Germany Itinerary Questions

HI, as far as what to do after Munich...it might depend on what kind of history you really like. I would do some looking into these places because both Wurzburg & Nurnburg are wonderful! I have not been to Bamburg but Quedlinburg was absolutely amazing and a wonderful place to just amble. Where to drop the car? The bigger the city the easier but all these cities have wonderful train stops, so if you have a good train pass and, can use it freely, then you will be OK to just get off and on wherever you decide to go, right!? If I were you, I would take a careful look at the train route and plan carefully because the Autobahn goes a little differently than the train routes. Maybe even consider a overnight train for the fun of it! :) Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.
Michele p.s. try to get to the town of Meissen about 16 miles from Dresden if you can to see where they make the porcelain, if you can! :)

Michelle and Ralph, thanks so much for your thoughtful input. We may not drop the car until we get to Dresden now. I'd like to look up the small village my great grandmother grew up in near Dinklesbuhl, and Quedlinburg and Gorlitz intrigue us. I think having the car will make it easier to get to these places, though the idea of taking a car into Munich and Nurnburg scares me! Maybe I'll check into the train schedule more carefully. We are looking forward to our first trip to Germany very much!

We really enjoyed staying in Bautzen earlier this summer. Bautzen is midway between Dresden and Gorlitz and worked beautifully as a base for visiting those towns and lots of other spots in the area. Bautzen is a great little town with a cute old center, towers to visit, the Sorbian museum, etc. Easy access with a car. We enjoyed it more than Dresden, which felt a bit like "Disney does Dresden" since absolutely everything has been reconstructed in the last few years. The level of determination is impressive, but the buildings are definitely not historic. You could drop the car in any of those places and take the train into Berlin. Much better than driving into Berlin. Frommers has an excellent book of 25 driving tours in Germany.

Angela, thank you for suggesting Bautzen. I just read about it, and it sounds like a good place to spend a couple days. I like its size, location, and mustard! It looks like we can train into Dresden (we have reservations for the Green Vault). Do you think we can drop the car in Bautzen? I just bought Frommer's driving tours. Question: Have you been to Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber? The reason I ask is we're considering dropping 2 days there, which would give us more time in Nurnburg and/or the Bautzen area. Any thoughts on this? If anyone else wants to weigh in, please do. Thanks again!

Keep at least one full day and a night in Rothenburg. Stay in the altstadt and take the Night Watchman's tour in the evening. Rothenburg is one of the very best walled towns in all of Europe and about 5 o'clock when the day trippers leave it is like going through a time warp. Also don't forget that you must have a IDP in Austria as well as an Autobahn Vignette, The rental car should have one but if it doesn't by all means get one, they check for the little suckers with roadside cameras. In fact, based on one poster's recent experience, it may be a good idea to take a picture of it.

There are many original, medieval, walled towns that are just like Rothenburg, but without the tourists. This is a fallacy that Rick Steves promotes, because he hasn't been to any of the other towns that are similar. Imagine being in a town where you don't have to wait until the tour buses go home to experience life how it used to be? If Rothenburg is out of your way, then consider going to Buedingen, or since you are on your way to Berlin anyway, Quedlinburg would be ideal.

Under the "Trip Reports", see my post "Quedlinburg and the Hartz" for a side-by-side comparison of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Quedlinburg... with a little bit of Wernigerode thrown in.

Thanks everyone for your input. I really appreciate it. I think we'll definitely stay in Rothenburg only one night, if we go at all. After reading your comments, Jo, and your great trip report on Quedlingburg and the Harz, Tom, we're seriously considering this area and/or the Bautzen area with a day trip to Dresden. Decisions, decisions, decisions. The good thing is I don't think we can really make a wrong decision. We just don't want to pack so much in we can't enjoy wherever we are!

As usual I agree with Jo and Tom. If Rothenburg OdT makes logical sense in your interinary, by all means stop by. I can't imagine spending more than one night, and that's only if you really want to see the night watchman's tour (many touristy German cities have a night watchman's tour, btw). But no matter what your opinion on Rothenburg OdT, two nights would surely be overkill. I also second not driving into Berlin, not with train connections being what they are. The Romantic Road area is often less convienent by train than by car (particularly if you are doing Rothenburg OdT which is on a spur line) so I'd keep the car til you're done with the Romantic Road area, then train on from there. Nurnburg has great rail connections to just about everywhere and is a really underrated city IMO, I have been 3 times and am going back soon to see a Duerer exhibit.

Thank you for weighing in, Sarah. As to why Germany, Paul, we've traveled extensively in Europe and Germany is one of the few countries we haven't visited.

Ann... sounds like a wonderful trip and I might suggest if you want to see Rothenburg you could also stay in Dinkelsbuhl, which is very close and much less touristy and probably my favorite town on the RR. I am happy to have seen and visited Rothenberg (especially the Christmas Markets) but obviously agree with Tom, Jo and Sarah...there are so many wonderful towns to visit, they don't have to be the big 'name dropper' towns to be amazing. A few of my favorites are obscure little towns. Driving is easy, and I did drive into Munich without problems, but it is definitely a big city and if you can avoid driving there it will make life easier.

Ann, I second your decision to go to Dresden and Bautzen, which ever one you stay in, doing a day trip r/t to the other is quite easy. I have visited Dresden several times but haven't taken the short trip to Bautzen yet, went to Meißen instead. Meißen can be reached by the S-Bahn from Dresden Hbf...very recommendable.

Terry, we'll definitely stop by Dinkelsbuhl on our way north. Fred, I know we're definitely going to spend time in Dresden and Bautzen. We're still seeing if we can tweak our itinerary enough to fit in Quedlinburg. We like to leave some breathing room so we can change our plans while traveling if we want to. Thank you both for your suggestions!