Germany Route Help....PLEASE :-<

I like Roland's suggestion to make Rothenburg ob der Tauber your first stop in Germany. The fastest train route from Brussels takes 6 1/2 hours (faster than flying when you include the time it takes to get to and from the airports and allow for check-in time and going through security).

If you book well in advance (up to 90 days allowed) on the German Rail site, www.bahn.de, you can get a Europa-Spezial Belgian fare as low as €39.

So, let me make sure I understand? Does the 6 days include Brussels or not? But either way, you're crunching too much into too little time. Let's see, Fuessen, Rothenburg, Mittenwald, Bertchesgaden, 2 nights in Salzburg, then Munich. I would probably drop Rothenburg, and use Munich as a base for daytrips. You could probably squeeze in both Fuessen and Mittenwald on one long day trip from Munich by car, and you might be able to see the Eagle's Nest on the way to Salzburg.

My feeling is if you want to see all of this, you will need to either add more days, or add a car, a possibly both.

No, Brussels is not included in the 6 days. I thought we'd fly from there to the first destination. Then rail to the others. As I said, no car for me. I want to enjoy the trip! (lots of reasons not the least of which is I just DON'T want to drive) Fussen will take most of a day, then go to Rothenburg to spend that night, do Watchman's Tour and look around there some the next morning. Couldn't we stop at Mittenwald on the way to Salzburg? (obviously I have no idea if this is practical, never having been over there). It's a pretty town - just want to see it. We could do Berchtesgaden as a day trip from Salzburg couldn't we? We don't really know what we want to see in Munich except for a tour around the city and, for sure, Dachau. I just thought a railpass would let us get on and off, but, there again, I'm not familiar with how far stations are, etc. I'm grateful to your help! :-)

A lot of the travel you have described in Bavaria is on lines with only regional train connections, and on some connections that are only slightly slower by regional trains, so your best option there is probably a Bayern-Ticket. A Bayern-Ticket is an all day, on/off pass for regional trains in Bavaria valid from 9 AM workdays, Midnight (00:00) weekend days. It cost €28 and covers up to 5 people.

If I were going to omit anything from that list, it would be Mittenwald, not Rothenburg. Mittenwald is pretty, but not unique. There is no other place like Rothenburg. After Neuschwanstein, it is probably the next "must see" venue.

You could stay in either Salzburg or Berchtesgaden. Personally, there are more things I would want to see in Berchtesgaden, so I would stay there. There is a bus (less than an hour) hourly between the Bahnhof in Berchtesgaden and the Bahnhof in Salzburg. An all day pass, which would be valid for a round trip, is €9 pP. You can also go between them by train (just over an hour) with a possible change in Freilassing.

The Eagles' Nest is easy to do on your own. There is a bus (# 847?) from the Berchtesgaden Hbf to the base of the Kehlstein (site of the Eagles' Nest, called Kehlsteinhaus). There you purchase a ticket for the special bus up the mountain and use of the elevator to the Nest. When I was there, there were private guides selling tours for a few Euro. Another place worth seeing is the Dokumentation Center, with information about the Nazi era and some of the remaining SS bunkers in that area. It's next to the parking lot at the bottom of Kehlstein.

If you only have 6 days and you want to give everything on your itinerary at least a once over, then you need to minimize your time in transit, whether by car, train or bus. So to go from Brussels to Fuessen, then to Rothenburg, and then back to the same general area (Mittenwald), will eat up your time. I'd also argue against making Munich your base camp. Although its more or less central to your area of interest, you'll spend a lot of your valuable time travelling back and forth.

I suggest the following route: Brussels, Rothenburg, Fuessen, Mittenwald, Salzburg, if you have time, a short visit to Berchtesgaden. From Salzburg you can go by train to Munich airport in little more than a couple of hours.

I'm making these recommendations without the benefit of transportation schedules. You really should refine your itinerary with the aid of schedules and connections, and based on that decide how to spend your days and nights. You are packing a lot into six days, you need to budget your time.

A car will definitely save you travel time, but work out the time with transportation schedules first. I'm not convinced, at least not in your case, that renting a car is a better option.

Lee is right about Mittenwald. It will add a good 6-8 hours of travel time, not much less even if you drive. I would trade it for more time around Salzburg or Berchtesgaden any time.

