Germany 2012

What's a "love castle"?

They were built in the 70s. Lots of daisies...

"We lean towards the food, drink, people, architecture, cobblestones, parks, quiet courtyards, etc. Oh yeah, and love castles and beer gardens." You'll find more museums and less of what you're looking for in the large cities you have planned to visit, more in the smaller places that were not targeted in WW II and where old-world architecture, castles, etc. are more common. Try to fit some small towns into your itin. Hannoversch Münden has 700+ half-timbered buildings and is reachable by train; you'll find it and dozens of other towns here: http://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/uk/index.php Try the Rhine for castles: http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/index.php?id=318&L=3 The Mosel is great too: http://www.mosel-reisefuehrer.de/moselhighengl/moselhighlightsengl.html

Hi Rob! Was your trip to Italy wonderful?! It's great that you've just returned and are already planning the next one! I think that your itinerary looks great. We've been to Berlin with a stopover in Dresden and on to Prague by train. In Berlin we stayed near the zoo in the Charlottenburg section. Our favorite things were the museums (Pergamon, Egyptian, and Jewish Museum), the chocolate shop called Fassbender & Rausch, the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie (it's dusty but it tells the story), the East Side Gallery, the Brandenburg Gate - it's all interesting. I also liked the food section of the KaDeWe Department store. There is really so much to see with a great transportation system connecting the sites. The self-guided tour in Rick's book is a good way to get an orientation to the city. There are fewer sites to see in Prague but it's a beautiful city. It was really cold the day we stopped in Dresden so we just had a quick overview of the city.

Russ, I lived in Frankfurt for 3 years and am very familier with that region as well. This will be our 4th trip back in the last 6 years. The previous trips we did small town northern and southern Bavaria as well as the Rhine and Mosel region. We are leaving the comfort zone a little on this trip and are trying to the big city and train plan. I lived in Germany when the wall fell, but have never been to Berlin. The checkpoint charlie museum is probably a "must see", however endless museums and galleries are not.

That being said, do you think it would be worth it to "day trip" to get a small town fix, or would that be a wasted day?

Rob, this web site (English) will allow you to download brochures about Dresden. http://www.dresden.de/dtg/en/service/prospekte.php As a side trip from there you could go to Meissen and visit the Porzellan museum (yes, I know, it's a museum) and take a trip down the Elbe river into the Sandsteingebirge (sandstone Mountains) - Saechsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland). The Saechsische Dampfschiffahrt has nine historic paddle wheelers that start some of their trips in Dresden. Since I'm also planning to visit Dresden and take a boat tour down the Elbe, I've already looked into the possibilities. In Berlin, I can recommend die Pfaueninsel - Peacock Island, an island in the river Havel. I really enjoyed my visit there. It's a nature preserve; you have to take the ferry over. Check out some pictures on this website: http://www.berliner-verkehrsseiten.de/pfaueninsel/Bilder/bilder.html
If I can be of help translating something, let me know, I'm fluent in German.

Russ, Hannoversch Munden is definitely on my list the next time I'm in that area. Looks great! Sharon, Italy was nice. Had some great food and wine in Tuscany. Venice was kinda confusing, but I can't wait to go back. The Dolomites were awesome!
Anna, great advice. I wonder if a dinner cruise on a paddle wheel is possible?

As something fun to do near Berlin as a day trip, consider the Spree Wald, where you can cruise through the forest. Potsdam of course also comes to mind and it should be beautiful in late April. It would be easy to spend a whole day there, visiting not only the palace, but the town itself. Visiting Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and its' neighboring womens' camp, Ravensbruck would also take up a good portion of a day. Having been to Berlin 3 times, I still haven't begun to see it all, though I do like visiting museums. You might want to consider one of the many bike tours or themed walking tours on offer there, like 3rd Reich or Cold War, or Berlin Underground, for something interesting, but also not expensive.

I'll second the vote for Potsdam, especially in light of your interests. You can spend the whole day just walking the grounds of San Soucci. And I'll also second Saxon Switzerland. It's a beautiful little area that's frequented by lots of Germans on vacation but little known by Americans. It lies on the S-bahn line from Dresden. In some towns, you have to take a ferry across the Elbe to get from the train station into town. Konigsburg is on the train side of the river, and has a big fortress. Rathen is a really cute town that's across the river.

Rob, Jo is right, the Spreewald (Spree is a river) could be fun; they still deliver the mail per boat in some areas. As to Potsdam, you could kill several birds with one stone there: the castle, beautiful terraced park, and, in walking distance, a cobblestoned huge courtyard with outside beer garden seating. As to the Elbe river cruise, it looks like they're daytime cruises and will feed you lunch. You can also get off and later get back on at their landings and eat in town. They offer special holiday cruises, too and advertise that you ride for free on your birthday. This year, they had a parade of 9 ships on May 1.

Just did the Germany/.Austria/Czech trip this April just passed, and you MUST make sure to visit Fussen in southern Bavaria. Even if it's a day trip from Munich. The scenery on the train trip there goes from the grafitt'd train track border walls to absolutely stunning views of rolling hillsides and snow capped mtns. The town is wonderful, full of folks sitting out in the sun talking/eating ice cream/drinking beers on the main pedestrian street, AND, if you love castles, then definitely do the Hohenschwangau & Neuschwanstein castles. But Go earlyi would advise on your own, not via a bus tour. we were like the 2nd tour going thru in the a.m., and it wasnt too crowded (first week of April). Some might say theyre too touristy, and they are a bit, but, after all, you ARE a tourist, and theyre amazing in person! :) We also did a day trip to Dachau from Munich. Very sobering, but important to see. Parks: definintely you can spend a whole day in the Englischer Garten in Munich as well....be on the lookout for the "nude sunbathing" part of the park...very (childishly) entertaining! Weather should be fabulous that time of year, it was a little chilly, but very sunny first/second wk of April.

Thanks Ashley, but I have Munich covered! As a matter of fact, I was there last week! Thanks for all the help! Let the research begin.