Itinerary Help for a 15 day vacation flying in/out of Frankfurt

I am an old fogey, but have been in the area several times. The trains in Europe are incredible, especially those in Germany. when you land in Frankfurt, my suggestion is catch a train for Wurzburg and stay there for a couple of days. It is a medium size city, easy to get around ,and has , surprisingly, many sites well worth seeing. The bridge is a Prague like Charles Bridge with the statues and all.. It is a college town and the people of all ages are warm and open. you could easily meet young students and travelers that could help you decide where to go. Rothenburg-on-Tauber is close by and is considered one of the neatest villages in Germany. Don't buy train passes, there are always deals on DB the German railway. Just go site to site.. you can easily get to Munich, the German and Austrian Alps, Salzburg and anywhere you want. How exciting to just go and plan on the fly! There is a train right in the airport to Wurzburg, and on the way home, staying in Wurzburg is way more appealing than in Frankfurt, it's only about an hour and a half away and you can train right to the airport. Hope I've helped a little. have a great time! Hank, Novato,CA

I am an old fogey, but have been in the area several times. The trains in Europe are incredible, especially those in Germany. when you land in Frankfurt, my suggestion is catch a train for Wurzburg and stay there for a couple of days. It is a medium size city, easy to get around ,and has , surprisingly, many sites well worth seeing. The bridge is a Prague like Charles Bridge with the statues and all.. It is a college town and the people of all ages are warm and open. you could easily meet young students and travelers that could help you decide where to go. Rothenburg-on-Tauber is close by and is considered one of the neatest villages in Germany. Don't buy train passes, there are always deals on DB the German railway. Just go site to site.. you can easily get to Munich, the German and Austrian Alps, Salzburg and anywhere you want. How exciting to just go and plan on the fly! There is a train right in the airport to Wurzburg, and on the way home, staying in Wurzburg is way more appealing than in Frankfurt, it's only about an hour and a half away and you can train right to the airport. Hope I've helped a little. have a great time! Hank, Novato,CA

For young people, I'd say Berlin any time.

Five days or so, and then go from there.

looking for an interesting experience

It would help if you could let us in on what exactly you consider an "interesting experience". :-)

Within half a day of travel from Frankfurt, you can reach the sea, the Alps, cathedrals, palaces and gardens, dozens of UNESCO world heritage sites, art galleries (including the Louvre), all kinds of museums (history, natural history, technology, ...), miniature railways, modern cities, quaint villages, beer and wine culture, clubs to party all night, lonely hiking paths, ... Any good itinerary should match the interests of the group, so tell us what you want to experience.
The only general advice would be to limit the time spent in transit; don't try to see a new city each day, but stick to two or three destinations, from where you can do day trips.

You posted under Germany but the only destinations you mention after landing are Prague and Amsterdam, so it sounds to me like this an inquiry about multi-country travel. Do you think you want to see some of Germany as well? I'll assume so.

"in our 20's, are okay with traveling cheap, and mostly looking for an interesting experience."

I think Prague is an interesting and lively place for almost any age group. Hank's suggestion - Würzburg - is a very good one if you're on your way to Prague. It's only 90 minutes or so from FRA airport (which has not just one but two train stations right by the terminal) by direct high-speed train. And it makes a good base town for short day trips by train to other places, some of Germany's best destinations, including...

Bamberg (university town, beer-lover's mecca, UNESCO World Heritage status)
Nuremberg
Rothenburg
Franconian Open-Air Museum in Bad Windsheim
Iphofen

Here is a train map of the above area (Bad Windsheim isn't shown but easy to reach - it's near Steinach.)

(Note that you might want to stay over in Nuremberg 1-2 nights as there's a lot to see there AND it's further along on the route to Prague than Würzburg. It would also be possible to make NUREMBERG your base town instead - day trips to the other places are easy from there too.)

After Prague you could head to Munich, and perhaps later to the Salzburg Austria and Berchtesgaden area, if there's time, before returning to FRA.

Transportation between these places is pretty straight forward and mostly direct. DB (German Railways) operates buses for the Nuremberg - Prague - Munich route at very cheap prices if you buy in advance. For your day trips around Würzburg (and the trip to Nuremberg if you stay there) the Bavaria Ticket (Bayern Ticket in German) is a day pass your group can buy day by day at the train station - no pre-booking necessary. Price is €37 - €12 each - for nearly unrestricted use of the local and regional trains.

Rail passes get a lot of bad press on this forum, and the reasons for this are often good. But that really depends a LOT on the itinerary you decide on. I rarely use rail passes, but I did two years ago when it became clear that the German Rail pass (which covers some foreign destinations too) would be to my advantage. Don't worry yet about the transportation yet - work on your itin. first and then find the transportation solutions.

First, do you have fifteen days or nights? It makes a difference when planning. Second, even though you are young and I assume energetic, try to base yourselves in three (four at the max) places and day trip from those locations. You will be amazed at the amount of time lost relocating from on place to another. It's not just the actual travel time. It's also the time spent packing up, checking out of the hotel, getting to the train station, and waiting for the train. Then you have to find the new hotel, check in, unpack, and etc. Don't mean to rain on your parade as it sounds like a wonderful trip. Just something to think about. I lived in Wurzburg and Aschaffenburg so let me know if you need specific information about Germany.

To spend 15 days in Europe, it is worth checking out a couple fairly comprehensive travel guides to get an overall picture and then ask some specific questions. My favorite is the Michelin Greenguide.

A few folks have suggested base towns for travel. My wife and I prefer to move every couple nights. To make day trips to various towns does not appeal to us. Often the best parts of our trips are our evening walks about towns after supper. Returning to a base town would undermine that.

I like Russ's list as Franconia (Franken) is my favorite part of Germany. I would add Regensburg to it. Regensburg and Bamberg, like Würzburg are university towns, probably adding to the night life.

Once you start seeing air prices you like, be sure to investigate Open-Jaw tickets. Especially if you pick a second city that your original airline happens to fly to, it can add $199 or less to the fare. With the cost of a long train ride and lost vacation time (especially on your last two days of the trip), it's a small price to pay. If you have already bought the Frankfurt round trip, I would suggest taking a bargain airline to the far city of the itinerary and working your way back.

Your luggage size affects how much a bargain a Bargain Airline actually is.

You didn't say explicitly if this trip is your first to Europe. Although I'm not urging you this way, it's entirely possible to spend a wonderful 15 days just in Germany, doing an amazing variety of things, and not repeating any particular local culture experiences. I like Prague a lot, but sometimes Amsterdam is less effort for first-time travelers, because every single person you meet will speak English fluently. (That is not a reason not to go to Prague at all. I'm only talking about a mistaken fear, which you did NOT express, that Prague or Budapest or wherever might be too exotic for you.)