Opinions Wanted: Vienna, Munich, or Oberammergau?

The outlier in your trip is flying into Frankfurt just so you can visit the spa in Baden-Baden. How about skipping that, and flying into Munich, spending some extra time there seeing some of the stuff not on the tour, and ending in Vienna with extra time? Fly home from Vienna. I dislike backtracking. There is plenty to see and do in those areas.

This is true, but at $1700 round trip tickets for two, I'll take the Frankfurt. (They're non-refundable anyway.)

Assuming that your flight out of Frankfurt is a transatlantic one, I'm concerned about your plan to spend your last night in Rothenburg odT. The normal airline recommendation would be for you to arrive at the airport by 9:30 AM. There are only two rail connections that seem to get you there in time, a 4:45 AM departure (arriving 7:22 AM) and a 5:56 AM departure (arriving 9:20 AM). I assume you are not contemplating the 4:45 AM train, but for me even 5:56 AM is beyond the pale. Furthermore, though German trains are normally very reliable, I would not want to be a 3-1/2 hour train ride from the airport on the day of departure. Last-minute purchase of replacement one-way tickets home would probably be painfully expensive.

I am guessing this is not your first trip to Europe; you've done good research on your pre- and post-trip options. Given the pace at which the trip itself moves, I'd find this vacation to be physically tiring, but I am not a spring chicken.

Thank you for the reply. It is our first trip.

My research showed that the train only takes 2hrs (but that was months ago when I was just jabbing at any calendar date). Since we're flying from the airport in which the train station is housed below, and my guidebook says that there really is no advantage to staying in Frankfort the night before, I thought to make the plans as such. However, we too would be/are nervous about the possibility of missing our plane.

Regardless, we're still left wondering what to do with that extra day...

I don't know why we found such a difference in the train time; that is a concern. I usually check a weekday, and of course I have no idea what your exact travel date is. I looked on the Deutsche Bahn website, which should be dead accurate, but perhaps I've missed something.

I'm sorry that I can't address your question about end-of-trip options. I don't do palaces and haven't been to Vienna recently enough to be helpful.

We visited Munich and Vienna in October-November 2015.

I would stay in Vienna. I say this because I'm something of an art freak and the RS tour time in Vienna doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the incredible art treasures in Vienna. Also, I just liked "being" in Vienna - like Paris without the crazy tourist crowds.

My husband and I tend to get "palaced out", and for that reason we only did the zoo and gardens of Schonbrunn.

But on the other hand - it seems like Munich is also getting the short shrift on this tour. Spaten, Augustiner, Lowenbrau - lots of great beer gardens with delicious sausage. Nymphenburg is just as deserving of your time as the Residenz. The BMW World and Museum - I put those on our itinerary as a "bone" to throw at my husband to make up for all the art museums - but I loved them even more than he did.

What a lovely problem to have!

With your itinerary, you will spend most of your time in trains (and/or buses), anyway. So I would optimize for travel time, and pick a destination that is on your way from Vienna to Rothenburg (or, actually, drop Rothenburg and Baden-Baden altogether, but that is not what you asked for :-)).
This could be Vienna itself; you can easily spend an extra day there; there are enough sights for that. Bonus: One less change of hotels (which also takes time).
Regensburg and Nuremberg are possible alternatives (maybe check Wikipedia for them). I haven't been to Oberammergau, but it seems like a considerable detour (at least when travelling by train). In the end, it certainly depends on your interests, but a lot of places are interesting enough to spend one day there.
Concerning the trip to the airport, there are indeed no connections under 2 1/2 hours; most are around 3 hours or even more. You would probably be okay with the 5:56 departure (a lot of time to change trains in Steinach and Würzburg, and even if you miss a connecting train, the next one after that would probably still get you to the airport in time). Having said that, I would not really feel at ease with a 3 hour train trip with two changes and a departure at 6 am.

Maybe it would be a better idea to travel to Rothenburg a day earlier, maybe interrupt the trip in Regensburg or Nuremberg for 2-3 hours; from Rothenburg, go to Würzburg, spend the rest of the day there and travel to the airport from Würzburg (still 1 1/2 hours, but no change of trains). Or travel all the way to Frankfurt the day before your departure and spend some hours in the town centre; Frankfurt may not be Germany's most beautiful town, but it is well worth a visit.

Thank you. I did see now that the I'm not throwing a dart at the calendar (I was more than 6 months ahead of bahn.de) that the times you listed were exactly correct. That is a concern and I will be keeping that in mind!! Perhaps we will spend the night in Frankfurt after all!

