Hi we have 10 days and want to make the most of the time. We fly into Frankfurt but are open to recommendations for places to see, stay etc on our way to Switzerland. We are open to either car rental, train or even taking a flight from Germany to Switzerland. We are very green so any help would be much appreciated. Its just myself and my husband, we would prefer small towns and maybe a central location or locations to stay and do day trips in Germany. Thank you in advance :)
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
6282 posts
Time of year? How many of those 10 days will you have in Interlaken, or are those 10 days exclusive of your Swiss stay? Are you returning home at the end of those 10 days? From which airport? Hopefully it is a Swiss airport, so you don't have to lose time backtracking to FRA.
A car rental is often helpful if travelling to small towns and villages in rural areas poorly served by trains or buses. But they are a hindrance in cities or large towns. And a rental car returned in a different country will incur a very large drop off fee. Germany is a rather sizeable country, so if you want a base to do day trips from you will only see a tiny bit of it. I would suggest getting a German guide book and see which areas most appeal to you. You might want to check out the Rhine/Mosel area, or perhaps parts of Bavaria, en route to Switzerland.
Posted by
Paradise
7473 posts
If your destination is the Alpine wonderland known as the Bernese Oberland, then a logical approach is to use the train to get there, crossing the Swiss border at Basel.
This video offers snippets the very lengthy train ride between Cologne (Köln) and Basel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hROjhLltE7A
You could begin your journey by heading from FRA directly to the most scenic part of the river, the stretch between Koblenz and Bingen (which begins at about 3:40 and ends at about 11:20.) It's known as the Upper Middle Rhine Valley - and it's a UNESCO World Heritage site.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1066
There are both direct trains and trains which require a change of train to reach these towns from FRA airport. Figure about 1 - 1.25 hours of train travel from FRA depending on your choice of base town. A town like St Goar or Boppard make for a good base town. Boppard has a special offer - free train travel to nearby towns with your hotel stay. You could day trip from either town to others...
Bacharach, Oberwesel, Remagen, Braubach (Marksburg Castle tour) and Rüdesheim are among the more popular towns to visit. There are vineyards, hiking trails, bike paths, castles, and old-world towns along both riverbanks. River cruises, chairlift and cable car rides add to the transportation options.
http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/walking-hiking.php
http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/castles.php
3-4 nights here would be adequate. After that, I'd look into the Black Forest options, closer to Basel - Gengenbach is a good base town here - and also the Neckar River Valley towns of Esslingen and Tübingen (in the general area of Stuttgart.) Both the Black Forest and the Neckar Valley towns are short detours off the main route to Basel, but like many, many small towns in Germany, they have strong rail service. Use the zoom feature on the map below to locate Esslingen and Tübingen.
The Black Forest town of Gengenbach and assorted other popular BF towns and the railways that connect them can be found on page two of the map below:
https://prospektbestellung.toubiz.de/media/prospekt/file/5736289_KONUS_GB_2022.pdf
As the flyer explains, a BF stay also comes with free train outings if you stay one of the many participating towns (lke Gengenbach.)
Posted by
Alsenborn, Germany
2040 posts
An option to consider would be to just go to Lake Constance (Bodensee). There you are on the border of Switzerland, Austria, and Germany, and there's more stuff to do there than you can get done in a month, let alone your 10 days. You have you choices of big city or small towns around the lake. You can take a cable car up into the Alps and hike around. You can see castles, art museums, fantastic gardens, regional cuisine, and lots of historic places. You can even add Lichtenstein to the list of countries to visit.
Bodensee is one of the most popular vacation destinations in Europe for good reason. There are books full of stuff to see and do around the lake. And it's great to base out of. I'm partial to the south end of the lake, but I've stayed in Konstanz also and we had a very good time.
You can get there by car, train, or flying into Zurich (which is not far away.)
Posted by
London, Ontario, Canada
27 posts
I also highly recommend Bodensee. We stayed on Lindau Insel and there was so much to enjoy. The lake is beautiful, serene and the sunsets are amazingly beautiful. Would happily go there again ( but for longer next time- like at least a week)