Frankfurt (Darmstadt) Strasbourg,Colmar,Fussen, Rothenberg (Tauber)

Good points, Lee, about seeing things closer to Frankfurt before heading off to Bavaria. Minimising train/car travel is a good idea which I will study more. I won't need/want a car in the towns. Would six nights be enough to split between the Mittelrhein and Mosel towns you mention? I prefer 2 or 3 nts in a "base." I knew little or nothing about the area til 2 hours ago researching & viewing pics, but seems perfect for my relaxed pace. I see river cruises are avail; I'd like that for sure. Danke, Tom.

My thoughts on driving through beautiful scenic areas is that one doesn't really get to see them if you have to concentrate on driving. It is so nice to sit in a train and watch the countryside go by, get up and walk around, go have a coffee if you are in a train that has a diner car. In June, some of the states will be having school vacations, and that means the roads start getting jammed up badly. Better known as a "stau". A simple 4 hour trip can easily turn into 6 or 8 hours. Not the way I would want to spend my vacation hours. Besides, it is fun to sit on a train and meet people.

I would first suggest doing the trip by car. Since you're not going to large cities, driving will be easy. Roads in Germany are well marked and in good condition. You won't waste time at train stations and will enjoy the scenery more. Colmar is a good choice (German architecture & French food). From Colmar to Fussen, take the route from Freiburg to Lake Constance where you'll have a great view of the Alps across the lake. Stop at the lakeside town of Lindau. The drive on to Fussen is also extemely scenic. I'd suggest staying in Schwangau at one of the hotels with a view of Neuschwanstein Castle (Hotel Rubezahl is nice). From there you can take the Romantik Road to Rothenburg, stopping at Nordlingen & Dinklesbuhl en route. Train prices are higher than they used to be, so you may even spend less traveling by car (check out AutoEurope for rental locations & prices).

Excellent suggestions, Tim, on the car rental idea. I plotted your route--a logical efficient circuit, saving almost half the time of trains (13 hrs driving vs almost 20 hrs trains!). Plus extra scenery and towns! Now how to divide the time for six nights? Maybe stay 1 night in Colmar, 2 nts in Lindau, 2 nts Schwangau (busy castles), and 1 nt in Rothenburg, with "passing thru" Nordlingen & Dinkelsbuhl? (I know there are several ways to slice it up.) Thanks again-Tom

"you may even spend less traveling by car".

Certainly not in my experience. On my trip last November (Mosel, Harz, Schwarzwald), I spent €202, total, for all public transportation for 14 days.

The least expensive car rental quote I got was €380 for 14 days, for a car smaller than I would have wanted on the highways over there; Michelin's fuel estimate for just the "heaviest" four days of travel was €120 (I spent only €128 for trains tickets for those four days). So the trains cost me 40% or less of what a car would have cost me.

I saved €300 by not having a car. Considering my overnight expenses and meals came to only €660, not having a car paid for almost half of my trip.

Tom, I have been to Lindau, Füssen, Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl, and Rothenburg. They are some of my favorite places in Bavaria. If you were in Munich on business, I would definitely suggest them. However, you are starting in Frankfurt; you don't have to go all the way to Bavaria to see things.

Have you already seen the Mittelrhein (Bacharach, St. Goar, Marksburg) and the Mosel (Cochem, Bernkastel-Kues)? The northern Schwarzwald is interesting (Calw, Freudenstadt). From Offenburg, across the river from Strasbourg, you can take the train to Donaueschingen via Triberg and the Schwarzwaldbahn - very scenic.

From Donaueschingen, you could go to Sigmaringen, much closer than Füssen and see the castle there. It's far older than Neuschwanstein. North of there, Burg Hohenzollern, in Hechingen, was build shortly before Neuschwanstein, but there have been castles on that commanding hill for a thousand years.

My point is, there is a lot to see in that part of Germany. You don't have to go all the way to Bavaria. Stay closer to Frankfurt, spend less time (and money) traveling and see more.

"Would six nights be enough to split between the Mittelrhein and Mosel "

I stayed in Boppard, on the Mittelrhein, for five nights in 2004. I visited the Marksburg in Braubach one day. When the boats are running, there is a boat from Boppard to Braubach and a shuttle from the dock to the castle, but there boats weren't running yet, so I took the ferry across the river and walked to Filsen, where I caught the train to Braubach. Next day I took the train to St. Goar, saw Rheinfels, took the boat to Bacharach and saw that town. Another day I went to Koblenz to find a cybercafe and walked to Deutsches Eck. The last day I just stayed in Boppard, found the ruins of the early Roman wall and the later town wall.

Boppard is a nice little town, centrally located, but I'm not sure about accommodations. I stayed in a Privatzimmer (€25/nt B&B) with a young family who didn't speak English. There are some nice (and more expensive hotels - Rheinlust and Bellevue) right on the riverfront walk, but they are a little pricey. Hotels in between were a little scant.

If I had it to do over, I would go to Bacharach, then take the boat down river (faster, 40 min), then see Rheinfels.

Last November, I stayed in Treis-Karden, a little down the Mosel from Cochem, because Cochem was having a festival and was filled.

One day I went by train and bus to Berkastel-Kues, then to Zell, both wine towns. The next day I went to Cochem, saw the Reichburg and visited Rademacher winery. The last day I went to Cochem and took the bus to Beilstein.

If I had it to do over, I would stay first in St. Goar (Bacharach and Rheinfels one day, Marksburg another). Then I might spend a day going to Cochem, stopping on the way to see Burg Eltz. I would do the same thing at Cochem, Cochem one day and Bernkastel-Kues and Zell another day. I would omit Beilstein.