Need Help with Germany/Salzburg Itinerary - what to cut/add?

Hi Nikola,

I'd recommend looking at the Romantic Road as opposed to the Heidelberg route. As some of us have mentioned in another thread, Wurzburg is a lovely town/city that has an interesting fortress. Then you can travel south toward Rothenburg, Nuremberg, Regensberg maybe (have only passed through Rberg but others may have know if it has something your family would like), Munich and Salzburg. You could mix up the order a little in terms of getting back to Frankfurt, but those are a few of my thoughts.
Have a wonderful trip!

I'd also say stay in Munich longer. There are many sights there for youngsters to see--the Deutsch Museum, Nymphenburg Palace and the downtown palaces. If they're mature, Dachau is something everyone needs to experience.

That's a pretty wide-ranging travel plan for a short period of time. DH isn't being spared much driving with this plan - it's about 700km of driving without detours, boys in the back seat...

Not sure what to advise you about the number of nights in each place. It depends on why you're going where you're going.

Remember that with 4 people, every move is a small crisis. The packing and unpacking routine must be timely and coordinated and will be cumbersome with 8 travel legs in 11 days (8/18-28.) You must also find your hotels and new parking places, and check in and out 8 times.

I think it would be wise to ask how you are expanding your experience with each of your 8 travel legs. I'd be happy to bet that you could accomplish the same experience with half that many legs and fewer miles. You are anchored by Frankfurt. Look at your most distant destinations first. What is so vitally important about Munich, Nuremberg and Salzburg, or even Füssen? These are nice places, but they aren't enjoyable if you are racing around. What if you stuck to a Frankfurt - Lindau route and stayed in just 3-4 places? That's a lot less time in the car, but you wouldn't be cheating yourselves. If you travel as far as Lindau, you are spitting distance from the Alps already. Stay in Lindau 3 nights and maybe take short day trips to Appenzell, CH (see Rick Steves on this) or to Oberstdorf (famous alpine ski jump, nice town) or perhaps to Füssen. Visit the Zeppelin museum in Friedrichshafen (a "boy" thing maybe) and take a ferry across Lake Constance In between, you visit Heidelberg and Stuttgart.

Staying in a castle: Your best shot is probably right near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhine Valley where there is a cluster of several castle hotels and castle hostels:
Burg Reichenstein
Burg Gutenfels
Burg Liebenstein
Schloss Rheinfels
Auf Schönburg Castle
Bacharach Castle Hostel
Diez Castle Hostel (east of the Rhine on the Lahn River)

I suggest you stay 3 nights on the Rhine anyway. There's a LOT to choose from for families. Rheinfels Castle. Marksburg Castle tour. River cruises. A summer bob run in Rüdesheim (Loreley-Bob.) An amazing open-air museum in Bad Sobernheim. You can visit the WW II site Bridge at Remagen Museum. If you think a Holocaust / Nazi lesson is in order, the Documentation Center in Cologne could be a day trip (See the cathedral too.)

So I'd suggest this in this order...

Stuttgart (2-3 nights)
Lindau (3 nights)
Heidelberg (2 nights)
Rhine Valley (3 nights)

From most towns on the Rhine you can get to FRA easily on the morning you leave.

About Heidelberg, which I left out... take a scenic drive or train ride along the Neckar River. Hirschhorn and Hirschhorn Castle (also a castle/hotel/restaurant) are impressive. So is Bad Wimpfen. Heidelberg itself is a rather large city. You may wish to stay there or in one of the river towns instead. Heidelberg's castle is OK but doesn't compare well with Marksburg on the Rhine, IMO. Burg Guttenberg Castle further up the Neckar River near Gundelsheim has a birds-of-prey show that both kids and parents might enjoy.

Some great suggestions above. If you do go to Salzburg, make sure to go during the St. Rupert's Fest (Rupertikirtag). http://www.rupertikirtag.at/

We were there in 2013 and we are going back this year. I think I like this fest even better than Oktoberfest. It is certainly more family-friendly. I think it may be more authentic as well...so much so that it is hard to find any info on the event in English. The beer tent has a transparent top near the bandstand so you can take in some excellent folk music and drink your beer while looking up at the lit up fortress at night. It's wonderful!! There's plenty of rides and stuff for the kids to see and do. Who knows...maybe I'll see you there.

