we are starting in either Frankfurt or Munich, we want to visit the town my mom was born in, Meiningen, then head south ending up in Salzburg. can you suggest some places for us to stop along the way and how long we should stay in each place. we are thinking Nuremberg, Rothenburg, Munich and Salzburg so far. we might have a car or we might use trains.
love your suggestions for either Germany or Austria. we prefer to stay at least 2 days in places but small towns like Mienginan could just be a few hours on our way somewhere else. we aren't so much into cathedral and castles as much as towns, food, scenery , hiking and biking. thanks
Posted by
7676 posts
Consider taking The Romantic Road which starts in Wurzburg and ends in Fussen.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is on the road, as well as other medieval walled towns.
https://www.romanticroadgermany.com
It's not too hard to see the reason for the popularity - despite the modern roots of the idea, the tour combines the historic cities of Würzburg and Augsburg with the three medieval walled towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, and then finishes off with the tourist highlights of Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
6353 posts
First, I would suggest that you book a multi-city ticket so that you would fly into Frankfurt but then fly back from Munich. It will save you a lot of time and money.
If you don't want to rent a car (and in Germany, you really don't need to), you could take the train to Nuremberg after Meiningen and base yourself there. There is a lot to see in Nuremberg and from there, you could take day trips by train to Bamberg, Regensburg, or even Rothenburg. Then from there head to Munich and stay there until your flight back.
The other alternative would be to skip Munich after Nuremberg and head down to Salzburg, which is a beautiful city with so much to do. I enjoyed it more than Munich. You could spend several days there then come back up to Munich and fly home.
Posted by
Paradise
6649 posts
...ending up in Salzburg. ...we are thinking Nuremberg, Rothenburg,
Munich and Salzburg so far ...we prefer to stay at least 2 days in
places but small towns like Mienginan could just be a few hours on our
way somewhere else.
Meiningen is well to the north of your other destinations, not on the way to any of them. It's 3 train hours away from the nearest places you are planning to be, and it will be a major detour whether you begin in Frankfurt or in Munich.
But flying into Frankfurt will clearly make for less back-tracking if you plan to end up in Salzburg.
So if you want stopovers of 2 days, one of those stopovers really should be near Meiningen. Sample train schedule options, one-way,... there really are just 2 reasonable options:
1) Frankfurt Airport > Meiningen: 9:01 > 12:15, 1 change of train
OR...
2) Nuremberg > Meiningen: 8:32 - 11:33, 1 change of train**
As mardee suggests, I would choose to travel from FRA airport to Meiningen first (#1) to minimize the overall ground travel you must do.
IMO there is a very good scenic/historic area for at least 2 days with nice small towns in the former East Germany... Please note TWO small towns that you will pass through on the train route to Meiningen in #1 above...
EISENACH (where you change trains)
https://www.eisenach.info/en/home
BAD SALZUNGEN, a spa town in between Eisenach and Meiningen. The train from B.S. stops in Bad Salzungen 26 minutes after it leaves Eisenach; from Eisnach to Meiningen takes 24 minutes. Scroll through some photos:
https://www.stadtbild-deutschland.org/forum/index.php?thread/4676-bad-salzungen-galerie/
You said "biking"... you can do that here... there are rides which include Eisenach, Bad Salzungen, and Meiningen.
https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/bike-riding/rhoen/adac-cycle-tour-from-bad-salzungen-to-bad-neustadt/31294389/
https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/bike-riding/thueringer-wald/reformatour-6-luther-s-way-to-wartburg-castle/19716776/
https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/bike-riding/thueringer-wald/adac-grenztour-5-across-the-rhoen-mountains/16537343/
Hiking too.
https://www.komoot.com/guide/3287/hiking-around-eisenach
Proceed south to Nuremberg (roughly 3 hours) and your other destinations after that.
A few years ago, we rented an apartment in the small town of Herleshausen for a few days, not far from Eisenach, and did some very pleasant day trips by train from there to Eisenach, Mühlhausen, and a couple of other destinations. A very nice time.