Just in the planning stages, but want to go to southern Germany, no interest In Berlin. Probably in and out of Frankfurt. Any 2 week suggestions. Looking at The Rhine, Baden-Baden, Munich, Romantic Road. What towns would you suggest staying in and I would prefer to always use rail or bus. Thank you!!!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19112 posts
I would prefer to always use rail or bus.
It can be done. I've spent about 150 days traveling in Germany, including the places you mention, in the last 18 years without ever needing a car. And you can get to out-of-the-way places without a car. Half of the places I've stayed in have been less than 8000 population. It does, however, require acquiring some knowledge, like how to use the German Rail query webpage to find train and bus schedules.
Of the places you mention,
The Rhein is easily visited using trains. There are train lines on both sides with regional trains running hourly, at least. I prefer to stay in St. Goar, but Boppard and Bacharach are also good places to stay.
I didn't really like Baden-Baden - too big and industrial. There are a lot of more interesting towns in the interior. Stay in Gengenbach. Bad Herrenalb, Bad Wildbad, Freudenstadt, and Alpirsbach are all places I've stayed in and enjoyed. Take the train from Gengenbach to Donaueschingen (Black Forest Railroad) for great views of the area.
Munich is a great city to visit (And I generally do not like cities). And there are lots of day side trips you can make from Munich.
I did the Romantic Road from Wieskirche to Würzburg in 2007 entirely by rail and bus. I did it in 5 days and spent a lot of time in the towns along the Road. There are portions of the Romantic Road that you can do by bus. The good news is the bus travels on the actual Road. The bad news is the actual road is not very interesting. It's the towns along the road. Most are accessible by rail.
Posted by
Nashville, TN, USA
444 posts
We just returned from a trip, with 3 nights in Bacharach on the Rhine, 2 nights in Nuremberg, and 1 in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We used trains the whole time, and had no issues. As for Franconia, we really liked Nuremberg (lots of day trips possible, we had a lot of rain so we didn't go out as much as we had planned originally), but we loved Rothenburg. It was so much fun. One night is probably enough, as it is small. We also really enjoyed Bacharach, but any town on the Rhine would be good, as you can get between them all on the trains. Take a river cruise, do some hiking and see some castles-its great! It deserves 2 or 3 nights if you can spare it. We did not make it to Munich, but it's on my list for next time. We stopped in Frankfurt on the way and had about 4 hours there, which was enough for us. It's a nice city, but I preferred the smaller towns.
Posted by
Paradise
6663 posts
I concur with Lee on Baden-Baden. It's also a pain to use B-B as a base town for day trips by train - the station is WAY out of town and you have to catch a bus just to reach it. Note also that B-B does not issue the KONUS Card (a guest card you get from your innkeeper for free train travel around the Black Forest as well as discounts at attractions.) But lots of other well-located small towns (like Gengenbach) DO offer this card:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=22&v=KkgzMXQ7blQ
https://www.blackforest-tourism.com/info/KONUS
And St. Goar is indeed a good place to use as a travel base for the Rhine - for most outings, it is probably the best one of all for those traveling by public transport.