My husband is travelling to Germany for work from July 29 - August 12, 2023. I have decided to go along for the trip. We will have a few free days at the beginning of the trip as well as the weekend in the middle. I have a tentative plan but keep changing my mind.
So far this is what our two week plan is:
July 29 - 30 - Fly from Toronto to Frankfurt
July 30 - Pick up rental car at airport. Drive to Strasbourg, France
Spend 2 nights in Strasbourg
Aug 1 - Drive to Bacharach. Spend 1 night in Bacharach
Aug 2 - Drive North to Bad Salzuflen (approx 4 hrs). * Husband will do work training here
- Spend 2 nights in Bad Salzuflen
Aug 4 - Leave Bad Salzuflen
- Drive South
- Stay in Heidelberg for 2 nights
Aug 6 - Leave Heidelberg. Drive to Freudenstadt.
Aug 6 - 11 - Stay in Freudenstadt for work. I will explore the area while my husband is at work.
Aug 12 - Fly home from Frankfurt
Is Strasbourg worth seeing? Is it too far out of the way? We will have a rental car with the sticker that allows to travel across the border into France.
Should I change it up a bit - 3 nights in Strasbourg then 2 nights in Bacharach (instead of Heidelberg) so we can spend some time on the Rhine. So I guess I am wondering Heidelberg or The Rhine?
Any other ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
In my response to your post on the Tripadvisor forum (which is differently-presented here) I did not address this part of your plan:
July 29 - 30 - Fly from Toronto to Frankfurt
July 30 - Pick up rental car at airport. Drive to Strasbourg, France
Driving right after an overnight transatlantic flight which includes a significant change in time zones, and in an unfamiliar driving environment, when you may be fatigued or jet-lagged and your driving skills perhaps compromised, is less safe than driving when you are fully rested - and the choice may pose a danger to yourself and others. Even if you've done this previously without incident, there are lots of intervening variables that can mess with you unpredictably on future Day 1's.
Doing the Rhine first as I suggested on T/A can eliminate this problem - it's only 1 hour or so by train from FRA airport to the west-bank Rhine towns. And you can pick up a car in that area when you are ready to leave for Bad Salzuflen.
Posted by
11570 posts
Strasbourg is a wonderful city to explore! We would love to return there. Charming city. You will eat Alsatian foods such as Tarte Alsacienne, like a pizza but with Germanic touches.
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
2548 posts
I would spend more time on the Rhine. And you don’t need a car for that time. Take the train from the Frankfurt airport. Spend 3 nights, which give you two full days to get over jet lag and explore. Skip Strasbourg on this trip. If you want to drive to Bad Salzuflen, consider picking up the rental car in Koblenz at the train station.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Russ, I agree with your safety concerns about driving after our flight. I do like the idea of spending our first few days along the Rhine. I hadn't considered using the train. I will have to do some research. Is it fairly inexpensive and straightforward to go from town to town along the Rhine? We would enjoy a short river cruise as well!
Although I'd really like to go to Strasbourg, perhaps it's not the best use of our time. If we were to skip Strasbourg this time are there any suggestions on where to spend the two nights before checking into Freudenstadt (work in Schopfloch). We could just stick to our two nights in Heidelberg.
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
I see no trouble with visiting Strasbourg if it's AFTER Bad S. It's not terribly far from Freudenstadt.
Alternatively: After Bad S., set up in lovely Gengenbach Germany. A full-day trip from there to Strasbourg and back is on the next day is easy. And G'bach is very close to Schopfloch.
There are 3 or 4 DIRECT morning regional express trains between FRA and Boppard - a trip of 75 minutes. A day pass for two to Boppard is €51 from any ticket machine at the station. What time are you scheduled to arrive? There's a 7:09, a 9:24, and an 11:23 that day, and in between those are several departures with one a change of train. Note that the day pass would allow you to take additional train trips that same day (10 minutes to St. Goar for Rheinfels Castle, for example.)
Once you've checked into your Boppard hotel, any other train trips during your stay will be free of charge - all guests there receive a Guest Ticket that you take with you when you board.
But if you don't care about that and intend to just get your car right away, you can still use the guest ticket to travel to KOBLENZ (15 train minutes) for that car pick-up.
St. Goar, the most scenic spot on the Rhine IMHO, is also a good base option. No free train rides, but some nice river-view hotels, and Rheinfels Castle is right there..
CRUISE: Best scenery and simplest is to cruise from Bingen to St. Goar. So you catch a train to Bingen (stopping over to seen Bacharach on the way?) and cruise back to St. Goar. If that's where your hotel is, you are "home". If your home is in Boppard, then you'd hop on a train in St. Goar for the 10-min. ride back home.
Posted by
8248 posts
You only need a full day in Heidelberg.
Yes, Strasbourg is worth it, GO. Also, consider visiting nearby Colmar.