You might consider staying a couple of nights in Freilassing, Germany, to be convenient to both Salzburg and Berchtesgaden. From Freilassing, it is an 8-12 min (€2,10 pP) train trip to Salzburg and a 51 min (€7,10 pP) trip to Berchtesgaden. Hotel Rupertus is reasonably priced, a short walk to the Bahnhof, and the owner speaks English.

Tim - I really appreciate the tip about the train. I prefer rail travel, scenically - and I wondered if flying might, in the end, be more time consuming.
Ok, I could leave out Mittenwald as long as some of these other places are "Alp-y" to give us a taste of that area. I already didn't think of Munich as a base - this itinerary is more of a "keep it moving" one. So.... Brussels to Rothenburg via rail. Then to Füssen one full day for castles, Salzburg (2 days)to include nearby Berchtesgaden. Go from Salzburg to Munich and take in Dachau. Have I got it straight? Thanks ALL =^..^=

You've got it straight, although I don't know about Dachau. You'll also find Berchtesgaden "alpy" enough. I don't know if you were considering a visit to the Koenigsee, just south of Berchtesgaden. It's one of the most scenic lakes in the region, and well worth your time. There is a beautiful little chapel, St. Bartholomae, the stuff of picture post cards, you can reach by boat, but you may not have enough time to take a close look. The location is also well known for its echo, and someone on the boat usually demonstrates it with a trumpet.

Enjoy.

HI Annabeth,

Berchtesgaden is "Alpy" enough. As Roland mentions, see the Koenigssee. It's just 5 minutes from Berchtesgaden. The Jennerbahn (cable car) is also right next to the Koenigssee. These will give you an "Alpy" experience!

www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/lakes/objects/koenigss.htm

www.jennerbahn.de/jennb/live/jennb_navi/liveindex.php?jennb_navi_id=33

Here's our photo's:

www.worldisround.com/articles/355557/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/324607/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/338872/index.html

By the way, Ramsau is about 10 minutes from Berchtesgaden.

For another "Alpy" experience , while at Neuschwanstein, get over to Tegelberg which is only 1 mile away. Tegelberg has a cable car (terrific views) and a luge ride. (Sommerrodelbahn).

www.tegelbergbahn.de/tegelbergbahn.html

Paul

I don't know why on earth you want to fly into Brussles!

Fly into Frankfurt and catch the train to Rothenburg, then to the Munich/Salzburg are the next day (as Rothenburg doesn't take much time to see).

Spend a couple nights in Munich, do a day trip to the castles in Fuessen, Spend the rest of the time in/around Salzburg.

You could just fly into & out of Munich, too, and spend all you time in that general Munich/Salzburg area with a side trip to Fuessen. That's certainly enough for six days.

To elaborate: we are spending the first 6 days of our trip in London, then off to Bruges/Brussels for two days. From Brussels, we progress to the other countries I've mentioned before.
Thanks for the suggestion about Koenigssee and about the luge. Both sound great.

I would definately agree that using Frankfurt as your entry point as the best choice. We did what you are planning as part of a 21 day trip of Germany last September. You will be able to do this trip much easier with a car, although we left the car at our hotel in Munich and took the train to Salzburg leaving early in the AM getting back late at night. Definately do Rothenburg which is an easy drive from Frankfurt, tour the town on your day of arrival and do the Night Watchman tour. You can stop at Dachau on the way into Munich. If you have a GPS, get a chip for Germany which will likely include the part of Austria you will need, it will save a lot of time. You might want to look at a rail/auto pass that includes some car rental days coupled with rail travel days. If you MUST use Brussels, use the train to Frankfurt and pick up a car there. I did Brussels to Frankfurt with a change in Koln, when I was in the Army in the late 60's, includes a nice ride along the Rhine. If you fly Brussels/Frankfurt, careful, budgets use an old US airbase a fair distance from Frankfurt, not the main airport.

I'm sensing a strong anti-Brussels vibe on here!
Nope, as said before, I'm not going to drive. I think it's easier for you fearless guys - I just don't feel comfortable motoring around a foreign country. I have a tendency to get a little lost. There is no time-saving element that is worth the stress this would cause - and it's no tellin' where I'd end up :-0 This is sounding all sounding so complicated - seemed like such a nice little trip when it all started out. All of you are very nice to try to help - thanks bunches.