Need help building a German Timberframe Route in Southern Germany

The more I dig, the more it looks like we should rent a car in Munich, go to Fussen, and then drive North to see some quaint timberframe architecture, is that accurate?

https://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/en/Homepage.html (skip the guest survey)

I'm partial to Franken in Bavaria. Wine and Bier.
Die fränkischen Spezialitäten wie Bratwurst, Schäufele, Braten mit Klößen, „Saure Zipfel“ im Sud und Zwiebel sowie einer Laugenbrezel oder nur frisches Bauernbrot müssen einfach probiert werden.""

The posted link is a good source. I think that Bad Wimpfen can be added to the red route.

In Bavaria mid and Northern Franconia (see Franken route) has worth-visiting places. The oak trees from there were a very good material, still used today and transported from there for renovations and also new buildings.

You will find less of these building types in Southern Bavaria, likely enough affordable nature stones available in history. In Northern Germany they often were baking their famous red brick stones but have also remarkable half-timbered houses.

As noted before, this construction is not visibly available in southern Bavaria (it can be hidden/covered, but that does not exactly look like it).
When Fussen and Munich are set, the two options that work are Franconia (North) or Swabia (West). I am partial to the latter just because I grew up there, but whatever suits you better. The closest thing from Fussen will be upper Swabia (North and East of Lake Constance, South of the Danube). A good place might be Biberach, from where you reach a couple of spots within about an hour: Tuebingen, Lake Constance towns like Meersburg, and the in betweens like Pfullendorf, Riedlingen, Blaubeuren, Trochtelfingen - and honestly every other farm house and restaurant in the villages in between.

Most of these places have some nice add ons, so besides the timber there are Lake Constance cruises from Meersburg, the Blue Hole well in Blaubeuren, the palaelothic caves near Trochtelfingen etc.

as said, southern Bavaria isn't the best part of the country for fachwerk.

For the easy way to find it head north on the Fachwerkstrasse. Note that it is a route not a street name. Well signed.

This long trip report is not about southern Bavaria, but has some first hand reports on visiting Fachwerke villages. Note that there are very few "pure" Fachwerke locations, like Monschau.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/baltic-germany-fachwerke-landesgartenschau

All of this advice is top notch; so, thank you!

We have someone in our family that would love to see this architecture as well as have a light day or two.
By no means do we have to see every town, I just think that visiting a couple would satisfy that fix and have a more relaxing day in the middle of our trip. I’m sure we’ll be back, so we don’t have to see everything and go,go,go, so perhaps just using the train for a couple of stops would be ideal?

Suggest you stay in the heart of Franconia: Nuremberg. The handsome Altstadt is not a fachwerk-only experience, but this extremely walkable city has a network of pedestrians-only streets with some good examples (Tanners Lane, Weißgerbergasse, #22 orange on walking tour map below.)

https://tourismus.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/dokumente/planen/vor_der_reise/Download-Center/Downloads_2024/Stadtplan/Stadtplan_2024_Englisch.pdf

Nuremberg is just plain charming and entertaining on many different levels. And Nuremberg says "Franconia" in a strong voice; the local culture is strong here, and there is much to see and do.

Munich > Nuremberg by direct regional train, 9:04 > 10:53

A Nuremberg base makes day trips simple. A 1-hour train ride takes you to Bad Windsheim for a visit to the Franconian Freilandmuseum, a collection of half-timbered and other historic buildings which allows you to see not just the exteriors but also what life indoors was like 100-600 years ago in this region.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198421-d284746-Reviews-Frankonian_Open_Air_Museum-Bad_Windsheim_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNf_6pDgFXg&t=61s

Two more towns, both accessible by train from Nuremberg...

Rothenburg, a touristy town on almost everyone's itinerary, is another doable half-timbered town.

The old walled town of Iphofen, relatively unknown to international tourists, is also easy to reach and full of Fachwerk. The Vinothek there is a good place to sample local wines.

https://tramino.s3.amazonaws.com/s/iphofen/752858/160927-iphofen-ortsprospekt-eng-web.pdf
https://www.stadtbild-deutschland.org/forum/index.php?thread/2985-iphofen-galerie/

I would buy a month-long "Deutschland-ticket" pass (€63) for regional trains + other public transport for all these trips and for my travel needs in Munich and between Salzburg and Munich.

