Itinerary Help part 2

We did a similar driving trip a while ago. Flew into Frankfurt around 7am (from NJ) and drove along the Rhine, toured Marksburg Castle and then drove to and stayed 4 nights in Cochem on the Mosel. I have to say, our visit to Berg Eltz, near Cochem, was a highlight of our trip. We found Cochem to be an excellent place to base for the Mosel.

We then drove to and spent 2 nights in Rothenburg. We stayed about 5 miles outside the town. Loved Rothenburg. Don’t miss the Nightwatchmans Tour or the Tilman Riemanschneider’s wood carved alter in St. Jacobs church.

We then drove to and stayed in the Berchtesgaden area for 4 nights. Salzburg is a half hour away. We parked in the Mönchsberg underground parking by the pedestrian zone.

Then on to Hall in Trirol (by Innsbruck) for 2 nights.

Finally we drove to and stayed in Erding, about 20 minutes from the airport, for our morning flight home. Erding is a perfectly charming old town.

Others may disagree but I don't think your tentative itinerary is too much. Let me do a quick ballpark itinerary:

Day 1: Arrive Frankfurt (1 night)
Day 2: Rent car and drive to Boppard for 3 nights (Boppard is a good choice - it's central and easy to train to other areas of the Rhine and Moselle). If you stay 3 nights, you could add in a day trip to Cologne (I would stick with the train for day trips - it would be difficult to drive in Cologne).
Day 5: Nuremberg for 3 nights - day trip to Rothenburg o.d.T.
Day 8: Head down to Berchtesgaden/Fussen area and spend 3 nights.
Day 11: Salzburg for 2 nights.
Day 13: Munich for 3 nights.

Obviously, this depends on your wishes, but you can take something like this and move things around. For example, take a night from Munich and add it to Salzburg (I love Salzburg so definitely give it at least 2 nights imo). Or add a night to Frankfurt and take it away from someplace else. But this is a good starting point.

Keep in mind that driving a rental car in foreign cities can be very stressful, especially when trying to find parking. Make sure your accommodations have (or know of) space available for parking.

I have to say, our visit to Berg Eltz, near Cochem, was a highlight of our trip.

I agree with Paul - I really enjoyed my visit here. It's also easy to drive to with good parking available. And I second his recommendation for the Tilman Riemenschneider sculptures in Rothenberg. They are some of the most beautiful pieces I've ever seen - he was a master sculptor. In fact, they were the highlight of my trip to Rothenberg.

Since you're arriving in the morning, I think I would keep moving and head directly to one of the towns in the Middle Rhine Valley from the FRA rail station. It's only 1-2 hours and that one afternoon wont let you do much in Frankfurt anyway. I also wouldn't cruise all the way up to Cologne. The river isn't that scenic once you pass the gorge area, and while the cathedral is great, I dont think there is much more worth seeing in Cologne.

I just can't recommend driving after flying when jet lagged. Perhaps spend a least a day in your arrival city . Also, since COVID, my experience has been increased chances of flight delays, so just plan on getting there on the first day. On our trip this past spring, our flight was delayed for six hours, we missed our connection , and finally arrived at our hotel at 1:00am.
I suggest skipping Fussen, IMHO, it is overrated: just too commercial, with long lines, hard to get tickets, and not worth the considerable effort involved.
Berchtesgaden is beautiful, and worth a night or two, Salzburg is charming, and Rothenburg is one of my favorite towns to stay in, with peaceful morning walks on the town walls, and beautiful sunsets from the Castle Gardens.
Have a great trip!

The Riemenschneider wood alter is 500 years old, hand carved and in the back of the church, up a flight of stairs. Amazing to see in person.

We visited Burg Eltz on a misty overcast morning. Made the castle and setting even more dramatic.

I am always going to recommend staying your first night in Frankfurt, to get over the jet lag a bit, and of course to sight see a bit. There are WW2 things to see here, mainly some Holocaust memorials, and if you are here on a Sat. the Gestappo jail is open to visit. On a Sunday, the Friedberger Bunker is open, which was built on top of a Synagogue that was burnt down on 9 Nov. 1938 and they have wonderful exhibits on all 3 floors, including a new virtual reality reconstruction of some of the 1500 Synagogues that were destroyed.