Thank you too! I think Oberammergau is off the table. Just too much. Now to decide to stay in Vienna than night or Munich. The next day I would like to be in Rothenberg by 1800 or 1900 for the Night Watchman's Tour. (Or perhaps not worth it?) Oh Munich...I do worry it get's the short stick. Nymphenberg! Gah! I forgot that one too. We are hoping to have some time to squeeze in a beer garden or even two before our RS tour, but we really don't want to SQUEEZE in that kind of experience.

Thank you. How funny, we originally planned to interrupt the trip in Nuremberg. But have since decided against.

So, I suppose the question now really is, how badly do I want to see Rothenberg, and how badly do I want to do that tour that starts at 20:00? Without every being there, I have no idea if it's worth it. Maybe I need to start a new post!

Hi,

Although I like Munich and the opportunities it offers for day trips and the city itself, my vote is for Vienna. It's more captivating than Munich.

I sent you a private message as I have been on the GAS tour. I stayed four extra days in Vienna last year and I have been to Munich for short periods of time, three times.

The Nightwatchman tour is fabulous and fun. Almost like outdoor theatre. We loved it and if we are ever in the "neighborhood" would take it again. We have been to Vienna a few times and love it, but I think Munich is more fun. The beer garden we like best was Augustiner. Only been there once but we plan on going again.

I think your desire to see more art or to beer garden should be the difference here. I am not a fan of Vienna as a place to be or walk. But as a container for art museums it is almost on a par with Paris. I found Munich much more atmospheric. You might consider Salzburg.

Rothenburg is a neat little place (I've have been there several times) and the Night Watchman's Tour is a lot of fun. Having said that, however, I would skip it this trip. It is not the easiest place to get to by train, and with your time limitations it, in my opinion, will not be worth the effort. You are going to be spending a lot of time on trains as it is and adding Rothenburg will just increase the rush, rush, rush, factor. Don't mean to rain on your parade, just offering food for thought.

Not sure if a spa day is still in your plan but if it is Therme Erding outside of Munich comes highly recommended by some on the forum. Might save you a trip to Baden Baden.

A quick search should pull up several threads about it.

DJ

Land in Frankfurt and take the train to Baden-Baden
Next day have a spa and take the train to Munich afterward (afternoon? evening?)

If you are going to the spa in Baden-Baden to relax - and you will relax - the last thing in the world I would want to do is leave the spa, take the bus to the station and take a three and a half hour combination of trains (at least one change in Karlsruhe and possibly again) to the Munich Hbf.

Don't fall into the Rick Steves trap of thinking that there is only one spa in Germany. Every wide spot in the road that has "Bad" in its name has one, some more modern and more fun than at Baden-Baden.

Munich has a fabulous one, the biggest in the world, at Erding, very near Munich airport. Have a look at http://www.therme-erding.de/en/

But maybe you are going to Baden-Baden for the 19th century atmosphere and the Casino?

I love all sorts of German architecture and especially the sgraffito found in Oberammergau but after an hour there I was done and on to the nearby abbey. I wouldn't go long ways out of the way for it.

What part of Austria is your family from?

Not being negative, just want you to have the best and easiest time. All warm and fuzzy after 3 hours in hot water I wouldn't be on a long train ride. I try to limit myself to 25 minutes back to my hotel after a visit to a Therme.

Wow everyone, THANK YOU!

I will plan two itineraries to close our trip that will allow us to decide if we want more Munich or more Vienna when the time comes. I'm sad to take Oberammergau off the table because I actually think Linderhof is more like Disneyland than Neuschwanstein with all the different buildings. But, as RS says, plan to come back. And when we do, in 2021 so as to avoid the Passion Play crush, the Grotto will be open again! So, two itineraries:

I will make one that has us in Vienna on June 3rd and heading to Munich that evening (18:45-23:27). On the 4th, a day in Munich then catch a 15:21 train to Rothenberg (17:50) in time for the Watchman's Tour (20:00). Wake on the 5th in Rothenberg for tchotchke, torture museum, and to walk the wall. Evening (17:06 or 18:06) train to Frankfurt. Wake on the 6th near the train station in plenty of time for a 12:35 plane home.

Second option (actually less desirable with train schedules) will have us in skipping Munich. Vienna on 3rd and 4th until 15:15 train to Rothenberg. Sleep in Rothenberg. Next day tsotchke, museum, wall, Walkman's Tour at 20:00, then 22:06 Train back to Frankfurt with a miserable 1.5 hours in Steinach and 5:35 ETA. OR: Wake on 6th and catch 4:45 or 5:56 train to Frankfurt Flughafen (ETA 7:22 or 9:20 respectively) in plenty of time for 12:35 flight.

