help with itinerary, Germany , July 2010

Jane, We did a similar trip in July '02. We started on the Rhine and then followed almost your entire itinerary. We drove, which allowed us the flexibility to stop in a lot of small towns along the way. Driving was very relaxed in Germany, even in Munich. We had reservations, which in Lindau is essential at that time...very crowded. I am very type A, so I need to have my reservations to feel relaxed :-))

Jane, after arrivals at FRA airport take the train straight from the airport's long distance train station to Baden-Baden. That's an easy journey. Then, as a base for the Colmar/Black Forrest area I'd suggest Freiburg im Breisgau, a student's town with lovely old town etc. but also plenty of good and affordable restaurants and bars for the evenings. Your daughter should appreciate this. There are plenty of international students as well. It's a great base for day-tripping into the area! From Freiburg take the train thru Höllental (Hell's Valley) to the Lake of Constance (Bodensee). The highligts of all the must-see towns are Meersburg, Friedrichshafen and Lindau. Either one of the latter two makes for a great base city. Trains to Füssen leave from Lindau but with easy access from Friedrichshafen. More "nightlife" in Friedrichshafen, special high light in summer months is the Beach Club. Keep in mind it will be very hot in July. From Friedrichshafen you can jetfoil to Constance for the Aquarium or old town (day trip) or Mainau island (chateau, gardens). From Lindau and Friedrichshafen great panoramic view of the Alps!! At a cleary, sunny and hot day consider crossing to Romanshorn (from Friedrichshafen), take bus to Schwägalp and cable car up Mt. Säntis. It'll be chilly cold up there with views all the way down to the Italian Alps (again, on a bright day). Caution: Very expensive day trip! Reg. Lodging: Bookmark HRS.com, hotel.de, ehotel.de and travel-iq.com. If you have an iPhone download the Travel IQ App. It'll auto-detect your location and show avail rooms incl. cheapest web rates in your area! You'll need a WiFi connection (plenty of free ones available) or data roaming for this. If you prefer car, which allows mor flexibility, consider sixt.com, gemut.com, europcar, enterprise (they're now at FRA airport as well)...

Other than Colmar, I'm pretty familiar with the area you plan to see. I'd guess I've spent several month touring that area, and I've never used a car and never felt the need for one. Public transportation, trains and buses, in that area is superb.

Now is the time to discover where you want to go using the Internet. Wandering around aimlessly when you are there is just going to waste time (and expensive fuel).

Most German towns have a website at www.[town name].de, with accommodations listed. You can easily compare places and pick the best one now and know it will be there when you arrive. Remember, others are doing that. They don't nicely say, "This is the best place, but I won't take it. I'll leave it for someone who arrives that day." You'll find something, but the best places will be long gone.

As for booking websites, I have found that in cities, although they claim huge discounts, they are usually not much better, or even a lot more expensive, than the hotel's own website. Be particularly careful when comparing prices to make sure breakfast is included in the price. A favorite "trick" of the booking websites is to strip off breakfast in order to show a lower price, then offer it back as an expensive ($20 or more) extra. Remember, in German it is customary to offer a full breakfast.

In smaller towns, booking websites don't offer a full array of places. Often they offer only the most expensive, often miles away, when there were plenty of more modestly priced accommodations right in the town.

"Thinking about train travel until Fussen, then renting a car for the duration."

Hmmm. Why would you want a car in Munich at all? It's a pain going into and out of this city as well at times. I would continue by train to Rothenburg instead, perhaps see another town (Nördlingen?) along the way and/or use R'burg as a base for daytripping.

I'm not a big Baden-Baden fan. It's a very busy place, expensive, and not convenient for train travelers, located as it is quite a distance from the station. It sounds like you aren't allocating any time to see the place either, really. Consider staying in a smaller more attractive village somewhere - many of them provide you a free rail daypass called the Konus Karte (you get it from your host) for use during your stay and upon departure within the Black Forest.

Here's a list of the towns that offer this deal:

Konus Towns

Gengenbach is a very pretty town with old walls and towers and isn't far from Baden Baden. You could select another town for your second venture into the BF as well. Actually, I don't see why you couldn't just daytrip into Colmar from a single town outside Freiburg somewhere rather than staying in Colmar. I did this a few years back from the town of Elzach and used the Konus free rail (and bus, by the way) to daytrip over to Colmar (you need to buy a bus ticket for the French part, of course.) You could also stay in Hinterzarten or Titisee and do the same. This would mean less packing and unpacking of course.

Here's a map for the area of free bus and rail travel:

Konus Map

Just a few notes. Two years ago my husband and I went to southern Germany, and I am going back with my three 20 somethings this May. I will spend at least two days at each stop. I may add another. I am going against what most do, in that I am going south to north (Salzburg/Munich/Garmish-P/Rothensburg/Heidelburg) But I AM booking every stop. We learned the hard way that driving and finding a place was not smart. Especially in popular tourist areas like Lindau/Lake Constance. I booked all but one night my first trip late May so we could stop where we wanted, and that one night I did not book it took us many very stressful hours of driving around, stopping to find any opening on Lake Constance, before we found a motel type place...at least it was a decent enough place, but we were frazzled and it was not a good experience! We got lost and did not find anything until every restaurant but a pizza place was closed. Try and find decent prices and what you want on TripAdvisor...that site is a godsend! It never steered me wrong. I does take some work, but I kind of enjoy it. Stick with hotels in top quarter of the listings (when listed in order of most popular) and you should do fine.
Make sure you have a GPS (in English) in any car you rent, and buy the Michelin maps they sell in gas stations there. And you really don't need to drive around Munich.

We wasted time getting around when we could have taken their very good public system and we would definitely have seen more, and enjoyed it more. Only now when I learned my lesson and have checked street maps did I realize how close some things are to each other by walking or bus.
This time I am staying in Munich and taking public transport there, taking a train to Salzburg and back and will rent a car when I get back to Munich and go north.
It is a good idea to fly in one spot and out another (open-jawed?). Have fun....I loved it there....that is why I am bringing the "kids"