@Russ

So:
1) Salzburg-Nuremberg via train
2) explore smaller towns
3) Nuremberg-Munich via train to end trip?

Q: where should we slot in Fussen and Neuschwanstein?

You could go to Tübingen. Nice town with some Fachwerkhaus. Why are you starting in Füssen.?

@mchpp

We don’t need to start in Fussen anymore, we just want to visit Neuschwanstein, so have to fit that in somewhere.

Don't go to Fussen. You can easily see Neuschwanstein from Munich as a day trip, multiple tours are offered. The idea of staying in and around Nuremberg is much better than using Munich if you want to see framed buildings.

I get lost in all of the photos and would love some experienced based
help. :)

We don’t need to start in Fussen anymore, we just want to visit
Neuschwanstein, so have to fit that in somewhere.

May I suggest one possibility here? That maybe you have been inundated and overwhelmed by all the glossy photos of Neuschwanstein - and that these have convinced you that you should dedicate 1+ days to this place? Based on my own travel experience in Germany, the photos do a great job of selling Germany to the traveling public. But IME, N'stein ends up on the bottom rung of my "ladder of sightseeing importance." If your time is abundant and you want 2-3 days in this part of the German Alps, sure, go ahead. It's a wonderful area for many reasons. The N'stein tour is pricey and overcrowded, but it doesn't take long - you don't get more than 25 minutes. But if your time is short, I would drop the whole idea. Day trip there from MUNICH? I say no. Getting to N'stein and back takes 5 HOURS on multiple trains and buses.

If King Ludwig II (who built N'stein and whose story is the story of Neuschwanstein) is really important to you... you can make a stop on your way between Salzburg and Munich in the town of Prien to see Herrenchiemsee Palace, which he also built. We used the train station lockers to stow our bags in Prien on our stopover visit.

https://www.erhardboote.de/images/karte0.gif
https://www.herrenchiemsee.de/englisch/n_palace/tour.htm

Also, just a short day trip outside Salzburg is an authentic medieval castle - with a falconry show as well. Just take a train to Werfen (only 40 minutes by direct train.)

https://www.burg-hohenwerfen.at/en/

@Russ: We're actually talking about JUST that right now. :)

If you are going to Switzerland, I just feel obliged to point out again that the Fachwerkstrasse in Upper Swabia might be more convenient than Franconia (https://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/en/Routes_Cities/From-the-River-Neckar-to-the-Black-Forest-and-Lake-Constance.html ). Plus there are a couple of actual castles in the Swabian Alb, and the Castle/Palace in Sigmaringen. Nuremberg is just a detour, unless they have something specifically important to you.
Since I feel day 8 is crammed anyway, I would recommend to go Salzburg-Munich and do Dachau comfortably from there before departing South-West to the timberframe and then to Switzerland - it is just a 3hr train ride from upper Swabia to Zurich…

@l-b_m: What town would we make as our home base?

@l-b_m: What town would we make as our home base?

For Fachwerk in this region, a couple nights in train hub Stuttgart w/ day trips makes perfect sense to me.

(Munich > Stuttgart: takes 2 hours.)

We were in Besigheim (25 min. train ride from Stuttgart) last year:
https://placesofgermany.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Besigheim-Altstadt.webp

Schorndorf is also 25 minutes away:
https://www.schorndorf.de/de/freizeit-tourismus/gaesteservice/sehenswertes/historische-gebaeude

Esslingen is 10 minutes away:
https://www.esslingen-info.com/en/discover/sights/top-10-of-the-sights

Tübingen is a little further... 45-60 minutes.
https://www.unterkuenfte-urlaub.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/fachwerk-tuebingen.jpg

Lots of trains from Stuttgart into Switzerland.

It depends on what you are looking for. Imho Stuttgart is a good choice for the towns Russ listed and for traveling to Switzerland.
The two other options I can see are Ulm and Lindau.
Ulm itself only has one old quarter, the Fischerviertel, but allows convenient access to Blaubeuren, Riedlingen and Biberach.
Lindau is extremely convenient to Switzerland, but requires a car to go timberframe places like Meersburg and Pfullendorf. It is itself more medieval paintings than timberframe on its buildings, though some are.

It comes down to your personal preferences tbh. The towns near Stuttgart are larger, and Stuttgart is 500k - with all pros and cons of that size. The others are smaller.