Germany Trip: Munich, Rothenberg and Bamberg

There is a lot to see in Munich. I would suggest three days, at least. I would also suggest at least one full day (either two nights or two half days with a night in between) for Rothenburg. The train to Rothenburg takes about 4 hours, so you could spend your morning in Munich, then leave after lunch and get to Rothenburg for dinner, or you could leave Munich just after 9 and get to Rothenburg for a late lunch and an afternoon of sightseeing.

I went to Bamberg in the morning, saw and photographed the Rathaus on the bridge, ate lunch at a street fair that was going on, then left in the early afternoon for Passau. That's all I wanted to see in Bamberg, but there are probably people here that will tell you more "must see" things. If you want to have dinner in Bamberg and sample their beer, you might want to plan an entire day and night.

Everyplace you mention is easily accessible with regional trains and you can you can use the Bayern-Ticket for €28 (for both of you, all day, after 9 workdays) for unlimited use of regional trains.

But really, instead of taking others advice, get guidebooks and look at the city websites (eg www.rothenburg.de) and decide what sites you want to see and for how long. Figure transportation times from the German Rail website.

While you are in the area, you might consider a couple of days in Wuerzburg, also.

We have wonderful suggestions re lodging in both Munich and Rothenburg but, as you did not ask about that, we assume that you have already made thos earrangements. Munich is a great city and you should devote a few days there. Rothenburg is terrific. A note about it-- the train station is NOT located in the Old City, which is surrounded by a wall. You will need to walk or take a taxi to get there. As we remember, it is a slight uphill journey. Gute Reise!!!

We have wonderful suggestions re lodging in both Munich and Rothenburg but, as you did not ask about that, we assume that you have already made thos earrangements. Munich is a great city and you should devote a few days there. Rothenburg is terrific. A note about it-- the train station is NOT located in the Old City, which is surrounded by a wall. You will need to walk or take a taxi to get there. As we remember, it is a slight uphill journey. Gute Reise!!!

We went to Germany during the Christmas season 6 years ago and loved it! We flew into Munich and took the train to Nuremberg and then went on to Prague by train.
The Christmas Market in Nuremberg was THE BEST. I would definitely recommend it. We stayed at a hotel right at the market-so convenient to go back and forth to the hotel to warm up or put packages in the room. Have a fun time!

We did a Christmas Market Tour just last Christmas and these three towns were included.

There is SO much to see in Munich; I would stay at least 3 days. Rothenburg is an awesomely quaint town and we stayed here 2 days. On one trip we stayed at the Eisenhut Hotel; last Christmas we stayed at Reichs-kuechenmeister. Both are in the heart of the old town, just down a short street to the town square where the Christmas market is located.

Bamberg is also nice and during Christmas they feature a 'Krippenweg', nativity scenes that are located throughout the town in churches and museums.

Hey, thanks for the recommendations so far... Actually, we also haven't booked the hotels yet... Any recs there would be greatly appreciated also (I am pouring through the books right now, and the websites...but first hand knowledge is always best.)

One add'l question re: the Christmas markets - we may have to plan for the last week in Nov. Would they have started up by then? And if we have to push it to Jan (a possibility) - are the towns half as wonderful right after Christmas?

Thanks!