Luther/Reformation sites

I cannot help you with any suggestions, but if you haven't watched Rick Steves' video you might want to watch it.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/tv-specials/luther

Wittenberg Lutherstadt, Erfurt, Augsburg among others.

Aside from the historical aspects important to you, Erfurt is a doggone pretty university town that didn't get blasted during the war. (The others may be equally pretty, but I haven't been to them.) Allow time to enjoy wandering around Erfurt.

And Erfurt is just a short train ride to Eisenach and the Wartburg Castle, where Luther hid out when he had a price on his head from the Church. While there, he translated the Bible into German, and you can visit his room. You can get to the castle on an hourly bus from Eisenach station and just buy tickets from the driver. There are English guided tours of the Wartburg several times a day. From where the bus drops you near the top of the hill, it is still several hundred steps (didn't count them but it sure seemed that many) up to the actual castle.

I noticed that, at least for this year, there is a special ticket offered by Deutsche Bahn called a "Regio 120plus Ticket + Luther" ticket between Eisenach and Berlin using regional trains for 25 EUR per person, allowing hop-on hop-off for the whole day. It is not restricted to after 9 am. So it would also include the bus ride to/from Wartburg.

Valid for any number of journeys on the day of validity from midnight to 3 am on the following day, no matter the connection indicated. Also valid on local services in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Lutherstadt Eisleben and Eisenach. When booking, please enter the first names and surnames of all passengers.

Having been to almost all the sites associated with Luther in Germany, may I suggest concentrating on Wittenberg, Eisenach, and Erfurt on your way to Munich. We have stayed several times in the Luther Hotel, Wittenberg and Hotel Glockenhof, Eisenach. The Luther sites in each town are walkable distance from those hotels. In addition, there is the bonus of Bach: in Eisenach the Glockenhof is just down the street from the Bachhaus where Johann Sebastian was born. Be sure to see the archives/museum on the top floor and hear the antique organ demonstrated in the basement. So many Bachs were organists in the town church, St George's, that "bach" became the generic for organist there! The Glockenhof is also within walking distance of Luther's Eisenach relatives' home when he was there as a schoolboy and a longer walk (or bus ride) up through the woods to the Wartburg fortress where he was sequestered (and translated the New Testament into German) for his own safety while on his return journey from the Diet of Worms. From Eisenach it's an easy day trip by train to Erfurt where Luther studied in the university and was part of the Augustinian Monastery where he understood justification by faith alone. Gute Reise!

One of the crucial Reformation sites is the Lutheran church in Magdeburg, where Luther preached, (I saw it in 2009), because its later horrific effect on the city of Magdeburg in the Thirty Years War, that German civil war.

Here are a few Luther-related routes by the German tourist board:
http://www.germany.travel/en/specials/luther/luther-routes/luther-routes.html

With only 4-5 days you only have time for the usual, big sites like Wittenberg, Erfurt and Wartburg castle. In case you want more, these are places I like:
Torgau - a small, preserved provincial town to the south of Wittenberg with a huge castle which houses the first Protestant church, and a town church where you can see the tomb of Luthers wife.
Schmalkalden - a cute little town full of half-timbered houses to the south-west of Wartburg castle. Famous because of the Schmalkaldic League and the Smalcald Articles.
Mühlhausen/Thüringen - if you not just interested in Luther but in the Reformation era this is a great stop, because this town is related to Thomas Müntzer and his anabaptists, and the Peasants War. Mühlhausen is a provincial town in the middle of nowhere with a almost completely preserved town, three big churches and a town wall.

You might add to your list of places Veste Coburg, which will host the Bavarian Luther exhibition, starting on May 9.

Thank you for all of this info!

Any suggestions about where to fly into from Edinburgh? We don't really want to go into Berlin.

What about flying into Munich and then taking train to Luther sites for a few days and then back to Munich?

Or Frankfurt? If Frankfurt, should we just take train from there over to Luther sites?

Thanks.

Munich makes sense only if you want to start in Augsburg. If not, all your destination will be further north and your preferred airport will be Frankfurt. Regrettably, there are no direct flights from Edinburgh to Nürnberg, which would be a good choice if your first destination was Coburg.

BTW, serveral suggestions for "Luther tours" can be found here:
http://www.germany.travel/de/specials/luther/luther-routen/luther-routen.html

Yes, there is a direct ICE every 2 hours from Frankfurt airport to Eisenach and Erfurt, it takes 2 hours to Eisenach and 2 1/2 to Erfurt.

Thank you! This gives me a great framework to plan from.

