Sept Germany Road Trip - Romantic Road/Black Forest/Alps

We'll have a car so we can drive about anywhere

Everywhere you've mentioned you want to go is accessible by rail.

Nürnberg, BTW, is not actually on the Romantic Road (but Würzburg, Bad Mergentheim, and Rothenburg are). The only other Romantic Road town I would suggest seeing is Nördlingen.

In the Black Forest a car is just an added expense as you get free use of the buses and trains with a Konus Card you get when staying there. You might want to see the Black Forest Freelight Museum in Hausach. The rail line (Schwarzwaldbahn) from there to Donaueschingen (via Triberg) is very scenic. I think there is a road in the same valley, but it's hard to watch the scenery when driving a mountain road.

Sept 13: Romantic Road: Wurzburg, Bad Mergentheim, Rothenburg ob der
Tauber, Bamberg, Nuremberg

I hope you just mean one of these five. One day is not enough time for two of the five, let alone all five, particularly since you appear to be starting the day on the Rhein/Mosel.

Sept 14: Black Forest: Gengenbach, Triberg, Freiburg

Ditto what I said about the Romantic Road.

Actually, Rhein/Mosel -> Black Forest -> Romantic Road makes more sense.

To be blunt, this itinerary doesn't make sense geographically.

Sept. 13 is not possible. Depending on the town you start from on the Rhine, you're looking at 3-4 hours just to reach Würzburg. You could probably fit in one more town, but that's about it. The Romantic Road, BTW, is just an ordinary road that links together some scenic towns... but scenic towns are everywhere in Germany.

Sept. 14. Once again, not possible. The closest point of the Black Forest to the towns you listed on the previous day is once again, 2-3 hours. Gegenbach, Triberg and Freiburg are then considerably further. The Black Forest is nice, but once again, not unique. Southern and central Germany are criss-crossed by several similar low, forrested mountain ranges. And the Alps blow them all away. So basically, you'd be driving several hours out of your way, passing by very similar landscapes.

Sept. 15th. Feasible from a close starting point, but not from the Black Forest. I would actually skip the Black Forest altogether and spend the extra day in the Alps. You can't depend on the weather in the Alps, but the longer you stay, the better your odds.

You didn't say you have your hotel sewn up in Munich. If it is around Oktoberfest rooms are expensive and like hens teeth.

Agree that 13th and 14th as written are either impossible or nearly so.

Agree - 13th, 14th and 15th don't involve enough feet-on-the-ground time.

Bamberg and Nuremberg are very worthwhile but require a little time. I'd suggest 2 nights in Nuremberg with a half-day trip to Bamberg. To squeeze in some interesting places in between the Rhine and Nuremberg you could take a direct route via Würzburg and lovely Iphofen (photos here.) All this is possible by car or by train. But you'd be foolish not to spend some time in the Bamberg Pubs, which would dictate using the train for this outing (€18.70/2 adults round trip from Nuremberg on a Tagesticket Plus day pass

By car you may wish to make your way from the Rhine to Nuremberg via a theme-route detour lying just to the south - the Castle Road:

http://www.burgenstrasse.de/uk/Castles-and-Palaces.html

Head south from Nuremberg however it comes to you on the morning of the 15th.

Good advice from the other posters, so would only add that for a driving adventure you might take a look at "Back Roads Germany" . Good for off the beaten path excursions, small town highlights, lesser known attractions, etc. Have seen used copies on Amazon for just a few dollars.

Thank you all for the suggestions!! I figured it was too much, but wanted to try anyways :) So it looks like I need to chose at most 2 of these areas, and once I have that down I might have to change my car rental dates. My husband and I lived in Colorado for 5 years so mountains and forest-like areas aren't as appealing to us. We still like it, but we want to experience more of the German towns rather than nature. So my new questions are

a) Black Forest or Alps? - keeping in mind our experience in CO - I read in another post some people from CO found the Black Forest not worth the visit due to timing.

b) I have a hotel for Munich already (booked that way back!), I was hoping I could find rooms in the smaller towns as we went even though its a big week for wine and beer festivals. Or should I book them now? :S

Oktoberfest only takes place in Munich. Other towns and cities have their own harvest festivals (which may or may not coincide with Oktoberfest), but because these aren't well known outside their regions, they don't have much of an effect on room occupancy.

However, if you find a hotel or town you like, there's no reason not to book now.