If you buy your ticket on the day of arrival, it will cost a lot more.

Hi Ms. Jo, We're flying in from Texas, a long flight for sure, arriving at 9:00 am. My thinking for traveling on to Cologne was, staying in Frankfurt would add another day to our trip and I'm already thinking that I've overscheduled our trip. We can sight-see Frankfurt on our departing leg. Also, I plan on purchasing a railpass and an Ice train can get us into Cologne in 1 -2 hrs. Thanks for your help.

The usual thing here is to plan by nights to see how much time you'll actually spend in each location
if you are one night in a spot, you'll get about 1/2 a day to visit in situ.
We did almost 4 weeks in Germany, Alsace, champagne region, and Amsterdam. The best thing I did in planning is to look at the map and plan in a logical direction. Since we were renting a car (Frankfurt through Reims), I next went to Michelin.com and scoped out miles and road time between each stop. What first looked reasonable was soon cut back considerably and instead of being on the road, we spent more time in each location.

The cost of adding a 2nd driver was insane, so my husband did all the driving. He deserved the chance to view more than what was outside the windshield.

Plan what you want to see at each stop. A museum can take half a day, as can a walk through a park and lunch. The drive to markham (?) castle, the tour, a bit of a wander and lunch took most of a day. The visit to Dachau was incredible, but so emotionally draining that we were low key from late afternoon through that evening.

Lots of guide books give estimates of times to go through the most common sites. Remember adrenaline only takes you so far.

Good luck and have fun.

Hi,

The fact you may never be back is the exact reason you should slow down and trim the locations. Really see and experience a few places rather than zip through a bunch of places.

Cochem, Burg Eltz and St. Goar is a bit of a stretch in a day. We had a car and spent about 2:30 to 3 hours at Burg Eltz. Took about 20 or so minutes walk down hill to the castle from the parking lot. We took the shuttle van back up. Marksburg Castle on the Rhine was also wonderful. We based 4 nights in Cochem and for us that seemed perfect. Cochem, Burg Eltz, Bernkastel, Beilstein, Zell, Trier.

You plan 1 full day in/around Fuessen for the castles and Zugspitze. If it's cloudy or if it rains? No Zugspitze. If the Zugspitze is a "must", an extra day would help the chances of having a good day for that trip. You could still visit Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, ride the Sommerrodelbahn (luge ride), visit Linderhof palace, the Wieskirche, etc.

If you rent a car, have it for the Mosel and return it in Garmisch if you don't want to drive into Munich. I don't think there's a car drop off in Fuessen. We used Andy Bestor at www.gemut.com for our last 4 car rentals in Germany and Austria.

Just my 2 cents on the places I have been. Berlin, Cologne, etc. I have not been to.

Paul

I wanted to thank everyone for posting your suggestions. All were very helpful even though they made me rethink my itinerary (for the better). @ Ms. Jo, I thought I had posted my vacation dates, it's Oct 8th - 22nd. If you know of any festivals during that period, I'd appreciate the info. Also, can anyone suggest areas and/or places to stay in Munich or Berlin? Thanks again.

I only have events for Frankfurt and the Rhine Main region. Go to the websites for each of the cities you would like to visit and events will be listed.

• 10 Oct. Organ Matinee, Frankfurt Kaiserdom, 12:30 Free
• 11 Oct. Harvest Market, Bad Homburg
• 15 Oct.-6 Nov. Flowers of Autumn, Frankfurt Palmengarten
• 16-20 Oct. Hofheim Market with Sunday Shopping, Hofheim
• 17-18 Oct. Apple Festival, Hessen Park Open Air Museum

For hotels, we are fond of the Motel One chain in Germany.

Folks that's too much. At the end you will have made behind the places a hook but you have seen and experienced nothing. Reduces your schedule by half and make a relaxing trip.
(I know this sounds harsh.)

I agree with all the comments. I assume you are set with arrival and departure only in Frankfurt, no problem there but for tourists it has little to offer. You have too many locations to visit and too many kilometers to travel. On my trips I always put in one day of very little or nothing to do in the middle. As the trip progresses, you will fill this day in easily. I think the most effective way to plan a trip is write down your general/specific interests like art, history, religion/reformation, holocaust, castles, etc. For example, Cologne has an excellent contemporary art museum and Munich has some excellent renaissance art. If I am on the move, like you will be, I pick one major attraction to see in the morning before the crowds arrive. Believe me, in the busy summer season there is no joy fighting the crowd during the middle of the day. Stay in each central location for 3 or 4 days. The process of checking in and out of hotels/B&B's is time consuming and exhausting. Good luck and happy travels. Germany is a great vacation