First European Trip--Germany +---Need advice- Please

If you are talking about this June and don't have an exact itinerary yet I would suggest renting a car for most of the time. See Munich first, and on your way out get a car, then visit the Germany countryside. Return the car (somwhere... maybe Berlin?) fly to Paris, then fly to Lux to go home or take a train there. With your car you will have the flexibility to change your mind and see whatever interests you. Salzburg is definitely worth it, but until you set up some sort of plan there is no way to suggest something. I travel a lot without a plan, but you already have a number of destinations, just not the itinerary to do it all. Are you comfortable just winging it without reservations? I would make hotel plans for Munich, Paris and your last night in Lux before your flight. The rest of the time, with a vehicle you will always find something.

You have a lot on your wish list, but I have a particular bias about Germany (which I visit a lot). I just want to urge you to include Berlin. Take one of the Berlin Walks tours (all in English) as introduction. If you are at all interested in history, this city begs for a visit. While you are peeling off the layers of history in Berlin, you'll enjoy the vibrant youth culture that has captured this newly invigorated capital city.

Thank you Sue and Terry for the help. So far we have reservations in Munich, will have them for Paris and Lux-all before we leave. We did decide to rent a car. We both want the freedom of going where and when we want. No schedules to keep up with is also a plus. The only itinerary we have is loose-MunichBerchtesgaden-then to Weil am Rhein. From there we will probably do our Switzerland day trips before heading to Paris. After Pariswe were thinking of Berlin-or going straight to Rothenburg and then to the river valleys. This is all still in the planning phases, but its sort of a planHa! Still trying to decide about Salzburg and Berlin. Thanks again for any advice.
W

I wouldn't particularly recommend Gimmelwald as a daytrip from Weil am Rhein, unless you're keeping a very flexible schedule. Weather in the Alps can change very suddenly. What starts off as a clear sunny day in Weil am Rhein could easily progress to dense fog and rain by the time you reach the Berner Oberland (there are other Alpine resort towns significantly closer as well). If you want to see this region, I would recommend staying at least 2 nights. In contrast, Basel could not be an easier daytrip. Your wish list seems to be very Rick Steves-heavy. Although I like his books, one of my criticisms of the Germany book in particular is that because it serves as more of a list of random highlights than a geographic survey, there's a lot that gets left out. Because you're partially basing yourself in an area that's off the typical North American tourist trail, by trying to hit the sites lauded in the Blue Book, you're probably driving by many other sites of comparable interest. The usual examples I see are the luges near Salzburg and Füssen (they have these throughout Germany and the Alps), and going out of one's way to visit Rothenburg (pretty, but not nearly as unique as touted, unless you can't get enough souvenir shops). So, I recommend supplementing your research with other guide books, and the two most valuable tools for travel planning- Google Maps and Wikipeida.

Sounds like a great trip. I too served in the Army there and love going back. I'd choose Salzburg over Berlin. I'd get a car and from Munich and check out Mad Louie's castles: Neuschwanstein (model for Disneyland), Herren Chiemsee (copy of Versailles) and Linderhof, with it's underground cavern and Japanese Tea House.

Tom-thank you so much for the tips. Do you have any specific recommendations of towns that would be a unique experience? My husband and I are VERY apt to wander and look for new places. Another reason why we decided to get a car. I agree this list is Rick Steves heavy-I watch the shows and feel like this is where we could go, but would love some other options. Thanks for the help!

Look at some of the trip reports at Bavaria Ben's website - www.bensbauernhof.com

You might want to take out a map to see how best to plan your trip. As it is now, it is sort of zig-zagging around. Planning your logistics can be of great help. I too, would plan on visiting Berlin. While there, you could also visit Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp rather than Dachau. This camp has many original buildings left in it, and is near the womens' camp, Ravensbruck. Would you consider going to another medieval, walled town, like Buedingen, rather than join the masses of tourists in Rothenburg.? There are plenty of other similar towns in Germany that may be on your route that will give you a wonderful experience and you wouldn't have to wait until the buses leave for the evening either. Time is getting short, but you can purchase train tickets from Frankfurt to Paris, and the ride only takes a bit under 4 hours. Cost will be less than flying and the time would probably be less too. Plus you get to see more of the countryside.

