Amsterdam...Rothenburg...Munich...PLEASE help!

How do you plan on getting across the channel? If by Eurostar, you would terminate in either Brussels or Paris. From Brussels, you could take a 45 min. train to Brugge, Belgium. This town is great for a 2 day stay. A lot smaller than Amsterdam, but with canal rides, windmills on the outskirts of the town, and great Belgium chocolate. Lots to see and do--check it out in Rick's tour book. If you are going to Paris, you could do a quick visit there or continue to a town on the Rhine river, such as Bacharach, Germany. Most any way you work your itinerary (Amsterdam, Brugge or Paris), it will be a 7-8 hr. train ride to Rothenburg because of the regional train you take when you get close to the town. Yes, you could drive. In that case, I would take the Eurostar to a town on the Germany/France border so that when you turn the car in at Munich you will not have to pay high drop off charges. Hope this helps.

Annabeth,

If I'm interpreting your post correctly, you want to spend two days in (perhaps) Amsterdam before heading to Rothenburg and then Munich, and your starting point is London?

One option would be to take the EuroStar to Brussels and spend a day or so either there or in Bruges. From BRU travel by air (Brussels Airlines) to FRA. I haven't checked the prices, but with time constraints that would be the quickest way to reach Germany. There's a rail station in the airport at FRA, and you can take a train from there to Rothenburg (2 changes as I recall in Wurzburg and Steinach). From FRA it's an easy trip and only takes a few hours. There's a DB ticket office in the airport also, so you can buy your train tickets there.

Happy travels!

I agree with everyone that Bruges makes a good stop. From there, consider taking the train to someplace nearby in Germany, then pick up a car for the Rhine/Romantic Road leg to Rothenburg, then Fussen. Drop the car someplace in Germany, then continue via train. We did just that (train from Bruges to Trier, picked up the car there, dropped the car in Munich, then trained on to Salzburg and Vienna).

I would not fly from Brussels to Frankfurt. It isn't that far on the train! I think it is 3 hours. The time you spend with traveling to the airport, checking in, sitting around, etc. is wasted. It is much more fun to sit on the high speed trains, seeing the countryside, sitting in the dining car, having a coffee or wine, or chatting with fellow passengers.

I like Brussels, but I would pick Amsterdam over Brussels since your time is limited.

How about a day in Koeln and a day on the Rhine?

Cologne, not really, but the Rhine is ok if it will get us from A to R. We're on a tight schedule

I like the Bruges idea. But it will take you 7.5 hours to go by train from Bruges to Rothenburg. For me, it would be worth it as they are my 2 favorite cities in Europe. You could leave real early in the morning and be in Rothenburg by mid afternoon.

Jo,

Thanks for the additional information. It was late and I didn't bother to check the rail connections. I definitely agree, the train would be a better option in this case.

Cheers!

Annabeth, I definitely concur with your desire to go to Amsterdam. Brussels is very nice, Bruges is quaint, Koln has a spectacular cathedral. But, Amsterdam is a wonderful city. It is 4 hours by train from Amsterdam Centraal to Frankfurt. I don't recall the time from Brussels to Amsterdam. Given that Eurostar is also required, adding time from London, and not inexpensive, I would suggest flying from London to Amsterdam and taking the train to Frankfurt.