My 2 friends and I will be traveling to Germany for almost 3 weeks from mid-May to early June. I've posted several specific questions on this site, but would welcome itinerary suggestions. Day 1: arrive in Frankfurt from overnight flight from US, sleep in Frankfurt. Don't want to go outside Frankfurt for first night because friends are flying standby on a different flight, want to make it easy to meet in Frankfurt. Days 2-3: 2 nights in Bacharach. Plan to take Rhine tour 1 day & see Burg Eltz 2nd day. Days 4-5: Bacharach to Freiburg, 2 nights in Freiburg, 1 day to see Black Forest. Days 6-7: 2 nights in Fussen. Freiburg to Fussen train takes almost all of Day 6, leaving Day 7 for trip to Neuschwanstein & hopefully some other sights such as Linderhof castle. Days 8-10: Freiburg to Munich, spend 3 nights and most of 3 days in Munich. Day 11: Munich to Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, 1 night there. I know that's not much time but I've been there before; just want to go back to do Night Watchman tour and to show town to my friends. Days 12-13: Roth. to Dresden, 2 nights in Dresden, see Historic Green Vault and other sights. Days 14-17: Berlin, with side trip to Potsdam 1 day. Day 18: start in Berlin, afternoon train to Frankfurt to sleep in Frankfurth and catch flight home the next morning. 1 concern is the amount of time it takes to get from Freiburg to Fussen; I'm almost wondering if we're better off going Freiburg to Munich, then taking a guided tour from Munich to Neuschwanstein etc. for a day. Thanks in advance for any help/advice. Janet
Scottsdale, AZ
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9221 posts
Not quite sure what kind of suggestions you are looking for. Ideas of things to do, places to see in these cities or lodging suggestions. My biggest tip is to NOT stay near the airport in Frankfurt. There is nothing to do out there, they are either very expensive or you spend way too much time waiting on shuttles to take you to the airport. Stay in the city, where there is an abundance of budget hotels, and the trip to the airport will only take you between 11-17 minutes, depending on which stop you will go to. If you would like suggestions, let me know what your budget is. Here are some events for middle May in Frankfurt and surrounding areas: * Wine Festival, Bad Homburg, 20-25 May * Jugendstil Festival, Darmstadt Mathildenhoehe, 21-22 May * Old Town Fest with Middle Ages Market, Eppstein, 21-22 May * The Roman Military in Action, Saalburg Roman Fort, Bad Homburg, 22 May and some for early June: * 23rd IdsteinWine Festival, 2-5 June * Koenigstein im Taunus Jousting Tournament, 3-5 June * Eltville Rose Festival, 4-5 June * Rose and Light Festival Frankfurt Palmengarten, 10-13 June * Hessen State Fair in Oberursel, 10-19 June * Waeldches Day Festival in the Frankfurt City Forest, 11-14 June * Castle Ronneburg Jousting Tournament, 11-13 June * Railway Festival "Full Steam Ahead" in Koenigstein im Taunus, 12-13 June
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
Day 1: "Don't want to go outside Frankfurt for first night because friends are flying standby on a different flight, want to make it easy to meet in Frankfurt." Going from FRA to Frankfurt when you don't plan to see anything there sends you in the opposite direction from Bacharach. It's wiser to meet up in Mainz, which is on the way and just as easy to reach. Just get on a train at the Regionalbahnhof at FRA, just like you would for Frankfurt but go west instead of east. You'll reach Mainz in less than 25 minutes. There are lots of hotels near the station. The Königshof gets good marks.
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
You would probably find 4 or 5-day Germanrail passes convenient for your 4 or 5 long legs: Bacharach-Black Forest, BF-Füssen, Rothenburg-Dresden, (Dresden-Berlin, not so long) and Berlin-FRA. The other days can be filled in with regional passes (or free travel in the BF) like the Bayern ticket for 29 Euros for all of you (Füssen-Munich, Munich-Rothenburg) and the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (trips around Bacharach.) Of course, flying out of Berlin might be better. Maybe you alreay have your RT FRA tix? Cheap advance-sale tickets for those long legs might or might not be available now. You can check at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en