Our flight has us with a 7 hour layover in Keflavic so we plan to spend the (insane amount of) money to do the Blue Lagoon. They have us at the knees because there's really not much else to do for SEVEN HOURS in Iceland. Then we have another 6+ hours flying home. So, we'll have lots of time rest and sleep on the way home to recover from a packed in last few days if we decide to do Option 2.

We really don't much care for art, I know that may burn some of your britches, but my interest in my Austrian family can only push my husband so far. He is already saying that he doesn't know if he wants to see so many palaces. We grew up in very rural country, so city life does burn us out pretty fast. (Even so, I know these itineraries have us right in the thrust of tourism...) We do really love people, so sitting with someone and sharing a beer, or just seeing how people really live when they're not dressed in costume for the tourists is perhaps more appealing to us.

Your opinions are still welcome. Thank you for helping me work this out.

Your plans need some streamlining and revision. With 3 nights up prior to the tour, I'd probably spend them all in Bavaria (drop Baden-Baden as others have suggested.) That business of staying in Rothenburg at the end is messy - you should front-load Rothenburg. But you can still do a spa too. There are spa towns all over Germany including some near Rothenburg... Bad Windsheim and Bad Mergentheim for example. And you can still get into the Alps and do a lift (without double-visiting the Füssen area.) Here's my suggestion:

Day 1: Instead of Baden-Baden take the train to Rothenburg (2.75 hrs.) Relax. See N'watchman tour in pm.
Day 2: Morning hours for sightseeing in R'burg? Train to Bad Windsheim (50 min. trip) for spa time and overnight. Excellent open-air museum there too.
Day 3: Early morning train to Munich (2 hrs.) Drop bags. Train to King Ludwig II's Herrenchiemsee Palace (1 hr. to Prien) in place of Hohenschwangau. Back to Munich for night.
Day 4: as planned in Munich (Residenz or maybe Nymphenburg.)

Then at the end... Alpine town (Oberammergau or Garmisch?) for 1-2 nights Some great mountain lifts near Garmisch include the Karwendelbahn in nearby Mittenwald and the Zugspitze. Then there are the gorges (Partnach, Leutasch) as well as other sights and things to do. The next day you will have several hours there before you need to make your train journey back to Frankfurt airport. I'd probably just book an airport hotel as you don't have time for seeing Frankfurt anyway.

Thank you!! I just read some more opinions as I was planning Options 1 and 2.

We are interested in Baden-Baden for the very old spa experience of the Roman-Irish Baths. We will likely skip the casino as we can't pack the proper clothes in our 14x20x9 carry-on bags. We figured after a very long flight to Germany, a nice way to start would be with a soak. Then (with clean socks and unders) be ready for the adventure of arriving in the big city of Munich.

Yes, skipping Rothenberg all-together is an option. So is going for only day-time sights. It's just that I'm aware of the crush of crowds that come off the busses during the day and figured the evening would be nicer - and then there's the tour. That really is the question here...is that tour worth it?

Oh my! Thank you Russ. Reading your post now....

Our plane arrives at 17:40 in Frankfurt on Thursday the 24th. We can't do the Watchman's Tour that first night... That would mean give it up, or shift everything back a full day. Thank you for the Franken-Therme suggestion. It is appealing in uniqueness, location, and price.

If you want an old spa have a look at the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme (Irish-Roman Bath) at Wiesbaden, very near Frankfurt am Main. Have a look at http://www.wiesbaden.de/microsite/mattiaqua-en/index.php and click sprache in the far upper left and choose English if it doesn't start in English (it should)..

Oh wow....that is another fantastic option!

I may need to buy this book now though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice

Right now I'm leaning toward keeping our itinerary before the RS tour. And, then choosing Option 1 for after. We will likely stay in the same hotel in Munich both before and after the RS tour. (BTW the one we're staying ON the tour in Munich offered me no discount for extending our stay.) This way we will be comfortable with navigating Munich again and we can enjoy the pre-tour fun knowing we will come back for anything "missed".

There is an Option 3 that I looked into - Skip Rothenberg all-together and stay in Vienna until a late train to Frankfurt the day before our flight. I know it's super tourist-y, crowded, kitsch, etc. but I would be really sad if I got home and later saw a picture of it knowing I could've been there, and didn't go. It's in every top ten list I've ever seen.