I don't know SW Baden-Württemberg that well, other than what I can see from A5 while driving, so I don't have any specific recommendations in that area. But I know that you don't have to look too hard in Germany to find castles, baroque palaces, elaborate monasteries, well-preserved historic town centers, mineral spas, etc. Use the brown tourist signs ("Touristisches Hinweisschild") you see on the roads as a guide. If the history of Europe's powerful dynastic families interests you, between Basel and Zurich you can visit Habsburg Castle, which was the ancestral home of the Hapsburg monarchy. I haven't actually visited it, but the main autobahn route between Basel and Zurich runs through a tunnel directly under the castle.

You definately need to map out where your "wannasees" are on a map and look at it and try to construct a trip logically because right now you're all over the place. I really love Berlin and am of the mind that on a 3 week trip to Germany it's a "must see" but it's a geographical outlier and time sink in your trip. You could construct a trip that geographically makes sense...without Berlin. I don't know. If you want to see it, it's worth the effort to see. If you're not that interested, I'd concentrate on making a sort of geographical "arc" via train and car (depending on the area you're in from Munich, first dipping down to Berchtesgaden/Salzburg (they are right next to each other, no need to forgo Salzburg at all), then going to Fuessen/Castles, then on to stay with your friends. From there maybe dip down into Switzerland a little. But also keep in mind your friends live right on the border with France, too. Mulhouse and Colmar are day-trippable from there, as is the "capital" of the southern Black Forest, Triberg. From there you could head to the Rhine Valley and Mosel Valley. Which would be a natural point to head to Luxumborg and fly out. I really love Paris and Berlin but they're out geographical outliers for a trip that otherwise makes a lot of sense as a leisurely road trip. I would do one and not the other, at the very least. And don't fly to Paris from Western Germany, it's easier to take the train. I'd maybe head to Luxembourg from Paris in that case.

I'm with those that suggest you include Berlin. It is a great city for tourists in my view.

Wendi, I love Berlin, but with your itinerary, I would save it for another trip! I always start my planning with a list like yours and then start eliminating some things so that I have a reasonable amount of downtime (ie cafes, people watching and just soaking in the scenery). Print out a map of Europe and mark your choices and see what makes sense to eliminate from a logistical point of view first.
Also, I would choose Salzburg over Berchestgaden because there is more to see (I've been to both twice and enjoyed both, but with limited time, Salzburg is magical!!). And, I am going to totally disagree with others, I LOVE Rothenburg! I've been twice and even with the touristy shops, it is wonderful, especially after 5 or 6 when the tour groups leave!! We have spent the night and wandered the little medieval streets (even did the cheesy night watchman tour and enjoyed that). There are some lovely restaurants and the people are very friendly.

Thank you all so much for answering me. I never expected such good responses. You are all right that we need a better itinerary. Since my first writing we have made several decisions. We fly into Munich. We will be there for 3 nights. While there we will try to do Dachau and a few castles as day trips. Then we leave for a little town in Austria (that I got from that website suggested by Stephen. It's a farm. We are thrilled. ) mid-way between Berchtesgaden and Salzburg. We will be there for 2 nights and see both places if we can. After that we drive a rental to see our friends. We will spend the next week in that area exploring as much of Switzerland as we can. Our friends are going with us to Paris for 2 nights. When we return we are going to head up and do Rothenburg and the river areas leaving from Luxembourg. We also decided to have some adventure. If we drive through a town we like we will stay. My husband wants to see his old army haunts. We decided to make Berlin our next trip and also see northern Germany. I would still love some suggestions of towns similar to Rothenburg that we might see instead. I like that our plans are somewhat flexible for many days.
Again. Thank you. And any suggestions would be great. Wendi

Definitely fit Berlin in! It was my favorite city of our entire trip two years ago. You would be sad if you missed it!

I don't understand why people are advocating she fit Berlin in, it goes against the whole "slow down" and "don't spend most of your time in transit" mantra of this board. Berlin is my favorite place in Germany, but going just doesn't make sense on this trip unless she cuts a lot of other stuff out. Since it was on her "maybe" list to skip I think she's best off saving it for another trip that's more geographically focused.