As we've considered our options, we are now wondering about a private tour guide for several days to visit some of the main Luther sites. Does anyone know any individual guides that you could recommend?

OR would it make sense to stay in just one or two places and take day trips out?

Thank you for any advice!

OR would it make sense to stay in just one or two places and take day
trips out?

It would help to know which places you want to visit. And if you want to travel by train or car.

Any suggestions about where to fly into from Edinburgh? We don't
really want to go into Berlin. What about flying into Munich and then
taking train to Luther sites for a few days and then back to Munich?

Munich is far away from most Luther-related sites. It takes ~2:20h from Frankfurt to Erfurt, a good base for Luther sites in Thuringia, but Luthers home, Wittenberg, is in Northern Germany, just 1:20h away from Berlin. It also takes ~2:20 from Berlin to Erfurt btw..
If you are interested in Luther Munich doesn't make a lot of sense since most sites are between Frankfurt and Berlin.

I would first read this brochure, then fly into Berlin Schönefeld (because it's on the outskirts of the city), rent a car (because most of the sites are small towns), drive from there to Wittenberg, after a night in Wittenberg to Erfurt or Weimar (with Torgau or the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Kingdom as a stopover), use Erfurt or Weimar as the main base of the tour (possible day trips: Erfurt/Weimar, Eisenach (Wartburg castle), Coburg, Mühlhausen, Bad Frankenhausen, Schmalkalden (if you travel by car some of them can be done on the same day), and fly out of Frankfurt.

Not to forget Eisleben, where Luther was born and died. There is a museum and more sites related to him like his birth place, the place he died and the Petrikirche where he was baptised.

We will also be doing a "Luther quest" in September, and here are some sites I found helpful:

https://www.luther2017.de/en/
http://www.wittenberg.de
http://www.visit-luther.com/luthercities/schmalkalden/the-city/

Happy traveling!
Jan

Our itinerary has finalized and I'd like advice on train tickets/passes. I've looked at Eurail, Germany passes, & Swiss pass plus individual ticket prices and would like help figuring out the best to use: (2 of us traveling--one senior, one 20 yrs old)

Train travel days:
Day 1: Berlin to Wittenberg and Wittenberg to Erfurt
Day 2: Erfurt to Eisenach and return
Day 3: Erfurt to Munich (spend 2 days in Munich)
Day 4: Munich to Lucerne, Switzerland (overnight in Lucerne)
Day 5: Lucerne to Munich Airport

Thank you!

Munich to Berlin is a bit under 5 hours by bus and a bit over 5 hours by train. Are you sure you want to spend so much time to get to a city where you're just spending one night? Is the flight out of Munich to another European destination? Edinburgh? I don't think it's workable to spend the night beford a transatlantic flight 5 hours away from the departure airport.

If you take Liucerne out of the mix, I'm sure point-to-point tickets will be the way to go. Even with Lucerne, I don't think a pass will pay off, but trains are very expensive in Switzerland. I'm sure someone here can give you sound advice.

Munich to Berlin is a bit under 5 hours by bus

The fastest bus connection Berlin - Munich is 7:15 h but many buses take 10 hours and more .

Berlin - Wittenberg is €15 with a »Regio 120« - ticket and €20 with a »Regio 120 + Luther« - ticket (local trains only; the former ticket is subject to the 9am restriction, the latter isn't and includes local transport in Wittenberg). The same tickets or a Sachsen- Anhalt-Ticket (€30 for two) can be used for the Wittenberg - Erfurt leg (travel time just over 3h); saver fare tickets (ICE, bound to a specific train) for that leg start from €24 (travel time 1:45 to 2:04). Erfurt - Munich: saver fare ticket (from €24 to €52). München - Luzern and vv: DB bus to Zürich, IR to Lucerne (€29, saver fare) or EC to Zürich, IR to Lucerne (€40, saver fare). Book saver fares as soon as possible.

Thank you for these details!

Because I prefer to take the faster trains where possible instead of local trains, am I correct that I should take ICE where possible which means I would probably do better getting a Eurail pass?

I need to look at all of these fares again on the train website to be certain that I understand the best option.

Hi - we just got back from a Lutherland trip, and I thought I'd mention that I do not think the Wartburg is currently offering the once-per-day English tour at 1:30 (as described in the most recent RS Germany book). There's a big special exhibit (Luther and the Germans) in many of the rooms of the Wartburg, and I think because of that there are currently no guided tours. There is a helpful English audioguide, though.

You can contact the Wartburg directly to find out if this information is correct, but we arrived up there at about 1:15 on a Saturday and were told there was no English tour. We still enjoyed our visit, though!