Okay so I’m attempting to plan a 50th Wedding Anniversary trip in December 2026. Fly into Munich, spend 3 days(it’s Bavaria at Christmas), Eurail to Vienna, spend 2 days. Eurail to Prague, spend 2 days. Eurail to Nuremberg, spend 1-2 days. Eurail to Rothenburg um Tauber, spend 3 days unwinding and walking. 4 day Eurail Franfurt and fly home.
$1,730.00/2 people flight
$674.00 Eurail
Is this feasible or am I nuts.
While the final decision is yours, it may be a bit too optimistic and rushed.
Have you looked at travel times between these cities?
Have you looked at the sunrise/sunset times. The days are much shorter in December.
I have been to everywhere you list except Rothenburg. If you wanted my opinion, I would spend two nights in Rothenburg and three nights in Frankfurt.. I would then add the extra time to Vienna and Prague.
Honestly, it would still seem rushed.
Feasible, although I would make it at least 3 days in Vienna and 3 days in Prague, since travel time will not give you 2 full days in these cities, more like 1 full day and an evening.
I get slightly more for a Twin Senior 5-day Eurail pass, $699. But you really only need 4 days, since Nuremberg to Rothenburg is a cheap VGN Tages Ticket Plus. That would cost 25.50 EUR (~$30) total for 2 people, plus my price of $623 for a 4-day Eurail Pass,
Price out the train journeys separately, the Eurail pass may not be worth it. You’ll still need to pay for reservations even with the pass.
If you aren’t familiar with Christmas markets, they’re a HUGE deal in all of these cities. You may wish you had more time to spend in many of the cities. Especially in Vienna. Instead of staying in Frankfurt, I would stay in Cologne, an hour away. The markets are fabulous. Neither Cologne nor Frankfurt are charming. There’s a very active group on fb called Magical Christmas Markets of Europe that is very helpful.
Lets see:
Day 1, Munich, arrive 2pm
2 Munich
3 Munich
4 Munich
5 Train to Vienna (4 hours), arrive hotel no earlier than 2pm
6 Vienna
7 Vienna
8 Train to Prague (4 hours), arrive hotel no earlier than 2pm
9 Prague
10 Prague
11 Train to Nuremberg (3 hours), arrive hotel no earlier than 3pm
12 Nuremberg
13 Train to Rothenburg (1.5 hours), arrive hotel no earlier than noon
14 Rothenburg
15 Rothenburg
16 Rothenburg
17 Train to Frankfurt (3 hours), arrive hotel no later than noon.
Sure, doable. Not sure of the attraction of some of these stops, but its not too hurried for most folks. I would price tickets independently, I bet you save money if you buy 30 days + early.
Hopefully Ms Jo chimes in on the Frankfurt part of the journey. If she doesn’t, then PM here and ask. Real dates will help some too. You will get more detailed suggestions.
If this is for Christmas Markets, then google "best christmas markets in Europe" and you will get a half dozen good lists to look at. Then maybe rethink your stops .... or not.
For those long walks in Rothenburg, if it is 15 December the average is 33F to 38F for a high. The possiblity including the 10% bands is about 27F to 47F. Dress warm. Oh and there is will be a 26% chance of rain and 80% chance of overcast skies. But you wont see the overcast skies, much, because the sun sets at about 4:15pm. Having said all of that. If Rothenburg interested me, I would go. Its wineter, so what, have fun.
Thank you all for your input, I appreciate the thoughts and suggestions. Yes this trip is a Christmas Market excursion. No I will not be staying in Frankfurt, just flying out, not overnighting in Nuremberg.
What are the train/rail agencies to book these rides independently?
Ok, I love posts like this because I feel there is a lot of positive learning that can happen.
First, Eurail is not a train company. Eurail does not operate any trains. Eurail is a travel agency that sells a pass which can be used on some trains in Europe, often with conditions. Actual train companies on your route are DB, OeBB, and others.
Next, let's discuss the costs and compare with the Eurail pass.
Munich to Vienna - 27.99 Euro per person. All the information you need is here - https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Munich.htm#Munich-Vienna
Vienna to Prague - 14.90 Euro per person. All the info you need is here - https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/prague-to-vienna-by-train.htm
Prague to Nuremberg - 17 Euro per person. Info is here - https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Prague.htm#Prague-Nuremberg
Nuremberg to RodT - This is a very cheap day ticket, approx. 15 Euro (others can correct me). Purchased from VGN.
RodT to Frankfurt - Approx. 30 Euro. Purchased from DB.
So the total train costs are 104.89 Euro per person/209.78 Euro for two ($245)
Please do not spend $623 on a pass. You can see this is a huge waste of money.
Congratulations! And welcome to the forum.
You are counting days (13-14, I think) but if you are using the trains during the daytime, your travel days will not be filled with rewarding sightseeing but overwhelmed with routine... packing, check-out, transfer, then a substantial train ride, then transfer, check in, unpacking. Find a meal somewhere on the way. The only small-ish train trip on this plan is Nuremberg > Rothenburg (which requires 3 separate trains.)
This plan would demand a whole lot of rigor for the average seasoned citizen who is porting bags packed for nighttime market strolls in December. And the time/energy you spend at the markets leaves less of both for the normal sightseeing that most visitors have in mind for big places like Munich, Vienna, and Prague.
To gain that time, to reduce the travel routine burden you need to shorten the loop of overnight stops. You do not need the trip to Frankfurt. This plan uses just 3 base towns and substitutes Salzburg for Vienna; it streamlines your main train journeys. Side journeys happen WITHOUT luggage and are OPTIONAL - so if you just want to relax in your base town, you can.
