Itinerary Help for Trip to Germany

Don’t stay in both the Rhine and Mosel. Stay in one town and visit both rivers. I stay in Bacharach, but any of the smaller towns on the west bank of the Rhine would be fine.

I have heard some say just stay in the Rhine but other say that staying in the Mosel as well is such a nice experience as it's more slow pace.

How many days should we plan to cover both the Rhine and Mosel?

It is so hard to decide where to go for 2 weeks with so much to see

But you don't have two weeks, so stop telling yourself that you do. You also don't have "13 days" (as you list your Day 1 through Day 13).

You actually have 11 days (because you can't count the day you fly in from far away, exhausted; and you can't count your departure day because that's consumed by actually departing). So start repeating that you have just 11 days, and that will help you come to grips with what you can actually accomplish without going crazy.

Yes, there is a lot to see and do in this region. You can't get to it all in one short (11 day) trip. I think you need to cut out at least a couple things out of your list (maybe more).

Are your flights booked already? In to Amsterdam and out of Munich?

From my perspective, try to avoid "one-night stands". I think you have too much time actually traveling, [which means getting a teenager up early and moving quickly in the mornings. [Maybe you have a good one :) ]
Even two nights in a location usually means only one to one and a half days for exploring the area. We loved staying in Bacharach, and you could stay there two nights, exploring the castles in the area, and do a river cruise of the most scenic castle areas of the Rhine. Are you not going to Rothenburg? We LOVED Rothenburg. And- I'm not a big fan of N-castle in Fussen- too many lines, crowds, too commercial. Could you live with skipping Fussen, which would ease up your schedule?
You will have a great time, and safe travels.

The flights are not booked yet. We are open to changes and suggestions. I know we want to either fly into Amsterdam or out of Amsterdam as we have family to visit there. I choose flying out of Munich because I heard Munich is a great place to visit.

My teenagers are good travelers but 2-3 nights at a spot is better then one night. I just didn't want too much all day train travel.

If we stayed in Bacharach is doing a day trip to Mosel doable?

I had Rothenburg on the list but heard such mixed reviews on it.

If we skipped Fussen how would you change up the itinerary?

Thanks for the help!!

Are you sure that your daughters appreciate more Rhine and Mosel valley instead of Berlin? How about splitting off after Amsterdam?

General impression: seems you are rushing though a bit on beautiful but also very touristic pathes.

How do you plan to travel at all days. All train?

If yes: Baden-Baden brings you just off-track to Bavarian Alps. Choose some closer to main train tracks to Bavaria (check ICE and IC train network maps of Deutsche Bahn). Example Heidelberg. Close Bad Sinheim has a large spa (Thermen and Badewelt Sinsheim). In Heidelberg you could re-unite with daughters.

Just a hint: The Netherlands and Germany have different laws and regulations on drugs and medication. Be sure to be clean in all ways when crossing the border.

It's a family vacation so we want to travel together. We tend to prefer more smaller towns than large cities in our travels. We loved our trip to Switzerland as well as the mountains in Italy which is why I added the Bavaria portion into the trip.

We will likely travel the entire trip on the train which we also love.

When we stayed in Bacharach, we took the train to the Burg Eltz area, [on the Moselle River ] one of Rick's favorite castles, as it's been in the same family for generations. We then returned on the train, got off at St. Goar, and took the scenic river cruise back to Bacharach, [using RS' guide book info for commentary.] We didn't have time to explore the castles in the immediate area of Bacharach, maybe next time.

In Bacharach, we stayed at the Kraneturm, a hotel shown in a RS video, built into the town wall, in a tower room. It is close to the train tracks, but the windows are very insulated, and all we heard were occasional "swoosh" sounds. The price was very reasonable and the breakfast good.

We loved Rothenburg, felt it was worth two nights, and did the Night Watchman tour. I would love to return to this town, but have no need to return to Fussen. Perhaps you can watch the RS videos to make your decision.

Perhaps another day in Munich? We stayed in the Old Town, and everything was walkable. The Residenz Palace Museum was fabulous!

"If we stayed in Bacharach is doing a day trip to Mosel doable?"

Bacharach is a nice town with a fine collection of half-timbered buildings. It is the Rhine town Rick Steves promotes most heavily as a place to stay. It is possibly the favorite town of RS forum members, in part because it is closer than some of the other towns to FRA airport, and so many folks fly into FRA airport - it's nice to have a short train trip after a long flight.