For the Rhein, a shorter cruise is better. Rüdesheim to St. Goar, but a stop in Eltville and Eberbach Monastery would be on my list of things to see and do. The monastery is almost 900 years old and has a stunning basilica. Wine tasting is popular here too as well as in Rüdesheim. (but then no driving)

I’m not sure you can even cruise all the way to Cologne - in 1970 I took the boat Mainz to Cologne, a verrry long day. Your plan looks fine, easy to do in 15 days. Waiting a day to pick up the car is probably a good idea.

Very good advice about not driving after an overnight flight. We did not heed that advice when we flew to Paris a few years ago and instantly got into our rental car and drove to the Normandy coast which was a little over a 3 hour drive. BIG MISTAKE. We had to stop twice for power naps.
However, with Frankfurt its only a bit more than an hour to where we would be going so we could probably manage - but may choose to stay in Frankfurt for one night if I can find affordable, convenient accomodation...that seems to be the tricky part with this holiday plan. We do land at 11 a.m. Frankfurt time, so our internal clocks won't think its the middle of the night.
Love all the advice so far...keep it coming!!!! All the tidbits of help put together are really helping me to narrow things down. Remove things, add things etc.

"We will be renting a car as we are on the move a lot and not wanting, at out age, to be hauling suitcases around train stations every couple of days."

Rick Steves provides EXCELLENT advice on the subject of packing. You will in fact still be hauling your luggage around even with a car in Europe as parking is rarely adjacent to your room (as it might be with motel travel back home) so you need to read - and most importantly, FOLLOW - his advice.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light/packing-smart

In the green zone on the map below, find Frankfurt (M) Hbf (central Frankfurt) and Frankfurt Flughafen (the airport) on the map below. Then find Boppard Hbf in the blue-green VRM zone to the west. If Boppard will be your Rhine base town, you will only be adding unnecessary ground travel if you spend the first night in Frankfurt proper. It is possible - and very easy - to ride the train directly to Boppard from the FRA airport rail station. Regional Express trains at 11:23 and 13:23 will take you there in air-conditioned comfort using the scenic Rhine River route in just over one hour... you'll have no reason to shuttle to the rental car area or go through the pick-up procedure/headache that first day, and there's zero risk of driving drowsy.

https://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data/pdf/2017/RLP-Ticket_streckennetz.pdf

On Day 2 after a good night's rest you will be better prepared for an adventure to Burg Eltz, to Marksburg Castle (just across the river from Boppard almost) or wherever. Use the free train privileges that come with your stay in Boppard for the 15-minute ride into Koblenz, where you can either...

• pick up your rental car

or

• continue by public transport to one or more of the castles or wherever else you wish to go.

Since your husband has an interest in WWII things, he might want to look at a site named thirdreichruins.com. It has many photos of places in Germany taken during or just after the war. It then present photos of the same places taken decades and decades later. Quite a contrast.

Mardee suggested:
Day 1: Arrive Frankfurt (1 night)
Day 2: Rent car and drive to Boppard for 3 nights (Boppard is a good choice - it's central and easy to train to other areas of the Rhine and Moselle). If you stay 3 nights, you could add in a day trip to Cologne (I would stick with the train for day trips - it would be difficult to drive in Cologne).
Day 5: Nuremberg for 3 nights - day trip to Rothenburg o.d.T.
Day 8: Head down to Berchtesgaden/Fussen area and spend 3 nights.
Day 11: Salzburg for 2 nights.
Day 13: Munich for 3 nights.

My suggestion is close, Boppard is good but you can do a Rhine cruise past the Loreli from Rudesheim. That is a wonderful short cruise.

I suggest stopping in Rothenburg on your way to Bavaria (skip Nuremberg and do The Romantic Road), spend one night at Rothedburg then down the road (here are the details--The Romanic Road has several quaint walled Medieval cities that were not damaged in WWII- Nuremberg was practically destroyed and most of what you see now are building rebuilt in the old style.
https://www.romanticroadgermany.com

"It's not too hard to see the reason for the popularity - despite the modern roots of the idea, the tour combines the historic cities of Würzburg and Augsburg with the three medieval walled towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, and then finishes off with the tourist highlights of Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps."

The Road will take you to Garmisch/Fussen, from there you could head to Salzburg/Berchtesgaden and Munich.