That's 13 nights, but if you actually have 14 nights, you can switch the day trip to Rothenburg to an overnight in the middle of your Nuremberg stay.
At 72, the above is what my wife and I, who've been touring the continent for 5 decades together, would find manageable. The 70+-year-olds I know would find your Plan A more challenging than enjoyable. Heck, even if you two married at 15, it might be a rough go.
This plan would NOT require a railpass. A Month-long Deutschland Ticket (€58 ea.) would work for everything but the journeys between Prague and the border with Germany. Huge savings. And it would also cover subways, trams, buses in Munich, Nuremberg - anywhere in Germany.
https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-germany.htm#Deutschlandticket
You do NOT need to book any travel with the D-Ticket. Just get on the train and ride, just like all of Germany does!!
The prices given by Emily are dependent on you buying these tickets soon and they are mostly nonrefundable. Think airline tickets. So if you can commit to your itinerary now, it will save a lot of money. The reason to buy a Eurail pass is to maintain flexibility, as it will save money over walk-up prices for the tickets. Additionally, you should also buy seat reservations for Munich-Vienna and Vienna-Prague to insure you won't have to stand for 4 hours. They cost in the 5 EUR pp range.
Right- those saver fares will not all be available for your choice of travel dates at the lowest possible prices you see in Emily's post. Prices rise as tickets sell, and December dates have been on sale for a long while; buy now if you want them. But you won't get an ounce of flexibility. Dates and time of travel will be locked in. There will be no refunds if your plans change.
Okay thank you all for your input. Love the idea of saving on the rail pass. As far as Nuremberg and Rothenburg, my wife and I are not going to Rothenburg for the touristy things. We love just walking in the streets after all the buses have left. We find this extremely relaxing. Flying in and out of one airport is definitely preferable. This trip is being planned for 2026, not 2025. That being said schedules and pricing are currently not available. We also love train rides, and just sitting back and enjoying the scenery.
Gentlemen - even a last minute walk up fare for each of these journeys will be cheaper than a Eurail pass. Let’s be real for a minute and try to help someone.
I priced it out Emily, and it is 665 EUR (~$780) for the Flexpreis fares for the 4 major journeys.
schreiner.spitzer, I think the others are incorrect about the prices. They dont even know your travel dates to say "for your dates ..."
The prices for after mid December wont be out for a few weeks yet, so nothing is sold out. If you look at 10 December when prices are listed, for Munich to Vienna, still plenty of 28 euro tickets to be had. Wait till the new price sheet is out and compare. I think you will find Emily is correct .... she usually is. Well, except when she says walk up prices are cheaper. Maybe. Dont know. But I suspect that those 28 euro tickets will be 58 euros on the date of the train. But do shop with all of the providers. That means a train from Munich you check DB and OBB. Vienna to Prague OBB and the Czech company. OBB tends to be a bit pricy. But same tickets on the same trains and the same seats.
And of course they are non-refundable and not changeable. If you end up changing half of all the tickets you are going to be using, you are still ahead.
Personally, I think you are trying to cover too much (and going to the wrong places LOL). But if this works for you, thats all that matters.
You are going to Rothenburg because you "...love just walking in the streets after all the buses have left. We find this extremely relaxing. Nothing wrong with walking Rothenburg at night. My wife and I love night walks too. But overnighting is unnecessary with mid-December sunsets at 4 pm. You could walk R'burg for 4+ hours and ride the 8:30 pm train back to Nuremberg.
There is a popular but false and pervasive urban myth about Rothenburg that gets posted here often...it's thought to have some sort of special monopoly on nighttime strolls - maybe you have read this too. Truth is, the streets of many old-world towns all across Germany provide lovely nighttime walks. Nuremberg's old town is fantastic after dark. So is Bamberg's old town, set right on the Regnitz River - day trip there, stay into the evening for a stroll there too. Both can be covered easily on foot:
https://wikitravel.org/upload/shared/8/8d/Nuremberg_Altstadt.png
https://tourismus.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/_processed_/6/9/csm_heilig-geist-spital01_4df1f63474.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bc/4d/c1/bc4dc191b3a25c5d084fd1e60e5aea84.jpg
Which guide book would you recommend?
"Which guide book would you recommend?"
I've heard good things about a guy named Rick Steves. His guidebooks are the best.
Happy travels!
Guidebooks: They differ a lot. Rick's materials on Germany tend to emphasize his personal preferences and are not comprehensive. I don't think you need to settle on just one. Go to the library and take 3-4 guidebooks home with you. They don't have to be for 2025 or 2026 if you are just looking for a few things to see and do between Christmas Markets. If your interest is primarily Christmas Markets, I do not know of a good guidebook for that. You also mentioned doing city walks. One of the best authors around over the years has been Earl Steinbicker. His book on Germany includes sightseeing options with recommended walking routes in 63 different German towns:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Daytrips-Germany-Adventures-Bavaria-Rhineland/dp/0803820798
Perhaps you can pick up his books in the library. He has some pages online as well:
Nuremberg (scroll down to find)
Bamberg (scroll down to find)
Russ makes a good point. Rick Steves too recommends reading multiple guidebooks. All guidebooks emphasize the personal preferences of the author and none are comprehensive.
Happy travels.
Exactly David, he has so many. I have a few. Visited Europe based on his books in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2023.
Thank you Russ
Just on reminder on an issue no one has mentioned so far, please plan the holidays into your itinerary. December is full of State and National holidays, and they vary between countries. And other than 25 DEC and 1 JAN they don't match the US ones.
