my wife and I are planning our first trip thru Europe in September. We have decided to take the Romantic Road in Germany (2 days 1 night)from Frankfurt-Fussen-Munich. We have done some research about bus tour(Independent tours are very expensive); however, we found a tour bus that takes 1 day from Frankfurt to Fussen at reasonably price. We are also thinking on renting a car, but we need feedback from people who have taken this road either in a bus tour or driving.
Please help us decide!, your feedback will be greatly appreciate it.
Thank you.
Gil
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
What do you mean "Independent tours are very expensive". Last October I traveled on the Romantic Road using exclusively public transportation. I started at MUC, went to Oberamergau for two nights, during which I made a side trip to Linderhof, then traveled up the road the next five days, visiting Wieskirche, Schöngau, Landsburg, Donauwörth, Harburg, Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl, Rothenburg, Weikersheim, Bad Mergentheim, and Würzburg. Average daily travel was about two hours; the rest was sightseeing. For the seven days including MUC to Oberammergau and Linderhof, my transportation expenses (using point-point and Bayern-Tickets)were €93 ($132). The best car rental quote I could find was $272; gas fuel would have been another $75, for a total of $345. For the five days I was actually on the road, it cost me €68 (about $97) for transportation.
By the way, the one-day bus tour only stops one or two places long enough to have look. That's not enough time.
Posted by
Paradise
7067 posts
Agree with Lee that the bus tours are too restrictive. Don't go there.
You really need to overnight somewhere if you can swing it to enjoy your time there. Rothenburg is probably a very good choice - touristy but a good place to linger.
A car is fine but as Lee says it will likely be more expensive than public transport - take advantage of the Bayern Ticket he mentions. However, there's no particular reason to follow the route exactly or to hit every single town on the way. I would choose three or four towns to visit in the region that are served by train and see them over 2 days, whether traveling by car or by train. Wüurzburg, Rothenburg, and Nördlingen on the way to Munich that would be good RR choices accessible by train.
Posted by
South Windsor, CT, USA
36 posts
We are traveling to Germany in May and trying to find an inexpensive way to get from Frankfurt to Munich. What is the Bay-em? We have finally decided to rent a car for one day as there are 3 of us traveling so the cost is slightly more but we will be able to stop at the things we would like to stop at but if we can find a less expensive mode of transportation we'll certainly do that. We will be in Munich for 2 days then traveling to Fussen for another 10 days and will rent bicycles for the rest of the trip
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Linda, if you are flying into Frankfurt, the best way to get to Munich is to book your flight continuing on to Munich. If you are spending a day or two in Frankfurt, then you can book a Dauer-Spezial fare on German Rail for the fastest trains to Munich for as little as €29 per person. However, that fare requires a commitment to a specific train and doesn't work well if you want to land and immediately go on to Munich because these are non-refundable tickets and if your flight is late....
It's also possible to buy €6,75 per person local (RMV) tickets to Kahl (S-Bahn from FRA to Frankfurt Hbf and RE from there via Kahl to Würzburg) and use a Bayern-Ticket from Kahl to Munich, but the regional train restriction makes it time consuming.
Posted by
Paradise
7067 posts
Linda: From FRA to Munich requires about 6 hours and several changes of train on the regional trains you must use with the regional daypasses, like the Bayern ticket. If you travel on Sat or Sun, you can all travel on a single "Happy Weekend" ticket, a daypass like the Bayern ticket, but good for travel throughout the country; no additional tickets required, as with the Bayern ticket. Cost is 35 Euros. A good price for that distance if you have the time.