Rhine Valley, Black Forest, Bavarian Alps

Also doing this end of April / Early May - will we require winter tyres?

No. The only snow you will see will be on the high peaks.

I would reconsider the Black Forest in lieu of the fact that you will head to the Alps anyway. The route to Freiburg from the Mittelrhein doesn't go through the Black Forest, it runs along the flat upper Rhine Valley parallel to the Black Forest. And the Black Forest itself is just one of about 50 or so low mountain ranges that traverse southern and central Germany, and it pales in comparison to the much more magnificent Alps. It would make sense to explore it if you were headed to the Basel or the Swiss Alps, but it's an unnecessary detour away from the Bavarian Alps.

The Alps are not at their best at this time of year, but unlike some of the high-altitude locations in Switzerland or Austria, the Alpine towns usually don't go into temporary hibernation during the spring. Just don't expect the weather to always cooperate.

I think you're moving around the Alps too much. The problem with all that moving around during the spring is that the weather can go sour for several days at a time. You might drive to one location and find it overcast and rainy for your entire short stay, basically negating the whole point of staying there. I think you would do better to pick one central location and use it as a base for daytrips, deciding on the fly when to go where based on weather conditions. For example, Salzburg, Ettal and Neuschwanstein don't demand pristine weather to appreciate them, Zugpsitze and Karwendel are a waste of time if the skies aren't clear.

Hello Tom & Team, thank you so much for the detailed reply. Much appreciated.
Your suggestions sound nice and instead of going to Frieburg we could explore the Rhine on Day 3 and then head straight ti Ettal (day 4) and stay there (make that our base) to take the day trips for the next 4-5 days.

Munich could also be a base, but we would like to stay in the Alps.

Hope that sounds practical?

Thanks again.

Munich is not a good base for the Alps and it's a terrible city for driving.

Ettal is a decent base, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Thanks again ... the suggestions and quick replies are really appreciated. I am curious to know your first choice?

"Day 2: Rent a car (pick up a rented car) in Cologne and drive to the Rhine Valley. Explore some trails or drive along with stops and stay at Mainz. -- Is this the best town or is any other town recommended in the Rhine valley for a stop over?"

I don't quite get why you're spending so little time here and so much in the Alps. The weather in the Alps at that time is often mucky and your chances are better elsewhere in Germany. "The Rhine Valley" that most people target is a very small section just south of Koblenz, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where in 40 miles of river valley there are 40 castles and castle ruins (some of which you can tour, others of which are hotels or hostels; Neuschwanstein and Linderhof are recently-built palaces, not castles.) There are also several interesting towns with old-world architecture, wineries, and a number of sights and diversions (chairlift rides, river cruises, summer bobsledding for example.) The Mosel River Valley is next door to the Rhine - it too offers a chance to explore scenic rural Germany in places like COCHEM, to visit Rick Steves' favorite European Castle, and to explore TRIER, Germany's oldest city and former Roman outpost.

Your trip covers too many miles for the time you have, IMO. I notice you use the word "explore" a lot - but it seems to me that you will be zooming through places much to quickly to do any real exploration. Mainz is a decent city as cities go, but you don't have time to see what's there, and you really should spend at least a couple of nights in the old-world towns on the Rhine and Mosel.

Boppard: http://home.kpn.nl/JLKampen1961/alb/Rome/Pauze%20in%20Boppard.jpg
Gedeonseck terrace (near chairlift in Boppard): http://ext.pimg.tw/samlucky5711/1379089584-1923285561.jpg?v=1379089585
Bernkastel: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Bernkastel_BW_2.JPG
Oberwesel (wine fest): http://www.oberwesel.de/uploads/pics/P1060485.JPG
Braubach: http://www.romantischer-rhein.de/uploads/pics/Altstadt_02.jpg
Marksburg Castle (Braubach): http://www.wald-laeufer.de/fotos.bilder/20090614/img_20090614_011/Marksburg-und-Braubach-am-Rhein.jpg
Cochem: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Germany_%289%29,_Rhineland-Palatinate,_Cochem,_Markt.JPG
Wine tasting, St. Goarshausen: http://www.rhein-lahn-kreis.de/images/refm/large/12/image_112.jpg?PHPSESSID=a8drmf97i8csskna69emou7dthn601h7

I agree with Russ; the itinerary that you've laid out is nice regarding destinations, but you'll be losing huge amounts of time travelling. Mainz (probably the southernmost city along the Rhine that you'd consider for an overnight stay) is about 3 hours driving time from Freiburg. That's assuming good weather, no traffic, and no stops. Then, Freiburg just to Neuschwanstein is about 4 hours in optimal conditions. Don't get me wrong, you've always got to build travel time into trips, but make sure that you're not losing too much of your valuable trip to sitting in a rental car on the Autobahn.