You're welcome, in advance. 😉

Many thanks for all of your input! Your suggestions have been very helpful!! I'm applying feedback and narrowing down now :)

Cheers!

Niki

You might want to allow some time for Frankfurt on the 28th as one of the best festivals in Germany is that weekend, the Museums Riverbank Festival. For 7 euro you get in all of the Frankfurt museums for the weekend, or for free you can visit 600 stands offering a huge variety of food, drink, hand-crafted items, artwork, and 22 stages with all styles of music and dance. Indonesia is the guest country this year so there will be a lot of cultural events and food to reflect this. Dragon boat races will be held all weekend too. This is a lively, fun party with cultural background so you won't see people getting trashed like you would at the Oktoberfest.

Rooms will be scarce and pricey though because there is a big trade fair that same weekend. Check for a family room at the Excelsior Hotel or with the Tourist info which offers packages that include hotel and entry to the fest.
http://www.frankfurt-tourismus.de/en/frankfurt/ukv/result?eZSESSIDe5d3dd9fb50224e4275594c3e96df79f=u3n901hpl2j13cquoqm5eqp7q7&page=0

Hi Nikola-

Just a comment about Stuttgart. It is just another big city with a lot of traffic. I remember a response on this (or another travel site) from a person who lived in Stuttgart - It was "Why?". To me that sums up Stuttgart except for the Volksfest which is the end of September. I also enjoyed the Rupertikirtag in Salzburg but it is also the last weekend in September which is outside of your travel dates.

As usual, the others have provided some good ideas. Especially about the castles on the Rhine and the Nekar mentioned by Russ. .. And you could even make an easy day trip to Berg Eltz on the Mosel river from the Rhine. I personally would substitute 2-3 days in Wurzburg and Rothenburg ODT instead of Stuttgart. They are about an hour apart and make an easy day trip so you don't have to make a move between them.

I really like Munich but it is probably "a large city too far" for your short visit with children.

Have a great trip!!!

For me Fussen was the lowlight of a recent trip. It was a 2-night stay on a tour. The town was pretty, but nothing special. My understanding is that the big attraction is King Ludwig's castles. In early June, the site was crowded with tourists, the tours through the castles are rushed and it takes a good bit of time to get to them. I don't know if the boys would even be that interested in seeing 19th century castle interiors.

As Zoe astutely points out often on the forum, you are only going to move as fast as the slowest person in your group. Every time you stay in a new location you all have to unpack, get organized and then repack. Are your (3) boys good at that? Are you going to spend time every morning checking to make sure no one's left anything behind? How much luggage are you going to be hauling around? Are you taking enough clothes for the whole trip? Then you're taking way too much stuff. If you are packing light, so it's easy to get around, when are you going to do laundry? Even if you send stuff out, in many places you can't get it back until sometime the next day. That can be dicey with a 2 night stay, impossible with a one-nighter. When you aren't traveling by car, you are will have to drop off your luggage on arrival before sightseeing, and pick it up after sightseeing on departure.

"Just a comment about Stuttgart. It is just another big city with a lot of traffic."

Stuttgart isn't at the top of my list but it is a vibrant place and I imagine nks has reasons to go - maybe the Mercedes Museum - or maybe the numerous places of interest nearby that I think most people would find worthwhile. Marcopolko's "Stuttgart as a Base"comments are very informative.

As for the traffic, taking the train there from FRA on Day One is a good option. And you can do most of the day trips that Marcopolko suggests by train too. After that, Stuttgart (or thereabouts) is a good place to start the car rental segment of your trip (to Lindau and for outings from there; also, you will need a window vignette for driving into Switzerland if you do that.)

After Lindau etc., if you're heading back north to Heidelberg as suggested, you can drop the car there once you're done with whatever outings you are doing around H'berg. Getting to and around the Rhine area from Heidelberg and then to FRA by train is very simple.

I agree with Chani about N'stein. It's a lot of trouble for a 30 minute tour of a castle that isn't really a castle anyway. If you're into palaces look into Ludwigsburg (near Stuttgart.)

Oh crap. That's what I get for playing on the iPad late at night. You're going in August, not September. I'm sorry and little embarrassed. Maybe I should read before I comment....

OK, I will redeem myself. August is not the best time to travel in Europe due to the crowds. I love Salzburg but it will be mobbed with tourists. You will be right near the Rhein when you land in Frankfurt so visit the stretch with all the castles between Mainz and Koblenz. (Don't miss Bacharach). Rothenburg ob der Tauber is close to Frankfurt as well, but it will be congested too. Whatever you do, get the heck out of Frankfurt.