I guess there's an Option 4...skip Fussen and do Rothenberg instead. We are going to see Neuschwanstein with the RS tour, but not Hoenschwangau or the King's Museum. And no luge... Opinions on Option 4?

I loved both Fussen(and it's local museum) and Rothenburg-you definitely need to spend the night if you go to Rothenburg and do the night watchman's tour. If the train connections are not difficult, I would skip Baden Baden and spend the first two nights in Rothenburg but you don't want to do the Night Watchman's tour the first night when you're jetlagged. Unless you really love castles that are really just 18th century palaces, Neuschwanstein could be enough for you. After touring it, I had 0 interest in seeing the others. Now "real" castles in the UK are a different matter completely-I can't get enough of those! Hopefully you've got the DeuschBahn app for planning your train routes-they give all the possibilities for getting from one destination to another. Since this is your first trip, you might also appreciate knowing 1)the time you have to get on and off the train at stops other than the main station is extremely limited so you must have luggage in hand 2) I couldn't always understand the names of the different stops from the announcements, but the trains in Germany were so efficient that I just adopted the idea that "if it's 2:05 it must be Fussen" and never had a problem.

Thank you Cala. Why would you skip Baden-Baden? If we can do Rothenberg after Vienna then what would you add by skipping Baden-Baden and doing Rothenberg before the RS tour?

Be careful with the spelling - everyone here knows that you mean "Rothenburg ob der Tauber" when you write "Rothenberg", but a ticket machine does not :-)
Also, seeing that your itinerary is still somewhat flexible, let me explain why I suggested skipping Baden-Baden and possibly Rothenburg: Both would be a nice experience, but when you check the map and/or the train schedules, you will note that you are going to spend a lot of time in trains. I like trains, but if there are closer and more convenient options, I would try to avoid the long detours. You will also experience train delays; most trains are on time, but by far not all of them. Missing connections on long-distance trains will usually cost you an extra hour. So even less time to enjoy the towns and the scenery...

Thank you for the advice. (Yes, I'm aware of the nuances of spelling these gigantic German names. ;o) I will consider the train issues and double check that I'm not scheduling too tightly. I have chosen to do nearly all of our train rides in the evening when we would otherwise be too tired to sightsee and/or when things are closed for the evening.

How many days do you have after your tour ends in Vienna?

If you have more than just a day, I would recommend an overnight trip to Budapest. It's beautiful, it's cheap and it's easy to get to from Vienna. And they have great beer and great wine! It's also doable as a day trip. (I realize this is in the opposite direction of where you want to be)

If you only have a day, I'd stay in Vienna and really immerse yourself in the city. It's a wonderful city!

I see you decided to delay Oberammergau for another time - good idea. It's a sweet little community in a beautiful spot, but it takes time to get there and if you're going to the castle on the tour, you'll get the Bavarian vibe in Füssen.

If you really want to see a brewery, the oldest brewery in the world, Weihenstephan, is north of Munich in Freising. Also, you could go to Kloster Andechs - those monks brew really great beer.

Be careful with the spelling - everyone here knows that you mean
"Rothenburg ob der Tauber" when you write "Rothenberg", but a ticket
machine does not :-)

Good point, and neither do GPS systems, as some car drivers have had the opportunity to find out. :-)

Also, we have quite a variety of Rot(h)enburgs with a bunch of different spellings to choose from, so it helps to know which one you are looking for.

city life does burn us out pretty fast. ... We do really love people,
so sitting with someone and sharing a beer, or just seeing how people
really live when they're not dressed in costume for the tourists is
perhaps more appealing to us.

To be honest, this sounds like "skip Rothenburg" to me. You've already got a pretty busy sightseeing schedule, why not round off your trip with something relaxing like spa visits or beer gardens instead of spending your last night on the train and arriving at the airport stressed out and exhausted even before your return trip.

Wake on 6th and catch 4:45 or 5:56 train to Frankfurt Flughafen (ETA
7:22 or 9:20 respectively) in plenty of time for 12:35 flight.

I am not sure if I overlooked it, but I cannot find when exactly you will be traveling. The Deutsche Bahn schedule is valid for half a year; in December and June, a new schedule is published. Usually, only minor changes are made, but still, I wouldn't rely on the current schedule having exactly the same connections as, say, in August of 2018.

Either way, I would be nervous about traveling to the airport on the morning of my flight. The train system is generally reliable, but what good does that do you if your train happens to be the one that is delayed?