German trip planning

If you are not sure of the possible destinations in southern Germany and Austria, you can easily start your own research by using this very website. Just click on the "Plan Your Trip" link at the top of your screen, then the "Best Destinations" link, and finally click on either "Germany" or "Austria". Rick has posted 25 articles on central/southern Germany, and another 18 articles on Austria.

Another good resource is the "Rick On Radio" link at the top of your screen, where you can listen to or download all of Rick's radio broadcasts. Also, the website www.viamichelin.com is very helpful for planning your driving routes.

All of this information should help you focus, but ultimately, you should let your own personal interests shape your itinerary.

There are a ton of choices. I would probably spend the first three days between Cologne/Bonn and Cochem/Trier and check out the Roman ruins and Berg Eltz (be sure to take the hike to the castle).

The next segment would be a couple of days in either Bacharach or St. Goar, catching the KD line boat between the two, self guided walking tour of Bacharach and explore Rheinfels.

I'd stop for a night in Rothenburg ob der Tauber (commonly refered to as Rothenburg on this site), take the night watchman's tour, walk the walls, climb a tower, etc.

I'd end in Munich for as long as you have left. There's a ton of sights. The English Gardens on a nice day is great people watching and relaxing.

There are multiple day trips from Munich (Berchtesgaden salt mine/eagle's nest or Neuschwanstein/Hohenschwangau Castles). You may want to leave those for later or pick one that really interests you.

In addition to Rick's trip itineraries I have found it useful to look at those offered by other commercial/educational vendors. You can find quite a few of these by doing an online search for "germany austria tours."

We traveled in Germany with Rick's guide in 2006 and found Rick's advice about what areas to visit to be spot on, as usual. I would highly recommend staying in Bacharach, and be sure and take a Rhine cruise. I would suggest three nights and two full days for Munich, two nights for Rothenburg. Squeeze Nurnburg in if you can, the Documentation Center and the German National Museum are must-sees. You can do Burg Eltz from Bacharach especially if you have a car. There is a great castle above St. Goar in the Rhine too. Neuschwanstein is great, but that is southern Bavaria.

I'm going to be the dissenting voice here. Some of Rick Steves' resources and guides are better than others, and in my opinion, his Germany guide is one of the weaker entries. It's not that he doesn't make some good recommendations (he does, for the most part), but he also skips over too much. I have found that his suggested itineraries in this book involve too much time in transit between sites, when you could easily see similar attractions much closer together. I would use Rick Steves for advice on lodging in specific locations (in my opinion, one of the biggest strengths of his guidebooks), but also get a more comprehensive guidebook for overall planning. Lonely Planet, The Rough Guide and Eyewitness Travel are much more extensive. Lonely Planet is particularly good for hiking recommendations.

I agree with Tom. I use Michelin Green Guide to initially plan my trip. Rick's for room recommendations and descriptions in specific places. I have a Lonely Planet guide that I slice up and take chapters with me as it is the best combination of sights and useful information.

Regards, Gary

thanks for all the comments and helpful suggestions.

We have been to the Romantic Road several times. We have a place that we love. It is called Castle Harburg. It is a real castle and the price is right. The food is very good. We stay two nights there. Hope you go.
We went to Rothenburg, again, and planned all outdoor activities like the night wall tour. It rained for 3 days straight. The 3 other times were beautiful.