Thanks other people's kind advice on this websie, Rick Steve's book and trip advisor we have our week in Germany pretty well figured out. We will be flying into Frankfurt and taking the train to Rothenburg. Our flight arrives very early in the morning. Would be be wise to purchase rail tickets ahead of time? After 2 nights at the Hotel Spitzwg in Rothenburg, we will take the train to Koblenz where we have a car booked with Gemut. We will stay 2 nights in Beilstein at the Hotel Haus Lipmann and then drive to St. Goar and stay for 2 nights at the Rheinhotel St. Goar. We will depart out of Frankfurt and drop our rental car there.
We would love tips and advice on what not to miss and thoughts on whether or not this is a decent itinerary for only 6 days. Any comments would be welcome!!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
There is no price advantage to buying full fare tickets ahead of time. If you buy non-refundable, train specific, advance purchase discount tickets you stand the chance of missing your train due to a late flight and loosing the tickets. No, I would not do it. It will take a little longer, but you can buy local tickets to Kahl (€7,30 ea) and a Bayern-Ticket (€29 for everyone) and take regional trains to Rothenburg. Since you will already be there, you can use advance purchase tickets for Rothenburg to Koblenz.
Posted by
OP
Birmingham, AL, United States
14 posts
Great Advice! Thanks so much Lee... Have you heard of the hotels that i listed?
Good choices?
Posted by
NYC area
2981 posts
Hi Susie, 3 things I wouldn't miss on your trip: Rothenburg - The Nightwatchman Tour and Tilman Riemenschneider's 500 yr. old wood-carved alter in St. Jacobs church. It's in the back of the church up a few stairs. Burg Eltz and Cochem - Mosel Marksburg Castle - Rhine Paul
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
I looked up Hotel Spitzwig using the Rothenburg website (www.rothenburg.de). It looks like a nice place. I've heard of Haus Lipmann in Beilstein. Saw it when I was there in Nov. 2008, but it looked like it was closed for the season. As for Rheinhotel St. Goar, if it is shown on the St. Goar website, www.st-goar.de, I'm sure it is fine.
Posted by
OP
Birmingham, AL, United States
14 posts
Thanks so much Lee!
I really appreciate your help! Susie
Posted by
Stuttgart, Germany
3050 posts
The Medieval Crime and Punishment museum is a lot of fun! I think Rothenburg is a little overrated given how many adorable traditional German towns that are EVERYWHERE but because of it's tourist status it has a bit more to do than the other ones. I personally like to book train tickets in advance because I'm paranoid like that. I don't know how crowded it is from Frankfurt to Rothenburg, but I like the peace of mind. If you're not on a tight budget, you could buy a ticket ahead of time that allows flexibility, although "fixed" tickets are much cheaper. If you only have 6 days I would try to opt for high speed trains when possible (and when in the budget) because as cozy as the regional trains are, they usually take twice as long.
Posted by
Naperville, IL, USA
296 posts
Too bad Munich and their famous beer gardens are not on your agenda. It's a lot of fun.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
The fallacy of buying ticket ahead of time is that there is no advantage unless you get reservations, and then you've lost the "flexibility. In over 10 years of German Rail travel, I have only once been on a reservable train that was SRO, that an ICE from FRA to Mannheim on a popular holiday, Zweite Weinachten. All the seats were occupied but less than half were reserved. I could have bought reservations at train time. As for Frankfurt to Rothenburg, the time difference between express and regional is only 40 min, but €84 for two vs 43,60 for regional. Regardless of how fast you get to Würzburg, you still have to use the same regional trains from Würzburg to Rothenburg.
Posted by
OP
Birmingham, AL, United States
14 posts
Good to know!
Thanks so much for the great and wise advice!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
As for your time on the Rhein (St. Goar). There are regional trains connecting the town along the Rhein hourly. Nothing is more useless than a car in that area. When you go to leave, there are trains from St. Goar to FRA in just over an hour - no worry about missing a turn or traffic jams, no need to spend time turning in a car. The regional trains come into an underground station across the street from Terminal 1.
Posted by
Westminster, CO, USA
194 posts
We were in Rothenburg last Sept, we were lucky to Join a meeting of the English Speaking Club, mentioned in Rick's book, it meets every Wednesday night at the Hotel Altfrankische, weinstube, please get reservation for the resturant as it fills up fast if this interests you. We met "Herman the German', the gentlemen that Rick mentions, very fun evening. The resturant is cute and good German food even if you are not their on Wed night. Have fun