Why not buck the trends and go somewhere that American and Asian tourists are unaware of? One of my favorite places in Germany is the Harz region. You can take the boys on a 100-year-old steam train up to der Brocken. There is a nice castle at Wernigerode where the train starts. It sometimes gets ignored because most of that area was formerly part of the DDR. Bavaria is great, but there is more to Germany than Bayern. You would probably not find many other Americans there, which is cool.

You will have to research train connections on the DB site. Every time I have visited I have stayed with friends in Hannover (also a very under-rated and nice city). A car may be your best option there.

I see Nürnberg is on your list. Excellent choice. If you are in that area of the country you should visit Bamberg as well.

The suggestion of the Harz Mountains is an excellent one,we stayed in Wernigrode and liked the town and Castle as well as the train ride to the top of Mt Bracken.
Mike

I think Stuttgart gets shorted on attention simply because no one even bothers to find out what is there. They get told there is nothing there and then accept it as truth. It has a lot of sightseeing possibilities, from castles to festivals to vineyards, as well as the Mercedes museum. Stuttgart actually has my favorite big city Christmas Market. If you go, check out this walking tour which might be fun for the boys too.
http://stuttgartsteps.com/

Rothenburg is not close to Frankfurt, it is over 3 hours away by train. If you want a medieval walled town, check out Büdingen instead. You don't even have to wait until the tourists go home in the evening. Close by is Ronneburg Castle, a nice, original Staufen Castle.
http://www.buedingen.info/en/
http://www.burg-ronneburg.de/die-burg/

Hi,

I totally agree with seeing Schloß Wernigerode, as well as the cultural places in that direction , depending on how far you're going, such as Weimar, Jena, Naumburg an der Saale, but I like Salzburg too. It will be inundated with tourists in August, already was in early June when I saw it a few years ago. See both of Mozart's houses...Mozarts Wohnhaus, which you run into first when coming from the train station, less crowded too, then across the bridge is the more famous Mozarts Geburtshaus on the Getreidegasse, very crowded.

Hello Everyone,

Holy Cow!! I cannot thank you enough for all of your helpful suggestions. I've taken a bit from each reply, talked with my DH and have come up with a new revised plan. To begin with, I did not realize Vienna was at the top of the list for my husband with Munich a close second....so to streamline we've decided to fly from FRA to VIE and being our trip there.

Vienna (3 nights)
train to Salzburg (1 night)
train to Munich (2 nights)
drive or train to Heidelberg (2 nights)
drive to Rhine Valley (3 nights)

I am still struggling with how much time to spend in each city (remove a night from Vienna add one to Salzburg? remove a night from Rhine add to Heidelberg?) but I think we are doing ok.

Also, debating between staying in Heidelberg vs Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber vs Wurzburg and would like your suggestions. Lastly, we are having a hard time passing up visiting Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Fussen or Lindau and have debated heading there before Rhine Valley and dropping Heidelberg - I thinkhope* we are making the right choice going with Heidelberg??? Thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Nikola

Vienna???
OK, but ugh for multiple reasons. Rant over.
Good choice to use trains more - should be quicker and easier.
I agree with your notion of dropping Heidelberg but I wouldn't do it on account of Garmisch and Lindau or make yet another long trip to get there. I'd stay 2 days longer in the Salzburg area instead - maybe steal a night from Vienna so that you have 3- 4 nights in that area. Why? It's not only about Salzburg there... Berchtesgaden, the Königssee, Hohenwerfen Castle (and birds of prey exhibition in Werfen, Austria,) Hallstatt and on the way to Munich, Herrenchiemsee, Ludwig's palace on Lake Chiemsee near Prien.

Thanks, Russ! Looked into your suggestions for Salzburg area and I've taken a day away from Vienna (2) and added it and another to Salzburg (3). :)

To your revised itinerary. (1) Take the train to Heidelburg. (2) Rent the car there and drive basically north to R'burg, W'burg, and Aschaffenburg and turn the car in there. (3) Train to F'furt (I assume you are flying out of F'furt). Lived in W'burg and A'burg so let me know if you need specifics. (4) Since the Rhine Valley area is basically north of F'furt, going there would involve backtracking. Save that for another trip.