Thank you so much for the replies. After looking at the suggestions I plan to alter the trip a little to not add Freiburg and instead add a day more to the Rhine.

So Day 2 and 3 is at Rhine itself and then stay at Mainz or Bacharach for 2-3 nights.. Also make the base as Ettal and do day trips from there as the weather permits. I definitely want to see some alpine lakes / valleys / castles. I could skip some of the places i mentioned (in Alps) depending on how time permits.

I totally agree with the travel times and the fact that we are not so experienced in driving in Europe i have mostly added an hour more to each travel time suggested by google. Thanks for pointing this out.

If end of April isn't a great time then is mid May(2nd week of May) better or it doesn't matter so much?

"Day 6/7 ... is this too much for 2 days?"

Depends. If all you want to do is drive to places so you can put them on a list to impress your friends, but not stop for any time, it might work. But if you actually want to experience some places, it's way too much for 2 days. I spent over half a day just at Linderhof and and about 3 hours in Mittenwald without going up the Karwendelbahn.

And didn't you mean to put Mittenwald on the list of places and then add, maybe take the cable car to the Karwendelspitze. You don't need a cable car to get to Mittenwald; the name of the mountain range east of Mittenwald is the Karwendel, and the cable car outside Mittenwald is the Karwendelbahn.

By the way, the round trip fare for an adult on the Karwendelbahn is about $30 (26,50€). For that price I think you would want to spend a little time on top.

Personally I would skip the Walchensee (not that impressive and not much there). Reit im Winkl is a nice small town in the Unterwossen area though. I would recommend moving on and base out of Schönau am Königssee for Salzburg and Königssee.

Hi,

"Day 5: Drive to the Alps to Ettal. On the way see the Neuschwanstein Castle . Stay somewhere in or near Ettal
Day 6/7 explore area around Ettal - Ettal abbey, Oberammergau, Garmisch Partenkirchen/Partnach Gorge, Linderhof castle, Plansee, and Karwendelbahn - maybe take the cable car to Mittenwald -Zugzpiste -- is this too much for 2 days?"

So if nights 5, 6 and 7 are in the same location, you should be ok.

Do you plan on touring Neuschwanstein?

Doing both the Karwendelbahn (in the village of Mittenwald) AND the Zugspitze (from Garmisch, Germany or Ehrwald, Austria) is a bit redundant. Do the Zugspitze. If price is a concern, do the Karwendelbahn trip instead of the Zugspitze.

Mittenwald is easy in a couple of hours. And an hour or two at the top of either the Zugspitze or Karwendelbahn should be enough. At Linderhof, we spent maybe an extra hour, in addition to the wait (ours was short) and the tour (which is also short), at the palace total. Never cared for Oberammergau, sorry. It is liked by many people though. Still, it souldn't take to long to visit.

Paul

St. Goarshausen is one of the least interesting towns along the Rhine. For wine tasting go to Eltville. Nice hotel rooms there too and a lovely view of the river without a train track or road running along it.
Try this place for beautiful rooms as well as their own wine: http://www.weingut-koegler.de/weinhotel.html

@mchpp and @Paul thanks a lot for the suggestions. This is what i was looking for.. some practical information. Much appreciated.

We are back from the trip and based on tips here and more research, we ended up cancelling Rhine valley/Blackforest and directly went to Munich(explored this for 3 days) and spent 8 days in the Bavarian Alps - Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Berchtesgaden as 2 bases. Absolutely enjoyed the towns and the drives in the surrounding areas with quite a few activities to do. GaPa is a cute little town and we did not find it too touristy or crowded and found a lot of options to eat and supermarkets etc... Berchtesgaden was also very nice and hiking around the national park was fun!

Cheers.