So what you must keep in mind when you ask for recommendations on THIS forum is that many of the forum members planned around Rick Steves' favorites (just as you have done) and stayed only in Bacharach. And while Bacharach is indeed lovable on many grounds, the other towns that might serve you well do not come into the conversation... Oberwesel, St. Goar, and Boppard for example, even though you aren't getting to hear about them, are all closer to the Mosel and might have what you are looking for more than Bacharach does.

Just for example... Are you looking for rooms with a nice river view? Bacharach unfortunately comes in near the end of the pack here as the town is set well back from the riverfront. OTOH Boppard has, among other positive attributes, a fully-developed waterfront promenade (restaurants, cafes, hotels, no auto traffic,) a chair lift ride to a great lookout, and many handsome old-world buildings as well. The first river view photo above was taken from a hotel right near the KD cruise boat dock in St. Goar, where several hotels and apartments share a similar situation. St. Goar has attributes you might like as well - Rheinfels Castle is right in town. It's a more convenient base than Bacharach if you want to do the best river cruise (which neither starts nor ends in Bacharach.) And the ferry boat (not the cruise boat) that runs all day long back and forth across the Rhine allows you to explore the opposite riverbank by train (no ferry crossing in Bacharach.)

This is what you see at the back of the Kranenturm hotel in Bacharach (mentioned above.) If you end up choosing Bacharach, a better choice is the Steeg Valley area (quieter, tucked away up a small stream away from the Rhine) but this puts you a healthy distance from the train station and the river.

If you pick a Bacharach base over Boppard, you will travel 40 minutes longer on the train round trip to reach any Mosel destination. And your day pass will cost more as well... The VRM day pass from Boppard to Cochem or to Burg Eltz costs €23 for 2-5 people. The day pass you need from Bacharach (The Rheinland-Pfalz ticket) is €40 for four.

"We tend to prefer more smaller towns than large cities in our travels."

So... why 2 nights in Munich?

"I had Rothenburg on the list but heard such mixed reviews on it."

"If we skipped Fussen how would you change up the itinerary?"

Rothenburg and Neuschwanstein (a late 19th-century palace - not a castle) suffer from severe hyper-tourism. Neither R'burg nor Füssen are "large cities", but especially in summer they are both jam-packed with tourists, tourists and more tourists. You can do much better if what you are looking for is an attractive, small Bavarian town with interesting things to see in the area - but without the hordes.

For a real castle... try Braubach's Marksburg while you are on the Rhine (English tour at 1:00 and 4:00 pm.). It's busy too but not Neuschwanstein-busy, and it's very close to Boppard and Koblenz.

For a more natural German experience... Diessen or Dießen is a nice, quiet German town on Ammersee Lake (south of Munich) where you'd be a boat ride away from Herrsching and the trail to Andechs Monastery (see Rick Steves advice) and about one hour by train from Munich, from Oberammergau and from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Forum member Jeff - https://community.ricksteves.com/users/62399 - is a fan of Diessen as well. You might read through some of his forum posts for more details. Anyway, you might find yourselves an apartment there for a few days and just do day trips by train to some or all of these other places - just play it by ear.

So then you'd have Nights 5-7 in the Rhine-Mosel as planned, Night 8 in a stopover place between the Rhine and Diessen (or some similar place south of Munich?) and nights 9-11 or 12 in Diessen (or alternative.)

For the stopover city, consider Ulm rather than Baden-Baden. It's about mid-way on the train between the Rhine and southern Bavaria. The Ulm town hall and the cathedral are major sights there.

Similarly, you could avoid staying in large-city Munich with a few days in Prien am Chiemsee, which is right near King Ludwig II's Herrenchiemsee Palace on an island in the middle of the lake. From there it's an hour to Salzburg, less to the lift in Aschau for some alpine hiking, and about an hour to Munich.

Russ,
I really appreciate all of your detailed commentary, and- how the heck did you add pix? I will bookmark this page for a future trip; there is just so much useful info included. You have me intrigued about exploring Boppard.

However, I still have fond feelings for Bacharach, AND I will re-visit Rothenburg. We all have our guilty pleasures!

Any recommendations on car rental company out of Munich?

Also can you take a river cruise from the Rhine area to Amsterdam or is train the best way to travel between these two areas?

Thanks :)